In June 2023, President Joseph R. Biden appointed U.S. Army Gen. (Ret.) Michael X. Garrett to the American Battle Monuments Commission, and was elected chairman by his fellow commissioners in August.

Garrett, born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised on military installations across the world, has spent his entire life in and around the U.S. Army. He is the proud son of Lola Garrett, a U.S. Army spouse and life-long public servant, and Command Sergeant Major Edward Garrett, a Vietnam War combat veteran and Silver Star recipient.

An alumnus of both the Department of Defense High School in Baumholder, Germany, and Xavier University in Cincinnati, Garrett began his own Army journey in 1984. He served his formative years in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, and over a decade was assigned to and wore the scrolls of the Regiment’s headquarters and each of its three Ranger battalions.

Garrett went on to command his own formations in the 82nd Airborne and 25th Infantry Divisions, served multiple combat tours in the Middle East, and ultimately led 750,000 combat and support personnel within the Army’s largest organization: Forces Command.

After 38 years of active service, he retired as an Army four-star general, and continues to build connections with U.S. service members and their families, patriotic communities across America, and soldier-friendly universities and businesses. Upon retirement, he was inducted by his own son as a Distinguished Member of the 75th Ranger Regiment, and is the recipient of the Ellis Island Honors Society Medal of Honor along with honorary degrees from Methodist and Xavier University.

Darrell Dorgan is a North Dakota native and an award-winning journalist who worked as a television news director/anchor for 25-years. He is married with two daughters and currently chairs Dakom Communications/Dorgan Films, a corporation involved in real estate and producing television documentaries. Dorgan is a Vietnam Veteran who belongs to AMVETS, VFW, DAV, and the American Legion. He was appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission for eight years by President Obama and to the Kennedy Center Advisory Board by President Clinton. He has also served on the North Dakota Historical Society Foundation Board for 25-years, as the head of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame and chaired the recent North Dakota World War I Centennial Commission.

Florent “Flo” Groberg served in the U.S. Army from 2008 to 2015, and is a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military honor, for his extraordinary gallantry, intrepidity and heroism while serving in combat operations in Afghanistan in 2012. Today, Groberg leads the Microsoft Azure Global Government M360 Mission Solution Team. He is responsible for working with governments worldwide to identify key missions and systems that should operate on the Azure Cloud. He holds a master’s degree in management with a specialization in intelligence policies from the University of Maryland University College in College Park, Md. He is married to Carsen Groberg, with whom he has a dog named V and a cat named Ranger.

Brigadier General Matthew E. Jones is the Deputy Director for Operations on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. In this role, he leads the Operations Team in the National Military Command Center and oversees national security activities, including global military operations and nuclear command and control. A veteran combat airlift commander with three deployments, Brigadier General Jones has also held various positions at Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, and Joint roles, including serving as the Special Assistant to the Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Before his current assignment, Brigadier General Jones served as the Commander of the 89th Airlift Wing, which supports worldwide special air missions for the President, Vice President, cabinet members, combatant commanders, and other senior military and elected leaders.

A native of Arizona, Brigadier General Jones resides in Maryland with his family. He is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he earned a B.S. degree. He also holds master’s degrees from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the Army War College, and the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business.

Raymond D. Kemp Sr. is a U.S. Navy veteran who culminated 33 years of service as the Fleet Master Chief of Europe and Africa. While on active duty, he served six presidents, completing 11 combat deployments, with 19 years of sea duty. In times of high conflict, he provided training and mentorship for Sailors during the execution of their lethal duties. As the Fleet Master Chief of Europe and Africa, he had oversight and influence over 56,000 service members, civilians, contractors, and family members. He is the founder of Kemp Solutions LLC, a leadership development and resilience building company. With an ever-present heart for the warrior, he also serves as Vice President on the board of Mystic Warrior Foundation. This organization helps transitioning service members cope with the challenges of PTSD and combat-related stress. Raymond also serves on the Bob Feller Act of Valor Foundation and Wings Over America boards, which provide scholarships to service members and their families.

In May 2022, President Joseph R. Biden appointed Charles K. Djou to serve as the Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission.

An Afghanistan war veteran, Djou served for over 20 years in the US Army Reserve, achieving the rank of colonel. In Operation Enduring Freedom, Djou deployed with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) to Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2011-12. In the Army, Djou served with units based in Hawaii, California, Alaska, South Korea, and Germany.

Djou is a former Member of Congress, Hawaii, 1st Congressional District, where he served on the House Armed Services Committee and House Budget Committee. He also won elections to the Hawaii State House of Representatives, where he was the Minority (Republican) Floor Leader; and the Honolulu City Council where he was Chair of the Zoning Committee. Outside of politics, Djou taught at the University of Hawaii law school and more recently at Hawaii Pacific University.

Djou attended college and earned a business degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance, a law degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and holds a MA (Strategic Studies) from the US Army War College.

He and his wife are both lifelong residents of Hawaii and together happily raising their son and two daughters (and a dog) in the Aloha State.