The U.S. Army Engineer School held a tree dedication ceremony Friday afternoon on the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Plaza here, honoring the 53rd Chief of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, who is slated to retire from the U.S. Army in May of this year.
The ceremony entailed a brass plaque being placed on a concrete base next to a mature tree in the south grove of the MSCoE Plaza in honor of Lt. Gen. Bostick and was part of the events celebrating Engineer Regimental Week 2016.
Lt. Gen. Bostick said he felt very lucky to be where he's at today for many reasons.
"You never know where you're going to end up in life," said Lt. Gen. Bostick. "Not in wildest imaginations would I have imagined I'd be here. It takes a lot of help along the way, a lot of great Soldiers, a lot of great bosses and a lot of great missions to give you the opportunity to continue to serve. It goes by quickly, every day and every week."
According to the Engineer Regiment, USAES has a long tradition of honoring retiring chiefs of engineers by dedicating a Mount Vernon Red Maple grown from a seed taken from the original tree located at the Virginia home of George Washington, our nation's first president. The first tree dedication at Fort Leonard Wood honored the 47th Chief of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Henry Hatch, in 1992 and has continued for every retiring chief of engineers since then.
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