Promotion Ceremony MG Charles R. Hamilton, Fort Meyer, Virginia, April 6, 2022.

Transcript

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the promotion ceremony in honor of Major General, Charles are Hamilton’s. Our host for today’s ceremony is the 40th chief of staff of the Army. General James McConville. Please stand for the arrival of video special party and remain standing for the national anthem, sung by Major Daniel Landrum, followed by the invocation delivered by chaplain. Brigadier General William Green, junior Deputy chief of chaplains. Oh, say. Can you see by the dawn’s early light? What’s so proud proudly. We hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets the bums were sitting in, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled or the land of a barbary and the home? Other brain. Mhm. Good afternoon. Please bear with me almighty God, we give thanks to you today and express our heartfelt gratitude for another amazing day in the life and lineage of the United States Army as we pause to celebrate with Major General Charles, Hambleton, his wife, Regina and their Children, Chrissy Charles Jr Reggie and Celine and Chief Master Sergeant Johnson. Family members and friends on the occasion of his promotion to Lieutenant General Lord you’re abiding presence in the life of this great leader throughout his years of service to God and country. And this promotion is the result of countless sacrifices and dedicated and faithful service to our great nation while having the unwavering support of family, friends, peers, subordinates, leaders, and mentors on this joyous occasion continue to remind Team Hambleton that to whom much is given? Much is required guide the steps of this great soldier and his family and give them strength to continue to serve in the manner that honors you. Our great nation, the soldiers, families and civilians. You entrust to their care and their leadership. Merciful God, thank you for your presence here today and made the lamp of liberty continue to shine bright on this great nation, on the United States Army and on General Hambleton and his family. People 1st. Winning Matters Army. Strong. Amen. Ladies General Makamba. Yes, sir. All right. What what, what a great, what a, what a great day. Nice job over there. Thank you. No. And what, where’s our, where’s the singer were? What a great, what a what a great job. Well, well, good afternoon. And it is a another great day in the United States Army because we’re going to promote Major General Charles Hambleton to lieutenant general. How cool is that? Huh. Really cool. Really cool. And I do want to take a moment to welcome some, some special guests here. Got the vice here next to my wife Maria and that’s great. Got the Chiefs Chiefs here. Um, we’ve got some great logisticians sitting there. Ed Daly. General Vai, thank thank you all for coming. Um, the dash was here in Cynthia worth here and uh, a lot of fellow army staff officers and everyone coming here. So I know it’s very, very special for you all to be here in support and we really do appreciate that. Um, but most of all I’d like to welcome the family and friends of Charles who are here today and those are watching online. So we appreciate many watching online too because this is a great opportunity to recognize a great leader and an army family and you know, some of you may have heard the quote that amateurs talk strategy and professionals talk logistics and the higher I get, I guess I’m as high as I’m gonna get right, I will not seek nor accept Marie and I have had that discussion, you know, so we are, we are here, but as high as I am now, the more I know just how critical logistics are and everything that we’re doing and we’re seeing that happen around the world. And Abrams become a 70 ton paperweight without repair parts or maybe close to 80 right now. But that, that is a true statement. Our Apache helicopters become $35 million dollar hangar queens without fuel and our soldiers can’t fight very well without food and water. And our logisticians are absolutely critical to the army’s readiness, our lethality and our success on the battlefield. So today I am honored to promote one of the army’s best logisticians. Major general Charles Hambleton And I’d like to welcome his wife Regina. That’s here and they just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. So, how about that? Yeah, they met at Fort lee when Charles was serving as the aid to camp for the Quartermaster general. And Regina was a training, advising and counseling, tax officer for the quartermaster basic course. Regina retired from the army after serving across Europe and south Korea. She has been an incredible army spouse, volunteering every step of the way, supporting our army families while supporting Charles and together raising four remarkable Children. So Regina, thank you so much for what you’ve done in your service, but also your support. I can tell you he wouldn’t be here without you, you know? Okay. And I’d like to welcome the rest of the family. Their son Reggie is here a great army captain. You know, it’s, we talked about this being a family business. He’s a logistician, right? And he served in some of the greatest units uh, in the army’s at Bragg right now. But it was also at that other place, the 101st, which is a pretty good place to be. And he just took command of the 11th quartermaster rigger company in the 82nd Airborne Division. So, how about that, mm hmm. And daughter Selena is here and she just recently graduated from