FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas - U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) welcomed back one of its own to the Army North family during a ceremony Jan. 31 at Army North's historic Quadrangle.
Maj. Gen. Perry Wiggins, who previously served as Army North's deputy commanding general. April 2009 to October 2011, rejoins the command after serving as the commanding general of First Army Division West at Fort Hood; he now serves as the deputy commanding general for operations.
"I want to see if the Army sent me back to the same job I had before to see if I could do it right this time," joked Wiggins.
This will be the second time Wiggins has served with Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, Army North's commanding general and the senior commander of Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis.
They previously served together when Caldwell with the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg and Wiggins served as the 82nd Aviation Brigade commander.
"I always wanted to work for Lt. Gen. Caldwell again," he said.
Wiggins, the son of an Air Force senior noncommissioned officer, was commissioned into the infantry in 1983 after graduating from Mercer University. In 1987, he branch transferred to the Aviation Corps. He is qualified to fly several different Army aircraft.
"Wiggins has distinguished himself as a leader," said Caldwell who hosted the ceremony.
He participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as a company commander. As the battalion commander of 1st Battalion, 501stt Aviation Regiment, he served in Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. Wiggins participated in Operation Desert Fox, Operation Desert Thunder, and Operation Southern Watch as a member of the Air Force's 93rd Air Control Wing; and he served as a commander of the 82nd Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Caldwell said Wiggins is uniquely qualified to be part of the Army North team.
"In 2009, we did just three training events with Mexico. Today, we're doing over 100 a year," said Caldwell. "Much of that is thanks to Perry Wiggins. He's a fluent Spanish speaker, so he was comfortable traveling down to Mexico … and embarking on an amazing outreach program with our partners in SEDENA. All of us in United States Army North have benefited from Wiggins' trips to Mexico."
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