Lieutenant General Dennis L. Benchoff

Lieutenant General Dennis L. Benchoff

Lieutenant General Dennis L. Benchoff retired from the United States Army on August 31, 1998 after serving on active duty for over 36 years.  Prior to his retirement he was the Deputy Commanding General of the Army Materiel Command (AMC) located in Alexandria, Virginia.   Before assuming that position, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics and Operations at Headquarters, AMC.

 General Benchoff has served in various assignments in AMC throughout his career.  He commanded the Industrial Operations Command (IOC) at Rock Island, Illinois, and served as Commanding General of the Depot System Command, Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, PA, and the Armament, Munitions and Chemical Command during a reorganization that combined both of those operations into the IOC at Rock Island.

Other command positions he has held are: Commanding General, 59th Ordnance Brigade, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army, Pirmasens, Germany; Commander, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, Texas; Commander, 707th Maintenance Battalion, Fort Ord, California; and Commander, 20th Chemical Detachment, 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. Staff assignments include Executive Officer, 123rd Maintenance Battalion, 1st Armored Division, Germany, Chief of Staff, US Army Recruiting Command, Director of Logistics and Security Assistance, J4/7, HQ US European Command, Germany, and Assistant Professor of Mathematics, USMA.  His teaching duties at West Point included teaching college algebra, analytic geometry, calculus and statistics to freshman and sophomore cadets over a three-year period. 

General Benchoff has received many decorations for his service including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Air Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster) and the Army Commendation Medal (with two Oak leaf Clusters).  He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross with Gold Star by the Federal Republic of Germany. 

General Benchoff has also earned the Master Parachutist Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Ranger Tab, Pathfinder Badge and the Army General Staff Identification Badge. 

General Benchoff graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry.  He holds Master of Science degrees from Michigan State University and New York University.  He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the Army War College.  He also received a teaching certificate in secondary mathematics from Millersville University. 

General Benchoff was born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania in 1939 and is married to the former Barbara Munson of Wyoming, Pennsylvania.  They have two children.  Their daughter Melissa, a 1990 West Point graduate and former major in the U.S. Army Reserves, now resides Midland, Georgia.  Her husband Colonel Ed House (USMA ’90) retired from the Army in 2015 after 25 years of service.  Their son Peter, a 1993 West Point graduate, is a major general who is currently serving as the Director of the Program Analysis and Evaluation Office in the Pentagon.  His wife Theresa (USMA ’94), a former Army lieutenant colonel, is a physician currently in private practice. 

General Benchoff and his wife currently reside in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and has been an Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at the Lancaster Campus of the Harrisburg Area Community College since 2001. In his 24 years there, he has taught courses in intermediate and college algebra, trigonometry, business math, statistics, calculus, and differential equations.