George Washington University wow with a Masters in human resources and already started a career. I know what George Washington cost. I hope you’ve got a good career. Mhm. Yeah, I’m real proud of you And son Charles is out there. He’s watching. Okay, so Charles is a talented writer in Hollywood and he’s contributed and written for some of the shows we’ve all heard of and he’s really got a tremendous career career. So I have one task for you, Charles. I need you to write a good script for the United States Army. We need some good pr you know, you think about the navy gets top gun with tom cruise and we get stripes with bill Murray. So what’s up with that? So Charles, if you listen to me, I got a mission for you, how about that for him? Mhm And Chris is out there and she’s in Houston and she works for a law firm and I, you know, I just want to wish all for you. So we are so thankful you, he would not be here with you and having kids that have grown up moved around and many, many deployments. So just real proud of how well you have turned out and I just want to give a hand for all the kids and thank you. Mhm Yeah. And I also like to recognize Regina’s dad is here. Mr. Eugene Johnson Who served 31 years in the air force and retired as a chief master Sergeant and he’s a veteran of Korea and Vietnam. So sir, thank you for your service and thank you for raising a wonderful family again. This is a team effort getting here. Real proud to have you here. How about a mm hmm. And I know we have, you know, you don’t get to this level without a lot of mentors and a lot of friends. Uh some are here, some are watching from afar. And so thanks to you, to all of you for assisting in this journey and allowing Charles to achieve the impact that he’s had on our army and our nation. You know, I first served with Charles at Fort Campbell and in fact, I have a picture here when right here, when Charles took command. Okay, I may not remember it. And I remember um giving him some very sage counsel when I passed the flag to him, I told him don’t screw this up and he certainly didn’t, he actually did great things. And you know, we deployed together, we went off to Afghanistan and you know, you just can imagine at that time in Afghanistan with the 101st we were in regional Command East, which is a very challenging environment at the time. We were basically bringing down Um, the, the force from 25,000 soldiers to about 78:00 very, very dangerous time, Charles’s folks were on the road. They were making all that stuff happened. They were moving all those type of things out and they just did a real fabulous job. And and I saw firsthand the professionalism and expertise of our sustainment soldiers and really the remarkable leadership that Charles had and you know, he had already commanded twice in Afghanistan and he provided what every division commander could hope for, seamless sustainment and extremely challenging and contested environment. And I don’t think anyone could have done it better, but you know, he’s also provided more than that. And what goes along with away with me, not only was he extremely competent and extremely committed, he took care of his soldiers and he took care of their families and that’s what he’s always done where he served, because that’s the kind of leader that he is and that’s the kind of leader that we need in the army and that’s why he’s getting promoted. And you know, one more thing I’d like to say about Charles is, you know, he’s worked and nearly every type of job there is in logistics, from tactical to strategic, from indo pacific to Afghanistan, from the army staff, to the joint staff and there’s very few that have such a deep understanding of sustainment at the enterprise and global level, no matter what assignment has been, he stayed focused on taking care of the war fighter, taking care of our people, which I think is so important. You know, his leadership has contributed to our tactical, two strategic readiness and you know, I can see his impact. You know, as we’ve watched the events unfold in Europe, you know, if I ever, not that I ever had any doubts about our logisticians, but what they have accomplished is almost miraculous to move that many troops so fast uh into Europe, Being there at the right time, right place, reinforcing our allies and partners and making sure that we can deter any further uh Russian aggression and doing a whole bunch of things to support them in the process. And as I know, you know, our army is ready to go anywhere in the world when we have the right leaders and sustainment and we do and so Charles. You know, I am absolutely confident that you are the right leader at the right time And the perfect fit as a G four. So with that we want to go ahead and congratulate you and thank the entire Hamilton’s family for their incredible service sacrifice and hard work. And how about we bring you up here and go ahead and publish the orders? Thank you. Major General Hamilton’s and family. Please join General Convo. Mhm. Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated for the publishing of the orders, attention to orders. The President of the United States has reposed special trust and confidence in the patriots, valor. Fidelity and abilities of Charles are Hamilton’s in view of these qualities and his demonstrated potential for increased responsibility. He is therefore promoted in the United States Army from Major general to Lieutenant general by order of the Secretary of the Army replacing the jacket rank. Our General McConville and Lieutenant General Hamilton’s wife Regina. Oh yeah, replacing the apple ETS or his son. Captain Reggie Hamilton’s and daughter Selina. Okay. