[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING COLONEL CHRISTOPHER JOHN HICKEY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SCOTT PERRY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 21, 2026

  Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Colonel (Col.) 
Christopher John Hickey upon the auspicious occasion of his retirement 
from the United States Army after 33 years of selfless service.
  Col. Hickey retired as Professor of the U.S. Army War College 
(USAWC), Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania on May 31, 2026. He entered 
the Army in 1989, upon earning a Bachelor of Arts in International 
Studies from The Johns Hopkins University as the Distinguished Military 
Graduate. He served as Rifle Platoon leader, Company Executive Officer, 
and Battalion Liaison and Training Officer in the 1st Cavalry Division 
from 1994 to 1997, and as Brigade and Battalion Assistant Operations 
Officer and Rifle Company Commander in the 82nd Airborne Division from 
1997 to 2000, including deployment to Haiti as commander of a 151-man 
Parachute Rifle Company Team. He served as an Instructor/Assistant 
Professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from 2002 to 2005. 
In 2003, he served as Assistant Battalion Operations Officer with Task 
Force China, 3-15 Infantry, 2 Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division during the 
invasion of Iraq and the Battle of Baghdad, earning the Combat 
Infantryman Badge.
  Col. Hickey returned to Iraq from 2005 to 2006 and served as the 
campaign planner for Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, 
and advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense J5. From 2007 to 2010, he 
was a contingency plans officer in the U.S. European Command, serving 
as lead planner for all NATO and Russian plans, planner for the 
Regional War of Terror, lead planner for Georgia and the Baltic States 
of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and played a key role in a major 
counterintelligence operation. In 2011, he served as Chief of Plans and 
Strategy for the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security 
Transition Command-Afghanistan's Deputy Commander for Regional Support 
and led a lessons-learned exchange in Iraq. He served from 2011 to 2014 
at the NATO Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger, Norway, as Exercise 
Officer for ISAF strategy plans and assessment training and deployed 
four times to Kabul. He also served as the Scenario Officer for NATO's 
first post-Cold War large-scale combat scenario.
  Until his retirement, Col. Hickey served as Director of Joint 
Operations Planning, Associate Professor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
Professor of Military Studies Chair, and finally as a Functional Area 
47 Professor of the Army War College. He was senior strategic advisor 
to Joint, Army, and multinational leaders, and taught in all four of 
the schools' resident and distance learning departments, to include 
serving on the resident program's most prestigious seminar, the 
Carlisle Scholars Program.
  Col. Hickey's military education includes the: Infantry Officers 
Basic and Advanced Courses; Airborne School; Ranger Course; Combined 
Arms Staff Service School; Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat 
Familiarization Course; Command and General Staff College; Basic 
Strategic Arts Program; Joint and Combined Warfighting Course; NATO 
Defense College; and the U.S. Army War College. He earned a master's in 
public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, Master of Strategic 
Studies from the USAWC, and Ph.D. in Policy Studies from the University 
Maryland School of Public Policy.
  Col. Hickey's awards and decorations include the: Presidential Unit 
Citation; Joint Meritorious Unit Award (w/6 OLC); Legion of Merit; 
Bronze Star; Defense Meritorious Service Medal (w/1 OLC); Meritorious 
Service Medal; Joint Service Commendation Medal (w/2 OLC); Army 
Commendation Medal (w/2 OLC); Joint Service Achievement Medal (w/1 
OLC); Army Achievement Medal (w/3 OLC); National Defense Service Medal 
(w/1 BSS); Iraq Campaign Medal (w/5 CS); Afghan Campaign Medal (w/2 
CS); GWOT Service Medal; Armed Forces Service Medal; Army Service 
Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon (4); NATO Medal--ISAF AFG; Master 
Combat Infantryman Badge; Senior Parachutist Badge; and Ranger Tab.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored and privileged to commend and congratulate 
Col. Christopher Hickey upon the occasion of his retirement after more 
than 33 years of selfless and distinguished uniformed service to our 
Nation. His dedication, professionalism, and tireless devotion to duty, 
the U.S. Army, and the United States of America set the standard by 
which all should be judged.

                          ____________________