ATLANTA — A Georgian now holds the second-highest position over all of the nation’s soldiers and airmen in the National Guard.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne sat down with the newly promoted four-star General Thomas Carden, who was in command of the Georgia National Guard.
“Having a ready, lethal, and capable National Guard has never been more important,” Gen. Carden said. “We have to be ready to respond and give the American people what they deserve.”
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He said that a month after his 18th birthday on a south Georgia peanut farm, he became a private in the Georgia Army National Guard.
“[It] was an avenue to be able to pay for college,” he said.
Four decades later, he holds the highest rank in the U.S. military.
“I’m still here serving because I love what we do. I love the profession,” he said. “I certainly just count it an honor and privilege to serve this nation.”
He now serves as the Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau, the second-highest position over the 435,000 soldiers and airmen in the Guard.
Gen. Carden told Winne that preparation for the new role came from commanding the Georgia National Guard from 2019 to 2024, when they played a major role in the state’s COVID-19 response and dealt with civil unrest.
“I couldn’t be more proud of what the men and women in the Guard are doing today,” he said.
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He says that between 2004 and 2006, he served in Iraq and not all of his teammates came home.
“It reminds me that our obligation is to make every soldier and every airman as ready as possible to make sure that they can do the mission and return home to their family safely,” he said.
The general says his faith shaped him as well.
“A church is a hospital for sinners, and I never got out of intensive care,” he said.
He says he is known for leading from the front.
“You have to share the risk with all the men and women in your formation. Nobody’s going to follow you if you’re not leading,” he said.
Gen. Carden said he gives much of the credit for where he is to the other men and women of the Georgia National Guard and those around him.
“You started as a private and now you hold the highest rank in the U.S. military?” Winne asked.
“That’s a testament to the good Lord, good people, good timing and a great family,” Carden said.
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