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Thank you Hamilton’s family General. Oh Congo will now present Lieutenant General Hamilton’s with his promotion certainly. Yes, yes. General McConville will now administer the oath to Lieutenant General Hamilton’s. Hi Right. The point sure, corn on and off in the great, great important cost. Okay, farmers are foreign or domestic really. Without right our purpose very well. Yeah. The office from. So what? Thank you. Thank you. General McConville. Ladies and gentlemen, Lieutenant general Charles are harmless. This is yeah. Mhm. Well, first let me thank God for all his blessings that really are in abundance. And my parents that are looking down from heaven, you know, despite my inclination to have a very modest ceremony which means go up to the chief’s office. You know, I felt it was important to realize that this ceremony really wasn’t about me, but very much about everybody else in person and virtually here today that has such an impact on my life throughout my many years of service. So I dedicate this ceremony to my family, friends, mentor soldiers and noncommissioned officers that have shaped that I have shaped me and who I am today. And even if it’s for the briefest moment that have inspired me to become a better soldier leader and a person. So I’d like to lead with this quote by martin Luther King. And it says I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life’s blueprint number one in July. His blueprint should be a deep belief in your own dignity. You’re worth and you’re somebody nous, don’t allow anybody to make you feel that you’re nobody. I always feel that you count. I always feel that you have worth and I always feel that your life has ultimate significance. Secondly, in your life’s blueprint, you must have as the basic principle, the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You’re going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold, what you want to be in life which your life’s work would be so set out and do it well. And he goes on to say, as I say to you, my young friends, doors are opening to you doors of opportunities that were not open to your mother’s and your father’s and the great challenge facing you is to be ready is to be ready to face these doors as they open. I am really excited about the future of the army and our logistics corps, not because of me, but because of the soldiers in the field. They have Children embraced the philosophy. I’m being fit, trained and disciplined. I feel that on most days I should inspire them, but especially when I’m out in the field. I’m inspired by the soldiers in the field just a few days ago, literally probably yesterday, a gentleman we call stan, the man Who works on Corridor three and an earring that cleans up our corridor and Mr. Thorne who works in the mailroom. Both told me congratulations. The word came out Monday that we’re gonna have a ceremony on Wednesday. And so it’s circulated pretty quickly. They both told me congrats, they’re not names that you know, you may not recognize. Uh, they may not be on the program, but the individuals that We on the G Force within the G four team embraced to include myself. They are truly part of the G 14 and I guess my point is it’s really about treating everyone with dignity and respect and I would encourage everyone just to take a few moments and believe me, our days are busy. I don’t take it for granted that every each and everyone sitting here has a lot on their plate today, especially in the first couple of rolls. Just take a few minutes out of your day just to have a conversation. A sincere one. And who knows it might even brighten up your day. So to the chief MS McConville, the honorable Larry turner. Good to see you sir. Longtime friend said you came in to device joe martin to the honorable Bush. I’m not sure if he came in yet to joe daily to jump by the chief sitting here on the front row. The chief to the chief chief. Dixon to the dads who was our squad leader each day keeping a straight would not want his job and his bride. Cynthia, thank you for being here. In fact Cynthia, I apologize that we keep them so late. But you know, I really admire your courage and your leadership dad. I appreciate it. So great job by Major Landrum. As the chief indicated, I really appreciate your special touch of the national anthem. So just so you know this we got the word Monday. I guess he was auditioning in my office yesterday. Okay, chaplain Green Bill. It’s, I’ve been knowing you for years. Thank you and thank Robin for being here as well. Great invocation. You always make everything so special and we just appreciate what you do for the army each and every day. Outstanding job by specialist Solano. Thank you very much. We love the voice. You make everything so official. It’s great. And then a big thing. She’s probably not in the room. She’s probably in the back somewhere probably is Major Hickman the M. A. And she had about a day and a half to pull this together with the help of the protocol team. She got a squad from the G four. They’re all dressed out over there. In fact, she got kernels working for over there. That’s not interesting work on that. But uh, but thank you very much and thanks to all the, all the teams appreciate it. Okay. Mhm. I also want to thank the families of the fallen heroes