Retired Col. Ralph Puckett, a legendary and revered Army Ranger who fought in Korea and Vietnam, died April 8. He was 97.
Puckett, an inaugural member of the Ranger Hall of Fame, was awarded the Medal of Honor in May 2021, more than 70 years after leading the 8th Army Ranger Company to capture a frozen hilltop near the Chinese border during the Korean War.
Retired Col. Roger Donlon, the first person in the Vietnam War and the first Green Beret to receive the Medal of Honor, died Jan. 25. He was 89.
Donlon received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, for his actions in July 1964 near Nam Dong, Vietnam. During the battle, then-Capt. Donlon disregarded multiple wounds and successfully led his 12-man Green Beret team as they held off an attack by a reinforced battalion of Viet Cong fighters.
Retired Sgt. Maj. of the Army Glen Morrell, a life member of the Association of the U.S. Army who served as the seventh sergeant major of the Army from 1983–1987, died Oct. 26. He was 87.
Born May 26, 1936, in Wick, West Virginia, Morrell enlisted in the Army in 1953. He decided to leave the Army after his first enlistment but reenlisted in 1958. “I found out that I really liked the Army after I got out,” Morrell said in a 1994 interview with the Army’s Center of Military History.
Registration is now open for the Association of the U.S. Army’s Warfighter Summit and Exposition in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Scheduled for July 26–27 at the Crown Complex near Fort Bragg, the two-day, in-person summit is a leader and professional development event focused on the warfighter. This is the second year AUSA is hosting the Warfighter Summit.
This year’s theme is “America’s Army: Ready for Today, Modernizing for 2030 and Beyond.”
The Association of the U.S. Army is releasing two new podcasts in May as part of its relaunched “Army Matters” series.
First up is a podcast featuring retired Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, a 36-year Army veteran who recently was the vice chair of a commission tasked with renaming military installations and other assets honoring Confederate leaders.
Leaders should do more to better understand and address the barriers faced by women serving in special operations roles, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.
While women account for nearly one-fifth of service members across DoD, they make up less than 10% of U.S. Special Operations Command troops, according to the GAO report.
Retired Col. Paris Davis, a Special Forces soldier who fought in Vietnam, will receive the Medal of Honor for his actions during the war, the White House announced.
President Joe Biden called Davis Feb. 13 to inform him of the award for his “remarkable heroism,” the White House said in a brief statement. “The President told Colonel Davis that he looks forward to hosting him at the White House soon for a medal presentation,” the White House said.
Davis is being recognized with the nation’s highest award for valor almost 60 years after his courageous actions in Vietnam.
Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Weimer, a Special Forces soldier with more than 20 years of experience in Army special operations, has been selected to become the 17th sergeant major of the Army.
Weimer will succeed Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston this summer. Grinston has served as the Army’s senior enlisted leader since August 2019.
A special operations NCO who has deployed 15 times and a former Army Ranger have been appointed to the 2022–2023 class of White House Fellows, a highly competitive program for leaders who are committed to public service.
Founded in 1964, the White House Fellows program offers “exceptional young leaders first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the Federal government,” the White House said in its announcement.
The winners of the Army’s inaugural Best Squad Competition and the service’s NCO and Soldier of the Year were announced Oct. 10 during a luncheon at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C.
The Best Squad is from Army Special Operations Command. Its members are Spc. Coy Anderson, Spc. Nathan Wallen, Spc. Jake Reichman, Staff Sgt. Devon Simpson and Sgt. Jonathan Warren.
The 2022 Soldier of the Year is Spc. Samual Alvarez of Army Forces Command, and the NCO of the Year is Sgt. Garrett Paulson from Army Medical Command.
