April 26, 2007

Fort Rucker commander to offer keynote address at TROY commencement

DOTHAN – Major General Virgil L. Packett II, commanding general of the United States Army Aviation Warfighting Center and Fort Rucker, will be the keynote speaker at Troy University’s spring commencement on the Dothan Campus May 14.

The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Dothan Civic Center. More than 120 students are expected to participate.

Major General Packett has served in four divisions and four corps with initial command assignments in Company A, 1-503d Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and Company A, 3d Aviation Battalion Combat, 3d Infantry Division, Gieblestadt, Germany. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry from the United States Officer Candidate School in 1972.

Most recently he served as the deputy commanding general, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg. Among his more recent assignments are deputy commanding general/assistant commandant, United States Army Aviation Center and School, Fort Rucker, assistant chief of staff for operations, Regional Command South, Naples, Italy and commanding general, Stabilization (SFOR), Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has also served on the staff of the joint chiefs of staff.

His awards and decorations include over 20 medals and ribbons. He has also been awarded the Expert Infantryman Badge, Senior Army Aviator Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Ranger Tab, and the Joint Staff Identification Badge.

His wife, Ululani, joins him at Fort Rucker.  They have two sons, Kila, living in Brooklyn, New York, and Miki, living in Brentwood, California.

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