who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country and they will forever be my personal, my personal heroes and some of you know what I’m talking about. Big thanks for all attending today in person And virtually I’m just truly humbled Regina. I’m both humbled with your attendance, the cards, the letters, the text, the emails that didn’t stop until the night last night. And the minute that I woke up to this morning uh, so team Hamilton’s really appreciate you. I would like to thank the following gentleman who have truly pulled into me over the years and continue to strive and I just really strive to emulate them. And these gentlemen are selfless, they truly inspired me and they’re just basically good people and that’s generals, Larry, Ellis kip Ward Gus, partner Robert brown Vince brooks, Julian misses by Lieutenant joe Greg Turns 90 for next month. And I said sure, yeah. And I said, sir, did you drive over here and I already knew the answer. He did. And he said, I just want to know my license is good to next year. And sir, you have been the, the ultimate, if there was a picture of an officer and a gentleman it would have you next to it. And the fact that when all selected for brigadier general and you took Regina and I to dinner And we walked into a restaurant and they all knew Joan Greg, they started taping you know, bringing out the different wines of the show and he kind of goes back to that era. He’s just a true gentleman. So thank you. I’m honored. He was the G4 from 1979 to 1981. I’m honored to sit in your seat. Thank you sir. When I got promoted to Brigadier General, Lieutenant joe Beckton, who most of you know, that name took fifth Corps in 1978 as he was coming to the receiving line, he did something I didn’t expect. He handed me His three star rank. So number one, why was he handed me his three star rank? I never really got the opportunity to ask him and I often wondered and it didn’t put pressure on me like to strive to be a lieutenant general, but you know, I guess he just saw something in me I guess before the ceremony they bought it. And I think it’s because the time we shared actually at Fort Campbell doing uh, one of our celebrations and my brigade was kind of tasked to spend some time with him and he spent some time with us And I guess we forward some degree of a relationship now and his daughter and Regina have become great friends over the years as well. She couldn’t be here. I think they’re on livestream, but I wanted to recognize john beck to as well. It’s just a great hero of our times. We get a chance, just google him read about him, he’s got a book out there. Uh it’s pretty remarkable, joe johnny Wilson, you really can’t have a promotion in the logistics corps without talking about General johnny Wilson, he’s not here today. Uh Miss Helen is recovering, recovering well, she’s in great condition, but a little slight surgery there. And when I was a captain in the pentagon delivering some products, I was aboard recorder, I was delivering some products to D. M. P. M. And so I dare to go on the earring, you know, because there’s a lot of generals there and you didn’t really want to run anybody, but I dare to go over And I peeped inside the G four and that was john Wilson 1994, The Army G four. He saw me and he said, hey captain, what are you doing here? And I said, hey sir, you know, I’m aboard record, I’m just dropping off some products and was pretending to be lost. And he said, come on back three star, General Captain 1994 96 and engage me anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, I don’t remember, but I just remember him taking that time and that’s really been or someone I’ve really tried to emulate at each rank, an army again, I’m proud to sit in his seat and they put the picture up yesterday and my picture is under General Wilson’s picture. So I took a picture of that picture and I texted to joe Wilson and he sent a nice note back. But then he went on as you most of you know, to become a four star general and command Army Material Command. So very, he’s a great hero to me. And again, I’m, I’m going to send this chair, You can’t really have a conversation about logistics without mentioning General Gus Perna. And we in fact talked a couple of days ago and his impact on the entire army, not just logistics. Uh, as I told him is his legacy and we want to say thanks Regina both of us to him and MS Susan again for personally touching team Hamilton’s, you know, the personal touch took us out to dinner, spent some time and I’m gonna just tell you, I’m always apologize that these ceremonies almost at each rank because I’m a terrible mentee because I’ve had some great mutual, I do really terrible at keeping in touch. I always tell people don’t do as I do in that department. And he even told me, hey don’t be afraid to reach out and I really appreciate him reaching back out and looking in on Hamilton’s. So I want to say thanks to the chief today for hosting today and MS McConville for attending as well. And on behalf of Regina when she would come out to Campbell, you would take that time. We talked about that. You know, those special moments where you guys just went and actually had a cup of coffee and discuss what was going on division, the deployment coming up and the different things and what was going on. And I know it meant a lot to her and it meant a lot to me because she couldn’t have come with the camera at the time because she was dealing with me, she’s at Walter reed and uh and so for you to really take her under your wing like