Robert L. Caslen, Jr.

Lieutenant General (LTG) (retired) Robert L. Caslen is a United States veteran who served in the U.S. Army for 43 years. His military career culminated in 2018 as the 59th Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He also served as the 29th president of the University of South Carolina, where he successfully led the university through its most challenging period, the 2020-21 Pandemic. Under his direction as Superintendent, West Point was recognized as the number one public college in the Nation by Forbes Magazine and the number one public college by U.S. News and World Report. Before becoming the West Point Superintendent, LTG Caslen served as the chief of the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq and was the Commandant of the Army’s Command and General Staff College at FT Leavenworth, KS. Caslen also commanded the 25th Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as Chief of Staff of TF Mountain during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He also served in combat and overseas deployments in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Honduras, and Operation Uphold Democracy and the United Nations Mission in Haiti.

LTG Caslen holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. and a Master of Business Administration degree from Long Island University and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Kansas State University. He also recently earned his Doctorate of Business Administration from Salem University.

Caslen is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy, a member of the Kansas State Engineering College Hall of Fame, recognized for a Life Time of Service Award from the American Red Cross, was selected as the Honorary Rock of the Year Award for his leadership in diversity, the 2018 Gerald R. Ford Legends Award for lifetime service as a former football offensive center, the NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award for a former NCAA student-athlete who is a distinguished citizen of national reputation exemplifying the ideals to which collegiate athletics programs and amateur sports competition are dedicated, and the UNICO Italian-American Fornelli award, honoring the military service of an American soldier of Italian ethnicity. LTG Caslen was also recognized with an honorary Doctorate from Long Island University.    He co-authored the book, The Character Edge, Leading and Winning with Integrity, and recently published his second book, The Impossible Mission, which covers the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, where he was the senior commander overseeing the withdrawal.  He has been married to Michele Pastin, from Highland Falls, N.Y., for 48 years and has three adult sons and five grandchildren.  General Caslen is also serving as a trustee on Salem University’s Board of Trustees.