Having served as the highest ranking military leader, General Richard Myers made his way to Manhattan on Thursday for a visit.
Not new to the area, General Myers, Former Chair of the Joint Chief of Staff, started off his extensive career in the Kansas State University ROTC and throughout his time in the military moved onward and upward in the ranks.
“Through ROTC at Kansas State University,” Myers said. “Into the air force, into pilot training down in Oklahoma…, and then first 10 to 12 years was spent as a fighter pilot, which included a couple of tours in Vietnam, tours in Japan, tour in Germany, and then off to school, an air force school, and then the Pentagon and some staff positions and then some command positions as a Colonial.”
General Myers spent a number of years in the position of Chair of the Joint Chief of Staff serving under both the Clinton Administration as well as the Bush Administration, but is now looking to continue his relationship with K-State and coming back to the Manhattan area.
Serving as Chairman of the Board of the K-State Foundation, General Myers helps to keep the university moving to the 2025 plan, but he is also a figure on campus as well.
“It’s always fun to be around the energetic, young students here at K-State who are going to be our future, are our future, and to get to know them, get to see their enthusiasm and the seriousness by which they are taking their studies and so forth,” Myers said. “It’s inspiring.”
General Myers stays up with the goings on with military issues and also serving on a board in the Department of Defense.
The challenge he sees coming for the military is that of the budget as a number of unknowns are still out there.
Looking back on his past, General Myers expresses gratitude for the experiences, but he wouldn’t want to go back and do it again.
“I do not miss it,” Myers said. “It was a privilege to serve, but when your times over, it’s over. You salute and move on.”
To hear the full interview with General Myers, click on the links below:
General Myers Seg 1
General Myers Seg 2
