HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Members of the community came together to honor both the Army’s birthday and a decade of service from the area’s civilian aide to the secretary of the Army, June 14. Hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army Redstone-Huntsville chapter, the 248th Army Birthday Dinner was replete with Army tradition as a crowd of nearly 150 people celebrated in the Von Braun Center East Hall.
“If you think about it, we didn’t first have a nation and then establish an Army, like most countries. In America, it was the other way around,” Gen. Charles Hamilton, commander of the Army Materiel Command, said. “We first had a people who volunteered to become Soldiers, who then formed an Army that fought a revolution, which in time founded a nation.
“The point is, it is all about the people,” he said. “This great nation has been right from the beginning about people volunteering to defend it, and that is why in the Army we say, ‘people first.’”
Telling a story from his time serving as commander of the 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan, Hamilton said that the values that make American Soldiers unique are not taught by the Army, but instead learned in the communities from which they come.
At the time, he said his Soldiers were going into a known threat every day for almost nine months straight, and even after suffering two casualties, they said they wanted to go back out, chanting the line to Hamilton.
“That display of courage and valor, I feel very comfortable saying that 90% of that comes from their community,” he said. “That is why I say we need you as an influencer in this community to inspire the next generation of service.”
He implored the audience to not underestimate the influence they have, using Joe Fitzgerald, the North Alabama CASA who is retiring after 10 years in the position, as an example.
“You talk about a force to be reckoned with, your impact has been nothing short of remarkable,” Hamilton said to Fitzgerald. “You have been a true champion of our Soldiers, civilians, families and the local industrial base for more than 40 years.”
Fitzgerald said that at the start of his CASA tenure he set a personal goal to build Redstone Arsenal’s reputation to the point that people and organizations come to the installation because they know what is here, not come to Redstone and say they had no idea.
“One of my core beliefs is to make every place you have been to better because you were there,” Fitzgerald said. “I can promise you that I have done my very best, and it has been my greatest honor to serve as your CASA.”
Fitzgerald was selected by former Secretary of the Army John McHugh and sworn in by former AMC Commander Gen. Dennis Via in 2013. He was extended by four secretaries until reaching the 10-year term limit this July.
“Last month, I was sworn in as a CASA emeritus by Secretary Christine Wormuth, and I look forward to seeing in that capacity for the remainder of my life,” he said.
In recognition of his work, Hamilton presented Fitzgerald with the General Brehon Somervell Medal of Excellence, one of the highest awards the Army sustainment enterprise can bestow on someone.
“This medal is only given to those who excel in supporting our Soldiers, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving than Dr. Fitzgerald,” Hamilton said.
Additional presentations to Fitzgerald included a flag flown over Redstone Arsenal presented by the AUSA Redstone-Huntsville chapter and coins from local elected leaders, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Madison Mayor Paul Finley and Madison County Commissioner Mac McCutcheon.
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