Roland Lajoie

Lajoie was commissioned as an army officer in 1958, immediately after graduating from college. He served two tours in Vietnam. Afterwards, he served as a military attaché in Moscow.

During the 1980 to 1981 academic year, he was a research fellow at Harvard University.^[2]

From 1983 to 1986, as a colonel, he commanded the U.S. Military Liaison Mission in East Germany. His friend, Major Arthur D. Nicholson, was shot and killed by a Soviet sentry in 1985 under Lajoie's command.

His next assignment was as a military attaché in Paris.

By 1988, he had been promoted to brigadier general and was appointed to lead the On-Site Inspection Agency.

His last active-duty military assignment was Associate Deputy Director for Operations/Military Affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency.^[2]

After retiring from the Army in 1994 as a major general, Lajoie undertook a civilian role in the implementation of the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991.

In 1998, Lajoie was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the U.S.–Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs.^[2]

Major General Lajoie's military awards included the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Defense Superior Service Medal (with oak leaf cluster), the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the French Order of Merit.^[2]

Lajoie married JoAnn Sinibaldi in 1961. They had a son and two daughters.

Roland Lajoie died in Manchester, New Hampshire, October 28, 2023, at the age of 87.^[1]