General Poppas is the Chief Executive Officer of Cypress International. He joined the firm on June 1, 2026, after 37 years in the Army, a career in which he led organizations from small tactical units to the Army’s largest command and served as Director of the Joint Staff.
Before joining Cypress, he served as Commanding General of U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), then the Army’s largest organization. He commanded 216,000 active-component Soldiers and 190,000 members of the Army Reserve and provided training and readiness oversight to the Army National Guard. In all, FORSCOM included more than 740,000 Soldiers and 13,000 civilians.
As Director of the Joint Staff, he assisted the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Chairman’s role as advisor to the President and the Secretary of Defense, and coordinated and directed the work of the Joint Staff. He served earlier as the Joint Staff’s Director for Operations and held force management posts on both the Joint Staff and the Army Staff.
General Poppas commanded at every level from battalion to division: the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment; the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment; the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault); and the 101st Airborne Division itself. He deployed to Iraq and made multiple deployments to Afghanistan.
A native of Wisconsin, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned in 1988. His early assignments included the 3rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Myer, Virginia, the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and a tour as a foreign area officer in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Throughout his career, General Poppas was known for his focus on warfighting, readiness and the welfare of Soldiers. He brings that focus to Cypress, where he leads a team of former senior military and government leaders who advise defense companies on business development, market entry and deal support.
