Decorated officer retires from Army
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POLSON — Chief Warrant Officer Three Michael E. Garcia recently retired from the United States Army. Son of George and Trudie Garcia, Michael Garcia was born in Polson in 1974 and enlisted in the Army in November 1992. He attended basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Advance Individual Training at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.
During his military career, Garcia took went through a Primary Leadership Development course, Basic Noncommissioned Officer course, Advanced Noncommissioned Officer course, Warrant Officer Candidate school, Warrant Officer basic course, Warrant Officer advanced course, Senior Maintenance Managers course, Small Group Leaders course, Combatives Level 1, and the Combat Life Saver course.
In total, Garcia had 12 different assignments, many of which were in Germany and Texas. He was also deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1996; Mosul, Iraq from 2006 to 2007; Amarah, Iraq from 2009 to 2010; Gardez, Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013; and Kuwait in 2015.
During his service he received the Bronze Star Medal twice, the Meritorious Service Medal five times, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal five times, Army Good Conduct Medal four times, the National Defense Service Medal twice, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal three times, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, three Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbons, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Valorous Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Award, Army Superior Unit Award, Combat Action Badge, and the Ordnance Order of Samuel Sharpe.
He has been married to wife Lorraine Armijo for 11 years.
