Cocktails & Conversations at AUSA: The Future Battlefield

Major General Jason C. Slider is the 37th Commanding General of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, the Special Operations Center of Excellence. He most recently served as the Deputy Commanding General - Operations, 3rd Division (France). Prior to his tour of duty with the French Army, he served as the Director of the Mission Command Center of Excellence, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center.

Raised in Dallas, Texas, Slider enlisted as an 11B

infantryman in 1990 during the buildup for the Gulf

War. He graduated from the Army’s Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1992.

Commissioned as an Armor officer, he led and commanded in the 7th, 15th, and 16th Cavalry Regiments. Beginning in 2004, Maj. Gen. Slider led and commanded at all levels, from team to brigade, in 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Slider’s operational and combat assignments include Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, Joint Special Operations Task Force – Philippines, Headquarters International Security Assistance Force – Afghanistan, and 1st Security Force Assistance Team, 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Airborne) in Khost, Afghanistan. His other key assignments include Chief Theater Engagement and then Military Assistant to the Joint Force Commander, Allied Joint Forces Command – Brunssum (NATO); Assistant Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Chief Commander’s Planning Group at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command; and Executive Officer to the Combatant Commander, United States Africa Command.

He later served as deputy chief of staff for G-3/5/7 for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. Slider holds a Master of Science from the Air War College and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Louisville. He is married with two children. His hobbies and interests are centered around his family and just about anything that can be done in the mountains: hunting, fishing, skiing, hiking, climbing, mountaineering, etc.

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael Updike serves as the Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) Warrant Officer Proponent Manager. He most recently served as the Battalion Operations Warrant for 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). Prior to that assignment, he served as the Group Operations Warrant, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), deploying and redeploying as the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Somalia (JSOTF- SOM) Senior Warrant Officer Advisor in 2022 and 2023. His previous key warrant officer assignments also include serving as the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) Operations Warrant and as the Special Forces Warrant Officer Advanced Course Director.

Raised in Boscobel, Wisconsin, CW5 Updike enlisted in the U.S. Army as an infantryman in June 2000. After completing Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a mechanized infantryman, he was assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment at Fort Carson, Colorado, where he served as a Squad Team Leader and Bradley Crew Member.

In January 2002, he volunteered for Special Forces Assessment and Selection and was selected to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course. He graduated as a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant (18B) and was assigned to 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne). In October 2007, he returned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, serving in Bravo Company,

1st Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) as a Chief Instructor for the

Small Unit Tactics Team. In September 2010, CW5 Updike was appointed as a Special Forces Warrant Officer and assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). Throughout his tenure with 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), he served with distinction as an Assistant Detachment Commander, Detachment Commander, Company Operations Warrant, and Battalion Operations Warrant. CW5 Updike’s operational and combat assignments include deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (2004, 2011, and 2013), Operation Iraqi Freedom (2007), Operation Inherent Resolve (2015), Libya (2016), Regional Task Force North and West Africa (2018), Joint Special Operations Task Force – Somalia (2022), and Special Operations Task Force North and West Africa (2023). CW5 Updike holds a Master of Science in Strategic Security Studies from the National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs (Joint Special Operations Master of Arts program) and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from American Military University. He is married with two children. His hobbies and interests are centered around his family, the outdoors, specifically fishing and golf.