Robert Cone was a native of Manchester, New Hampshire, born in 1957. He graduated from Memorial High School, Manchester, NH in 1975. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1979 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Armor Branch. Cone earned a Master of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. His military education includes the Naval War College, the Army Command and General Staff College, the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, and the Armor Officer Basic Course. He was diagnosed with stage four metastatic prostate cancer in 2011, four months following his promotion to four star general and underwent clinical trial therapy. Robert Cone died September 18, 2016 in Shawano, Wisconsin. Robert Cone served in a variety of command, staff, and operational assignments in the United States, Germany, and Southwest Asia. Cone’s first duty assignment was with the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas, where he served as a Platoon Leader and Troop Executive Officer in the 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment (2-1 CAV). In October 1981 Cone became the Aide-de-Camp to the Assistant Division Commander, 2nd Armored Division. He then served as the Battalion Maintenance Officer, Combat Service Support Company Commander, and Tank Company Commander in the 1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment (1-67 AR).

Robert Cone attended the Infantry Advanced Course in 1985 followed by graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin. Next, Cone served as an Instructor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. After selection and completion of U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Cone reported to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse Regiment) in Fulda, Germany. Robert Cone served as the 2nd Squadron Operations Officer (S-3) during Operation Desert Storm, became the Regimental Operations Officer (S-3) in November 1991, then the Regimental Executive Officer in March 1993. He left the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the spring of 1994. In his next assignment, Cone moved to Fort Bliss, Texas, and became the Regimental Executive Officer of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (Brave Rifles). He assumed command of the 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in October 1994. After Squadron Command, he served as the Special Assistant to the Commanding General, Fort Carson, Colorado, then reported to the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, in the summer of 1997.

Robert Cone became the Division Operations Officer (G-3) of the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Hood, Texas, in July 1998. He assumed command of the 2d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, the following year. His brigade deployed to South Korea as part of Exercise Foal Eagle. Additionally, he led his Brigade in the Army’s Division Capstone Exercise in April 2001 as the culminating event in the development of the heavy digital force. Following Brigade Command, Cone served as the Director of the Joint Advanced Warfighting Program, Institute for Defense Analyses located in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was responsible for developing joint force concepts and experiments. He participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 as the Director of the U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) Joint Lessons Learned Collection Team. Cone was tasked to capture, document, and report real time lessons learned from combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. His work led to the establishment of the Joint Center for Operational Analysis at JFCOM. After returning from the Middle East, Cone served as the Director of the JFCOM Joint Center for Operational Analysis in Suffolk, Virginia.