Chiarelli's first assignments were with the
9th Infantry Division at
Fort Lewis, including: support platoon leader for 3rd Squadron (Air), 5th Cavalry Regiment; squadron assistant intelligence staff officer (S-2); squadron intelligence staff officer (S-2);
troop executive officer; and
troop commander. Chiarelli's principal staff assignments were Operations Officer (G-3), 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas; Executive Assistant and, later, Executive Officer to the Supreme Allied Commander, Commander United States European Command at
SHAPE Headquarters, Mons, Belgium; and the Director of Operations, Readiness, and Mobilization (G-3/5/7) at Headquarters, Department of the Army. Chiarelli commanded a motorized infantry battalion,
2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, and the
199th Infantry Brigade, a separate motorized brigade at
Fort Lewis, Washington; served as the assistant division commander for support in the
1st Cavalry Division at
Fort Hood, Texas; served as commanding general, 1st Cavalry Division, and led it both in the
Iraq War and during
Operation Iraqi Freedom II; and served as commanding general of
Multi-National Corps – Iraq from January 2006. Chiarelli holds a
Bachelor of Science degree in
political science from
Seattle University, a
Master of Public Administration degree from the
Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the
University of Washington, and a
Master of Arts degree in
national security strategy from
Salve Regina University. He is also a graduate of the U.S.
Naval Command and Staff College and the
National War College. Chiarelli worked to reduce suicide rates in the army. Out of concerns for stigma, he began using the term "posttraumatic stress", dropping the word "disorder" from the medical name
posttraumatic stress disorder. His term had subsequently become standard use in the armed forces, but was not taken up by the medical community. The name "posttraumatic stress injury" has been proposed by some psychiatrists in 2012, and is endorsed by Chiarelli. ==Post-military==