MG Heidi Brown Retirement Ceremony
MG Heidi Brown Retirement Ceremony
By Gen. John E. Hyten | U.S. Strategic Command | February 24, 2017
Offutt AFB, NE (As delivered, edited for clarity) --
Welcome/recognition
Good afternoon, everyone, and a special welcome to Heidi’s family and friends in the audience. Thank you all for being here this afternoon to honor Heidi – and her almost 36 years of service – in the United States Army.
Heidi, as we take these moments to reflect on your tremendous career, I want to recognize a few of those who have shared the journey with you. Your wife, Laura, is here from D.C., not only to celebrate this milestone, but to bring you back home, where, finally, you’ll both be under the same roof. Laura, I know it’s been a trial living apart these years, and I’m thrilled for both of you to share a home again. You have likewise contributed to the STRATCOM mission, as a civilian executive at the Missile Defense Agency. I’m grateful for your own service to our nation, and for your adaptability, as a military spouse, in supporting Heidi during this demanding assignment.
Lt. Gen. Lennox, thank you for making the trip, for promoting and mentoring Heidi over the course of her career, and for participating today. VADM Syring, VADM Richard, Mayor Sanders – I appreciate each of you being here today. It’s an honor to have you join us.
Heidi, your mother and father, whom I know you consider role models, are not with us today. But I also want to recognize their inspiration and example in your life. Your mother – a valedictorian in high school; a quadruple major in college; a Columbia graduate of international relations; a Red Cross volunteer in World War II; a mother of six children; an artist, writer and adventurer. And your father – an orphan who enlisted in the Army right after high school, pursued OCS, and went on to retire as a Lt. Col. (Sel) and raise a family of very high achievers in El Paso, Texas.
They shaped the person and the officer that you are today. They were immensely proud of your life and career, and we also honor their legacy today, as it guaranteed your own.
A Soldier’s Story
You do leave a legacy, Heidi – as a supervisor, a combat arms officer, a strategic thinker – and I am here, as your commanding officer, to congratulate you on a career well-served. As we look back on the impact of your career this afternoon, that is your greatest accomplishment. There were proud moments, as well as second-thoughts, but as you retire your uniform, the reward of a job well done is yours to keep.
From the very beginning, you have advanced, and kept on advancing [Gen. Patton]. When the service academies opened to women your senior year of high school, you applied to West Point, as a way to fund your medical degree. Rather, by the time you graduated with the Class of 1981, you were headed to Germany, on your first assignment with the Air Defense Artillery Branch.
It was not the career path you would have chosen, but committing yourself to it, the service exceeded your expectations, with each assignment. Among them, as Deputy Commanding General for Sustainment of the Multinational Corps in Iraq, you successfully led the draw-down of our vast military enterprise in Iraq. You turned this exacting exercise – accounting for all of the “things,” from containers to vehicles to weapons – into a model of responsible retrenchment of our resources.
That experience served you well back at the Pentagon, where, as Director of Integration for the Army G-8, you had to make sure all of those pieces were refitted, rebuilt and redistributed appropriately.
From there, you launched one of your most exciting assignments, with the Missile Defense Agency, where, as Director for Test, you oversaw the successful execution of the largest missile defense tests ever conducted. I know that more than once, you were struck by the gravity of that role, and the power of an integrated missile defense system.
As the J3
Your understanding of the science and strategy of deterrence led my predecessor, ADM Haney, to hand-select you for your role here as Director of Global Operations, where you have taken on what I believe to be our greatest challenge as a warfighting command: integrating our strategic forces, worldwide, across multiple domains, at the combatant command responsible for the most powerful strategic assets the world has ever produced.
The responsibility that STRATCOM has to deter the most consequential threat this nation faces – the strategic, nuclear threat – is tremendous. Yet STRATCOM has been so successful at its mission, that we have taken the fear of nuclear attack out of the American psyche. No one is practicing duck and cover drills anymore. That’s what victory looks like, and you’ve been among those at the helm.
When North Korea launches a ballistic missile, our global operations center – under your command – provides first warning. When China destroys a satellite and creates 3,400 pieces of space debris, the GOC tracks them. Should any of our adversaries force us to deploy bombers, ICBMs or nuclear-capable submarines, the GOC is the command and control nucleus for those operations. That is a huge responsibility, and you manage it so capably.
Protecting your People
But not only that, Heidi – just as importantly – you have been mindful of the men and women under your broad command. There are 184,000 people involved in the STRATCOM enterprise worldwide. The soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines manning our strategic weapons systems are standing guard, 24/7/365, from underwater to outer space.
Some of them are in Thule, Greenland, watching for incoming missiles over the poles. Some of them are in Minot, North Dakota, sitting in silos beneath snow drifts, manning our ICBMs, waiting to turn the keys should our nation call on them. Somewhere in Kings Bay, Georgia, there’s a submariner getting ready to deploy for 77 days, in a metal capsule, a quarter mile under water.
Strategic deterrence may be the most important, least glamorous mission in the entire military. But in this assignment, as in all others, you’ve made a point to show our people their value. In my mind, that mission is of equal importance, and I want to thank you, wholeheartedly, for that.
Your Hardest Day
Before we all begin to think that your career has been an ongoing series of high points and promotions, I know you have been tested by trial. During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, you commanded battalions providing air cover and artillery support to U.S. ground forces fighting their way toward Baghdad, when one of the units under your command was ambushed in the first major crisis of the early days of the invasion. During a firefight, nine of your soldiers were killed, many injured, and others taken hostage.
It was no consolation when the after-action report affirmed there was nothing you could have done to prevent it. You are a responsible and conscientious officer, Heidi, and I know you still grieve those losses. Tanks and missiles don’t win wars – soldiers do. There is no replacement for the spirit and ingenuity of our armed forces. But I believe that loss has made you a better, more thoughtful, advisor, decision-maker, and leader.
Firsts
When asked to speak about your accomplishments, you tell your audiences that what defines a leader is not job nor gender, but a demonstrated ability to lead. I agree. That said, I want to remind this audience that you’ve earned the distinction of becoming the first woman to command and lead a brigade into combat. You became the first female general in the Air Defense Artillery Branch. And as of today, you hold the distinction of being the senior female combat arms officer in the Army.
You have said yourself that while the Army has been around longer than a day, it is still immature in its opportunities for women – but that it is changing. You have helped lead that change, Heidi. You’ve proved yourself a capable, senior leader – who happens to be a woman. You should be extremely proud of yourself. I am certainly proud of you.
Closing
Heidi, your soldier’s story – from cadet to Major General – is one of character, courage and commitment. I know the Army teaches its soldiers to “move to the sound of the guns” – or toward the challenge. You’ve done that again and again, and you’ve earned your stars, my respect, a nation’s gratitude and, finally, this retirement.
I know you’re looking forward to going home to D.C.; spending time with your family; working on your memoir, From Bliss to Baghdad; and improving your golf game.
So congratulations, Heidi, on a career well-served. Your front-row family, your Army family, your STRATCOM family – and I – are grateful for your service, and we all wish you a wonderful retirement.
