Gen. Gary M. Brito delivers a presentation during the annual Maneuver Warfighter Conference on Sept. 9, 2025, at Fort Benning, Ga. (Joey Rhodes II/U.S. Army)
Retired Army Gen. Gary Brito was named the chairman of the board for Army Emergency Relief, the service’s nonprofit dedicated to helping soldiers in need.
“It is our honor to welcome Gen. [retired] Gary M. Brito as our new Chairman of the Board,” AER announced in a statement posted Friday on Facebook. “A proven leader of character and compassion, General Brito brings decades of service to this role. We look forward to his guidance as Army Emergency Relief continues to answer the call for our Army families.”
Brito served 38 years in the Army before retiring in 2025 after leading Training and Doctrine Command for the final three years of his career. As TRADOC commander, he oversaw 37 Army schools, including the service’s initial entry training programs, and commanded some 700,000 soldiers.
An infantry officer, Brito saw combat experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, including as a battalion commander in the 3rd Infantry Division in 2005. He went on to command the Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.; direct the Army’s Force 2025 and Beyond modernization initiative; and command the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga.
He replaces retired Army Gen. John F. Campbell as the board chairman. Campbell, who retired from the service in 2016 after commanding all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, had served as AER’s board chairman since 2019.
AER thanked Campbell for his years of leadership at the organization.
“Under his leadership, AER strengthened its commitment to soldiers and families, ensuring Soldiers Helping Soldiers remained more than a motto — it remained a promise kept,” AER said in a statement.
The organization was established in 1942 to provide emergency financial assistance through interest-free loans, grants and scholarships to help soldiers and families facing unexpected hardship.
Since it was established, it has provided more than $2 billion in assistance, including more than $1 billion since the beginning of the Global Wars on Terrorism launched in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to AER. Last year, according to the Army, it helped more than 28,000 soldiers and their families.
