By Mallory Mattingly
Country singer Craig Morgan is not ready to hangup his dog tags quite yet. He just received a promotion within the Army reserves at 61 years old.
While at a ceremony at the Pentagon, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth promoted Morgan to chief warrant officer two.
“It was an honor. It’s always a huge honor when one of the senior leaders in your chain of command pins your rank on,” Morgan told Fox News Digital of the ceremony.
When asked what was going through his mind during the ceremony, the musician could only think of two things.
Related: Craig Morgan Says Serving in Military Feels ‘More Natural’ Than Music Career
“Humility. I was honored beyond anything in hopes that people would recognize the pride that we have in our nation and our uniform as service members,” he said. “My objective is always to properly represent everyone else who don’t get that opportunity.”
“I think I answered both of my two things, pride and humility. Honor and pride, you know, which I tell people all the time,” he continued. “Those are two elements that I find that the only place that they are well-balanced is in the military and, for me, the Army. I say military because I think the Army is representative of the military as a whole, but the Army, you know, it’s very seldom do you meet someone who has such a wonderful balance of pride and humility. The military and, for me, the Army, I think represents that better than any other occupation or people in the world.”
Morgan re-enlisted in the Army Reserves after a 20-year hiatus from the military in 2023 at a Grand Ole Opry show.
“I’m excited to once again serve my country and be all I can be in hopes of encouraging others to be a part of something greater than ourselves,” he said at the time. “I love being an artist, but I consider it a true privilege and honor to work with what I believe are the greatest of Americans, my fellow soldiers. God bless America. Go Army.”
He’s grateful for his position to serve his fellow citizens.
“What a true privilege and honor it is to serve the greatest nation to ever exist in the United States Army reserves. Having the opportunity to work alongside some of the greatest and most selfless individuals on earth is something I’ll never take for granted,” Morgan wrote in an Instagram post after his recent promotion ceremony.
But how did he get the Secretary of War to conduct his promotion ceremony? Easy. Morgan emailed him.
“If the timing is such that it works, it works. The reason it worked for us [is] he [Hegseth] happened to be in D.C. when I happened to be in D.C. I was there for meetings,” Morgan said. “I’m working on a suicide prevention program for the Army. I am heading up a music program. And we were there for meetings with people to converse about this particular project. And my promotion was due. I talked to my command, and I said, ‘Hey, if the secretary is there, I’m gonna see…’ and they said, ‘Yeah, well, email him.'”
We’re grateful for Morgan’s continued service and commitment to serving our country.
Read Next: Country Star Craig Morgan Re-Enlists in Army Reserve After 20-Year Hiatus
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