[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 22, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING GENERAL MICHAEL X. GARRETT FOR 38 YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE

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                          HON. RICHARD HUDSON

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 22, 2022

  Mr. HUDSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor U.S. Army General 
Michael X. Garrett for 38 years of dedicated military service, 
culminating with more than three years of distinguished service as the 
Commanding General of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North 
Carolina.
  Gen. Garrett personifies a life of service. The son of an Army 
command sergeant major decorated for valor in the Vietnam War, Gen. 
Garrett began his own Army career in 1984 as an Infantry officer and 
served his first assignment within the 24th Infantry Division 
(Mechanized) where his father also served as the division's senior 
noncommissioned officer.
  Gen. Garrett went on to serve his formative years as a lieutenant, 
captain, and major in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, where he wore the 
scrolls of the regimental headquarters and each of its three ranger 
battalions. He was in command of an airborne infantry battalion at Fort 
Bragg, North Carolina, on Sept. 11, 2001, when our Nation was thrust 
into the longest period of war in its history. Through these years of 
combat, Gen. Garrett led America's sons and daughters through multiple 
deployments in the Middle East, including his first to Afghanistan less 
than a year after Sept. 11 as a member of Fort Bragg's XVIII Airborne 
Corps, and later as commander of a newly formed Alaska-based airborne 
brigade which fought valiantly through 15 months of heavy combat in 
Iraq. As a general officer, he has led service members preparing for 
and serving in war from influential positions of responsibility, 
including as XVIII Airborne Corps and U.S. Central Command chief of 
staff, and as commanding general of U.S. Army Alaska, U.S. Army 
Central, and U.S. Army Forces Command.
  On account of his exemplary service, Gen. Garrett has received many 
of our nation's most impressive distinctions and awards, including the 
Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal with 
one bronze oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf 
clusters, and the Bronze Star Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster, 
among many others. He is a proud Ranger, paratrooper, and Soldier, and 
has been named a Distinguished Member of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Gen. 
Garrett represents the best our nation has to offer, and we will look 
up to his leadership for generations to come.
  As Fort Bragg's Congressman, I know I speak for our Nation and 
community when I say we are truly grateful for Gen. Garrett's 
exceptional service. I would like to offer my sincerest appreciation 
and wish him and his family success in all their future endeavors.

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