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Jay Montgomery Garner (born April 15, 1938) is a retired United States Army general who was appointed in 2003 as Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq but was soon replaced by L. Paul Bremer.

Born in Arcadia, Florida, Garner served a hitch with the Marines before attending Florida State University, where he received a degree in history in 1962. He also holds a Master's in public administration from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.

Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1962, Garner served two tours in Vietnam, and later led two air defense units in Germany. He also served as deputy commander at Fort Bliss, TexasFort Bliss is a census-designated place and US Army post located in El Paso County, Texas. The Fort is named for Lieutenant Colonel William Bliss, who was a son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor and who was re-interred at Fort Bliss National Cemetery on. Garner helped to develop the Patriot missile system and commanded missile batteries during the Gulf WarSee also: 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. The war started with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. The result of the war was a decisive victory. After the war he was put in charge of securing Kurdish areas in Iraq. He was later named commander of the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command (working primarily on President ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan ( February 6, 1911 June 5, 2004) was the 40th ( 1981 1989) President of the United States and the 33rd ( 1967 1975) Governor of California. Reagan was also an actor in films before entering politics. Early life and career Reagan was b's Strategic Defense InitiativeThe Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI is a system proposed by U. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear missiles. It was first dubbed Star Wars by opponent Dr. missile shield program), and concluded his Army career as Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, retiring in 1997 at the rank of Lieutenant General.

After leaving the Army, Garner became president of SYColeman , a defense contractor which designs missile communications and targeting systems used in the Patriot and Arrow missileThe Arrow Interceptor ( , Hebrew: "Hetz") is a theater missile defense (TMD) system; it is the first missile that was specifically designed and built to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles on a national level. It is the only anti-ballistic missile sy systems. (He has been on unpaid leave from the company since January 2003.) Garner served on a presidential panel, chaired by Donald RumsfeldDonald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9, 1932) is the current Secretary of Defense of the United States, since 2001, under President George W. His current term of office is as the 21st Secretary of Defense, and he is the oldest person to have held that positio, which specializes in space and missile threats. He has also worked closely with the Israel Defence Forces.

In 2003 it was announced that Garner had been selected to lead the post-war reconstruction efforts in Iraq, a natural choice given his earlier similar role in the north. However his ties to the arms trade via SYColeman made him a target of heavy criticism. After several weeks of general lawlessness and a seeming inability to get various infrastructure working again in Iraq, he was replaced in his role by L. Paul Bremer on May 11th, 2003.