A Fond Farewell after 30 Years of Service

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. - U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command’s Chief of Staff, Col. Nicole Morris, retired from Active Duty after more than 30 years of service to the Army and the Nation, during an emotional ceremony at the NETCOM headquarters, Feb. 4.

From humble beginnings, Morris, a native of Brooklyn, New York, enlisted in the Arizona Army National Guard in 1989 as an Ammunition Specialist, and later, in 1992, Morris sought a Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) commission with the active Army, while attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and thus becoming a second lieutenant in the Signal Corps, after graduation, solidifying the start of her distinguished career with the Army.

“I joined ROTC because everyone I knew was taking the elective,” said Morris. “Before college, I was always told that I was average and would only accomplish average results. The Army pointed out things that I was good at. They trained me and then they praised me when I got better. I became addicted. I joined the Arizona Army National Guard. They trained me until I was the best at multiple things—running, driving a fork lift, driving a Jeep, training others... I couldn’t walk away from that.”

When looking back at the start of her career in the Signal Corps, you would have thought that was an unlikely choice. “My first choice was Aviation. My second choice was Medical Service Corps. My third choice was Military Police, and thank goodness I didn’t get that one,” said Morris. “Then I remembered looking at the form where I was putting my choices and asking my then boyfriend, and soon to be husband, Mike, ‘What should I put next?’ He said, ‘Put Signal.’ I asked, ‘What’s Signal?’ He said, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll love it.’ So, my fourth choice was Signal Corps.

“When I was assessed the Active Duty Signal Corps, I asked my Professor of Military Science ‘Really, what is Signal Corps?’ So, he arranged for me to travel down to Fort Huachuca to see the 11th Signal Brigade in action,” said Morris. “I talked to Company Commanders and lieutenants. I looked at Soldiers cleaning already-spotless vehicles lined up in perfect lines as far as the eye could see. I thought, ‘Signal is boring.’ Boy was I wrong,” added Morris.

However, looking back on a long and distinguished career filled with great accomplishments, Morris is most proud of the accomplishments of her Soldiers. “I’m most proud of my Soldiers, the ones I saw who made chief warrant officer 3 and my lieutenants that I saw make lieutenant colonel and colonel.”

“No written biography, or my humble remarks, can ever come close to telling the tale of Nickie’s outstanding career,” said NETCOM Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Maria Barrett, during her remarks. “Not only did she finish her time with the Army in one of the more challenging assignments of her long career, as the Chief of Staff for NETCOM; she joined this team just as spread of the COVID-19 global pandemic greatly impacted our communications, network enterprise services, and associated system operations across the globe.”

Barrett continued later saying, in her opinion, Col. Morris had some of her greatest impacts on the Army when she was engaged in direct leadership of people … “such as leading the staff to develop measures to protect the NETCOM headquarters’ workforce as the command surged to implement Microsoft Teams in less than 30 days, in addition to other initiatives, which included providing travel, telework, and safety guidance to down trace units worldwide in order to transform and maintain the Army’s telework posture.”

During her remarks, Morris said her time with NETCOM was a “time of wonderful leaders, wonderful friends, and wonderful family that have carried me to where I am today.”

Morris said, a long time ago, after she left Brooklyn to go to college in Arizona, she fell in love three times. She fell in love with Arizona, then she fell in love with her soon to be husband, and finally she fell in love with the Army through her joining the ROTC, and after 30 years, she said she is still fortunate enough to have all three still in her life, but is sad to say goodbye to one of them, the Army, as she enters a new chapter of her life. But, she plans to keep busy with this new beginning.

“I’m retiring in Flagstaff,” said Morris. “I’m focusing on helping my girls transition into adulthood. I’ll work a little and play a lot. I’ll grow my own lettuce and make my own kombucha.”

To find out more about NETCOM please visit: https://www.army.mil/netcom