Brigadier General Joseph C. “Clete” Goetz II became the 35th Commander and Division Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pacific Ocean Division on June 13, 2024, where he is responsible for a mission operating in a complex and diverse region spanning 16 time zones and covering 52% of the Earth’s surface for four engineer districts – Alaska, Far East, Honolulu, and Japan.
BG Goetz’s previously served as the 100th Commandant of the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he oversaw the professional military education and functional training courses for U.S. Army combat engineers and oversaw the development of doctrine for combat engineer operations.
As a company grade officer, he served with the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the 41st Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2002 and Iraq in 2003-2004.
After serving at the company command level, BG Goetz attended the University of Texas at Austin and subsequently served as a Project Manager and Deputy District Commander at the USACE Buffalo District. While assigned to the Buffalo District he served with Task Force Hope in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Upon completion of Command and General Staff College, BG Goetz served as the Brigade Operations Officer for the 20th Engineer Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He commanded the 15th Engineer Battalion at Grafenwoehr, Germany, from 2014 to 2016. While there, he deployed to multiple Allied and partner nations, including Norway, Serbia, and Ukraine in support of U.S. and NATO security cooperation activities.
Following graduation from the U.S. Army War College in 2017, BG Goetz served as the military assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. Prior to brigade command, he deployed to Camp Taji, Iraq, to command the USACE Contingency Engineer Task Force in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. He then commanded the 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas, from 2019-2021. Following brigade command, he served as the Director of the Office of the Chief of Engineers in the Pentagon from 2021 to 2022.
BG Goetz is a graduate of the Army War College and has earned degrees in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy, University of Missouri at Rolla, and the University of Texas at Austin. He is a registered Professional Engineer and a certified Project Management Professional.
His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and Meritorious Service Medal. He has earned the Ranger tab, Sapper tab, and Senior Parachutist wings.