that still is a big deal to the Hamilton’s. So thank you very much. So I do have a couple of chief stories this year. I actually have quite a few but I’m not gonna hit a couple down here. The uh I’d like to say that I affected the 101st division policy on my first day of command, I took command. I came in on Thursday and we changed on Friday and within an hour I had changed policy in the division. Uh someone decided to uh have long remarks that day. It wasn’t me, I won’t say who but email came out to all the brigade commanders being very deliberate incoming. You have this much time Chaplin’s, you have this much time and I’ll go and you have this much time. So I felt pretty good about that. I was likewise affected the division policy on my first day. That’s pretty good and then I get a call from the Chief of Staff. Now joe Gaylor who said, hey Chief would like you to join us for golf tomorrow. I played golf. So that was pretty good. So we go in, I jump on the cart with the chief. He goes, no, you’re with with the C. G. At the time and so for 4.5 hours and Mr. McConnell, couldn’t believe this. Uh I got words in at the end, I think I remember saying thanks for the round of golf. Yeah. So I learned a lot about my brigade that day because remember when I got there on Thursday shame on me and uh it’s hard to catch up. So sir, thanks for catching me up. And then the last thing I’ll share which run a long way with me and I was we were talking about this in the back room and and and the chiefs got a lot on his plate and over the years is that While we were in contact downrange, we went from eight convoys a week to 32. So my soldiers were getting really tired. And the chief had an infantry battalion in reserve about 1100 soldiers. And I just sent an email via direct. I said, hey sure soldiers are tired of the third two convoys a week. I need that extra battalion. I run through our convoy Academy to get out on the road literally within 10 minutes. I had a response back approved as I said in the room, poor coordination on my part. I hear my top get called to attention. It was then Brigadier General Pappas who was the old now Lieutenant General Pappas. He was not happy. I won’t say what he said. We hugged it out at the end and we’re still great friends today. But that’s a lesson learned on me. Right Dad’s coordination. Make sure you check everything. But but the point is, you know, uh, that meant a lot. And that gave a lot of relief as we were saying the same soldiers that we’re getting real tired going back to back back to back convoys and they were in contact. You could imagine on the most dangerous roads in the world. There’s another aviator in my life and that’s Major General Tim McHale and his bride is here with him as well today. So raise your hand in the back there please. And uh he has had a personal hand on my career and many sitting in this room to include general daily as we all serve 2010 and 11 during the surge. And I will tell you when he called me and said, I want to bring you on the team. He got a little pushback because I was like, what about world College? I’ve referred three times. What about brigade command? And he said all of that will work out and it did. And uh and so I can’t thank you enough for your personal touch. You probably made me think more than any other leader, he would not let you off his white board. We spent some nights in there, uh, coming up with some strategic messaging uh for Afghanistan during that tough period. You had Jim McConville who’s bringing Jim McConville and bring it to Jim Millie in the east. And they had this huge staff, had this nice cool website and we would just start from scratch. So we copied their website and we did a bunch of stuff that you are already doing to kind of build out the south. And I had Brigadier, brigadier general. Hodges was my higher and uh you had Charles Hambleton and then Colonel Ed David and he had the execution and I had the dollars and we made a lot of, we made a lot of stuff happen. There’s another great leader here that is not an aviator, but he’s not a logistician. But he headed up all the logistics and that’s just by and he’s had a personal hand in my career. I’ve known him since I was a captain and I remember meeting him for the first time and we’re both Virginia state graduates. We’re also both members of kappa alpha psi fraternity And I would tell you just, you spend a lot of time in the, you know, 80 seconds and just incredibly sharp even then just incredibly bright, another person I wanted to emulate and and and be like, and then over the years he would just check in on me and make sure that, That I was okay. I remember I was at his promotion to four star general and he said to me, he said, hey, make sure I come down to the 101st remember this and invite me to do something and I’m gonna tell you like I’m a pretty bad minty. And so I went to john and I said, hey shot, I don’t know about inviting the four star down here. That’s kind of, that’s kind of big. He said, take that as an official order before we start telling you something, you’re joking. So I remember calling his XO up at the time and I said, Hey Giovanni told me to do this and being a good ex. So she was like, well, no, we don’t do brigade level stuff. Okay. Which really sounded kind of right to me. But I said since he told me and joe purpose it was an order. I said, I’m getting ready to get in my car And driving three hours to Redstone knock on his door to make sure we’re all good. And uh, after that, I guess you