[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 121 (Tuesday, September 11, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING PEGGY COMBS' PROMOTION TO BRIGADIER GENERAL IN THE UNITED 
                              STATES ARMY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD L. HANNA

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 11, 2012

  Mr. HANNA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Peggy Combs on her 
promotion to Brigadier General in the United States Army.
  Brigadier General Combs is the commandant of the U.S. Army Chemical, 
Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. 
The change of command ceremony was streamed live to her hometown 
American Legion, R.K. Parkhurst Post 1448 in Oriskany, NY, where both 
she and her parents are members. Approximately 1,400 members of the 
community gathered to watch the ceremony.
  Brigadier General Combs is the first female general officer to hail 
from the upstate New York community, and is the first general with ties 
to Oriskany since Gen. Nicholas Herkimer, who led local militia during 
the famed battle of Oriskany during the Revolutionary War.
  Brigadier General Combs is the eldest of Jack and Pat Huther's four 
children and is a 1981 graduate of Oriskany Central School. Brigadier 
General Combs was the first member of her family to go to college. In 
1985, she graduated from the esteemed Syracuse University and received 
her direct commission as a second lieutenant through the university's 
Army ROTC program, where she was a distinguished military graduate. 
Together with her husband Brad, they have raised three grown children. 
Brigadier General Combs stands as a role model for women and female 
soldiers throughout the United States of America. Only in America can a 
young girl from rural upstate New York climb the ranks of the best Army 
in the world.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Congress and the United States of America, 
I would like to recognize Brigadier General Peggy Combs on her 
promotion in the United States Army. Brigadier General Combs has been 
an asset not only to the United States Army but to the people of New 
York State and certainly Oneida County and her hometown of Oriskany. It 
is an honor and a privilege to applaud Brigadier General Combs' 
promotion and I wish her great success as she continues her upward 
journey in the United States Army.

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