Raymond T. Odierno, a four-star Army general who was an influential architect of the surge of American forces during the Iraq war that helped quell sectarian killings and increase stability in the country, died on Friday. He was 67. His death was confirmed by a spokesperson for the family, who said in a statement issued by the Army on Saturday that the cause was cancer and was not related to the coronavirus.

Further details were not immediately available. General Odierno also served as the Army chief of staff, the service’s senior officer, from 2011 to 2015. During that time, he reshaped the way many soldiers were trained and deployed, with some conventional units placed under Special Operations commanders and others assigned to regions of the world viewed as emerging security risks, like Africa.