got what you do, You invited all worked out. And so we just want to say thanks um, to you and your bride. Just the epitome of an example over the years. We cannot thank you enough. The impact you’ve had on the army. Uh, and the logistics and the signal corps, you know, we got Jennifer real sitting here. I’m getting the north and south as I’m talking about you and thank you and Monique for coming here today as well. I talked a little bit about joe daily, but he, he was truly a battle buddy and we were linked at the hip each day. We had so many visitors coming that we literally had the tag team who’s gonna take who. And uh, we would talk each night before we went to bed. It was like almost hate to say a husband and wife kind of thing. I was the husband. No, I’m just kidding. Um, I can’t help it. No, but I mean literally we talked every night just to make sure we had everything covered. It was, it was a huge, a huge mission and had the opportunity to introduce him to, to their lieutenant john Stevenson and I’ll stop there and just say the rest is history. And he was going to be the D. C. O. For the 13th E. S. C. Which was a great opportunity And he became the XO to the Army G four. And there was no doubt in my mind that once joe Stevenson met him and plus it allowed me to do my job that day. He got to spend the entire day where Colonel Daly did and you know, he’s a great leader as well. So thanks for your friendship over the years and thank you for really being here. I know you’re busy. We’ve got time to spend with the with the CPV this morning, which is great. So it’s just thanks for your friendship over the years. Probably individuals probably had the most influence on my career is not here. He’s in Hawaii and that’s a Major General Hartshorne Proctor. He’s getting married this week and Regina and I will fly out tomorrow to Hawaii to witness this occasion john Proctor met when I uh we met when I was a lieutenant and he was a lieutenant colonel and I was afraid the campus, you mentioned earlier the general I worked for it was a very tough general. This is a long time ago. So it was kind of popular to be really tough back then and not so kind with your words. It’s just it’s just the army that we were in and Lieutenant Colonel lieutenant Colonel did not survive contact with him in most cases, the one d Hawthorne Proctor when he came out, he said Lieutenant Colonel Pete Proctor. We called him Pete. You’re the mentor to my aide de camp and I guess you’re probably took it very serious because from that moment Until right now and I know he’s watching virtually right now. He’s sitting in the 80 SC. Conference room with Major joe Dave Wilson who’s a great friend of mine and his staff And so I just want to say thank you for your mentorship. Congratulations on getting married here this week and we’re just excited and happy for you and faith and Virginia and I can’t thank you enough for the many phone calls, emails, drive byes over the years and uh we really appreciate you. Um another person, I think he’s here. Lieutenant General Halverson retired. I’m not sure if he made it. Oh sorry that y’all thank you. So he, he goes back to 38 to field artillery for her taxes. Staff Sergeant Hambleton E. T. S. Orders in hand going off to be a police officer and has a conversation about O. C. S. Gets with Colonel Paul t wire it later becomes brigadier faulty wiring field artillery. And I said, well I’m not, you know, not sure. And on Monday morning a lieutenant, another lieutenant from O. C. S. They had to go find a former CS or shows up at the motor pool. Lieutenant Reggie McCall. He says, hey, I’m here to process you folks. Yes, I said I’m not going on CS. He says, it doesn’t matter if you’re gonna association packets going in because that’s the army, we win. That’s how they talk to you back then. It’s kind of like between prison and the army. It was good packet goes in. I go to the board. Major Rodriguez says so I hear you’re pretty good leader. Why do you want to go to O. C. S. I give an answer because I was trying to throw the board. I say heard officers make a little more money. He cleans up my answer. Pack it goes up. And so sir, thank you for your leadership. John Halvorson was the nuance lieutenant at the time. He was treating people with dignity and respect. He was walking around talking to us. We really haven’t had that before you seriously? You just treated us like human beings. I mean we were noncommissioned officers. You’re an officer. But you had conversations, real conversations. You talk to us, you know about our families and we really had a lot of respect. We have fought for you. Nobody’s gonna mess with our lieutenant. And it was just great to see you grew up in the army and and still remain friends and I see him all the time now in army navy along with the virus as well when he has time to golf. Uh, so if I do have any Virginia state alarm here today, I just want to, I do have a few on the side. Suzanne and Tommy walker with Tommy’s actually Hampton Suzanne’s Virginia state. But I just want to say thanks to Virginia State University, especially the programs that I’m O. C. S. But I spent a lot of time. I graduated from Virginia state. I spent a lot of time personally with their ROTC program and they get a lot of attention as you can marriage because general visor alum. So the PMS gets a lot of help sometimes. Maybe more than what he wants. So I just want to say that I also want to thank many of my fraternity brothers. Capital facade. They do really a lot