New York Guard Leadership
Brig. Gen. Peter Riley is currently the Commanding General of the New York Guard. Previously, he was G1 for the New York Guard, in charge of all administrative, personnel, staff, recruitment and retention functions for 400 New York Guard Soldiers. Brig. Gen. Riley joined the New York Guard as a Colonel on 26 April 2020. Soon after joining the New York Guard, he became the Commander of Task Force COVID North, a New York Military Forces response to the COVID-19 pandemic, for 100 days. COVID North Task Force had over 600 New York Army and Air National Guard and New York Guard Service Members that supported six testing sites and two distribution Centers from Albany to Niagara Falls.
Brig. Gen. Riley was previously a member of the New York Army National Guard, from which he retired in May 2019 after 30 years of commissioned service.
Brig. Gen. Riley was the Commander for Joint Task Force Empire Shield (JTF-ES) in NYC from 2011 until his retirement in 2019. JTF-ES is a full time, 780 person continuous anti-terrorism Task Force that conducts armed patrols and is responsible for deterring terrorism in transit hubs in NYC. JTF-ES also responded during and after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Riley served as the Deputy G1 as a Major with the 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit, Iraq from 2004-2005. He is the former Headquarters detachment Commander of Camp Smith Training Site and as a Captain served in NYC at Ground Zero following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He also served in both the 210th Armor and 101 Cavalry in the New York Army National Guard as a Lieutenant
Brig. Gen. Riley’s military education includes the Intermediate Level Education (ILE) – formerly the Army Command and General Staff Officers Course, Advanced Joint Professional Military Education (AJPME) from the National Defense University in Norfolk, VA, the AG Captains’ Career Course and the Armor Officer Basic Course.
Brig. Gen. Riley’s military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Iraq Campaign Medal, NYS defense of Liberty medal w/World Trade Center 9/11 service device, the Meritorious Services Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Overseas Service Ribbon. He holds a BA from St. Lawrence University and an MBA in Finance from Fordham University. He currently works as the Director of Veterans Services at Pace University.
He resides in Warwick, NY with his wife Maryanne and son Conor (24) and daughter Quinn (21).
As of Dec 13, 2021
Photo and Biography coming soon...
