Greer General attends event at Fort Jackson

Greer’s Kris Belanger took part in a day for mentorship and leader development at Fort Jackson earlier this month.

The mentorship and leadership event brought together senior Army leadership and ROTC cadets from eight North and South Carolina colleges and universities.

“We have several Army leaders willing to give their time, energy and experience to assist our local ROTC programs in producing leaders of character and the leaders we need for an uncertain future,” said Fort Jackson commander Brig. Gen. Milford H. Beagle, Jr. “South Carolina has a great reputation across our Army for producing quality officers; our goal is to continue to foster and cultivate this tradition of excellence for our ROTC programs.”

Army ROTC cadets had the opportunity to learn from some of today’s leaders during the event through panel discussions, speed mentoring and presentations on various topics.

“This was an historic event for our area,” said Leslie Ann “LA” Sully, Media Relations Officer at the Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office. “Some college cadets don’t get to meet a general, let alone 11 of them and get to spend the day learning from their experiences.”

More than 300 cadets from the following schools planned to attend: The Citadel, Clemson University, Furman University, Presbyterian College, South Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the University of South Carolina and Wofford College.

In addition to Belanger, 10 other U.S. Army generals from across the United States were slated to attend: Chief Information Officer Lt. Gen. Bruce T. Crawford, Futures Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. James Richardson, Inspector General Lt. Gen. Leslie C. Smith, Surgeon General and Medical Command Commander Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West, Cadet Command Commander Maj. Gen. John R. Evans Jr.,Training Center and Fort Jackson Commander Brig. Gen. Milford H. Beagle, Jr., Reserve Command Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. C. Alberto Rosende, Reserve 18th Medical Command Commander Brig. Gen. Tracy L. Smith, Human Resources Command Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Twanda Young and Retired Maj. Gen. Abraham T. Turner.

Last year, this event was held at South Carolina State University where more than 200 cadets from seven ROTC battalions participated.

The event was developed and orchestrated by Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty, who currently serves as the deputy commander for U.S. Army European Command.