for the unsung heroes. The amount of money, clothing and time they spend. I see Richard Maddox, one of the senior leaders here. And uh and Mr. Taylor as well. They represent some of the leadership and they just, they just put a lot of money in the community. They don’t, you’ll never see them on tv. You don’t see any articles in the paper. That’s what you’re supposed to do, right. They just do it because it’s the right thing to do. So thank you for being here. Now I will tell you this room would be really full. So we had to send a special note especially to capital and say only to the people who got the invitation because we know those red jackets will show up uh, enforce. I see many of my teammates here and uh I’d just be remiss if I didn’t, you know, recognize my teammates from the army staff. You know, I see uh I G here donna, You know our G1 here joe Brito chamberlain. I see another one back there and my eyes are fading right here. And then I see I see Lieutenant General Solomon as well. And just another remarkable uh, Lieutenant general from logistics court is it has helped us out. I want to thank all the N. C. O. S. That have helped me along my way. Command Sergeant Major Eugene Johnson had the tank, command, command sergeant major Thomas when I had brigade command. I couldn’t have done it without them. Um, I just got a few more friends are named and I’m gonna get to the best and last, which is my family. Um, I’ve got many friends here today from the 101st and they always show up sure they keep me humble. I’m Charles, we play golf, we hang out, we do lunch and there’s no rank between us. We grew up in the army today together from captain until now and so we got folks like Thomas small, you know, Mark Gardner Jeff earlier, sir, who told me to tell you? Hello, mm hmm. We have chip lily would and his bride Jim Kincaid. And I’ll just, I’ll stop there because I would just be going down on this. But I did save the best for last And that’s my family. Jim McConville hit it. Right. Most of you that know me and spend time with me within minutes. I’m gonna be talking about my family. I am so proud of my kids. It’s incredible. They all done good before our onyx and ivory which were too lifelong German shepherds past. I probably talked about them more. I have to admit those were some good dogs, right? Very protective and family dog smart. And then, But then the kids, you know you guys just incredibly you continue to impress me. You did great in school. You listened ah you know to your mom because remember I came back from one deployment and I was gonna do something. I don’t know what it was and we were at the table and Regina wasn’t there and that was it dad. You better check with mom. I’m like hey I’m I’m an adult. I could like dad check them off that kind of tells you how these things go and and Jim McConnell hit on it you know about Charles and kind of what they do and again I’m just sprouting and I so I wouldn’t be surprised if if Charles JR takes you up on that. He’s that kind of kid and like very creative he’s been around the army so he has a he has a taste of it. Not that he served but I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes back with a couple of ideas to pitch to you uh to to come back. So my father in law we mentioned him earlier he had a lot of you don’t notice he was a founder of Naomi that’s the E. O. School down at Patrick Air force base the old school and he was the founder of that. So going back a few years and so he’s had a huge impact really on D. O. D. And I just really got a tremendous respect for him. His characters values how he grew up. I provided for his family. You know how he takes care of his grandkids and, and Regina is kind of taking care of him now. She spends a lot of time between here and there. He’s giving the north and south and you know, I think that’s important, you know, because family, family is important and and I just want to say I love you Regina, I love the kids. You mean the world to me. I’m gonna give you a a couple of tokens. I’m gonna walk down to you and present those to you here in a minute and dad, I’m going to ask you after I make my presentation to you. Reggie is gonna help you and I’m gonna take my first salute from you. Is that okay with you? Okay because I know you still got it right. So again, thank everyone for coming out. If I missed anyone, you know, just you know, hold it against the head and not the heart. I really appreciate you joe Manchin, I see you. Thank you. I couldn’t let him, couldn’t let him go without getting it in. So I’m gonna walk down and give out a few tokens. Jamie’s going more flowers. Mhm. Okay. Yeah, mm hmm. Okay. Yes please. Mhm Yes there. Mhm. Mhm. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and join in singing the army song by major land drugs. The words can be found on the back of your program. March along. Sing a song with the army of the three Count Count the Truth who have fought to Victoria’s with the army and proud of our name with the army and proud profane first and body for the riding to build the nation’s might. And the army goes rolling along. Proud of all we have done fighting till the battle’s won and the army goes rolling along and it’s hi, hi hey. The army is on his way to count is not strong where we go. You will always go at the army goes rolling along. Yeah, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today’s ceremony. You are invited to congratulate Lieutenant General Hamilton’s and his family in the receiving line. Right. Mhm