Senior Army Officer From St. Thomas Recognized at Black Engineer Awards

Major General Jeth Rey, director of the Network Cross Functional Team within Army Futures Command, was presented with the 2024 Army Stars and Stripes award during the 38th annual Becoming Everything You Are (BEYA) conference, held this year in Baltimore, Maryland.

Alternatively called the Black Engineer of the Year Awards, the conference is convened every year to acknowledge and celebrate the best in Army engineering.

MG Rey, who grew up on St. Thomas, enlisted in the Army in 1983 and served as a Signal Soldier before first graduating from the Warrant Officer Candidate School in 1994 as an honor candidate, and then two years later, receiving a commission from the Army’s Officer Candidate School as that year’s Distinguished Honor Graduate. The newly-commissioned officer returned to the Army Signal Corps where he had once served as an enlistee.

“As a teenager, I knew I had to take a chance to be responsible for my destiny. I joined Navy JROTC and then the Army under the motto ‘Be all you can be,’ Maj. Gen. Rey said about his early years in the military. “Over the course of 40 years, I was able to work hard, pay for my educational degrees, develop specialized skills, and have an opportunity to rise to senior leadership."