FEATURE STORY
Above: LTG Piggee in Thessaloniki,Greece speaking with Soldiers from 2-10 Assault Helicopter Battalion, 10 th Combat Aviation Brigade. (Photo by Spc. Thomas Scaggs).
“I know people make mistakes,” he adds. “If they are trying to do something different, and trying to make things better, I will underwrite those mistakes. But if they are illegal, immoral, and unethical, I have zero tolerance.” What other advice does he have? “Individuals need to change how they think about mentorship,” LTG Piggee says. “Too many people want mentors who have similar back- grounds, either in career field or expe- rience. I see this all the time in the military. The problem is by choosing that type of mentor, you limit yourself. You are not going to learn all you need to know from an individual similar to you -– they will not teach you diver- sity of thought.” He also has a list of what he calls his 13 Be’s. This is not a checklist of what will make you successful on a daily or weekly basis. Rather, it is a compilation of skills and values he has found that allowed him to be success- ful in his career. They are to be: complete, confi- dent, caring, calm, demanding, proud, fair, punctual, proactive, flexible, loyal, a team player, and safe. LTG Piggee also credits his family for
helping him be so successful. His wife Kassi has given up many careers that she loved and in which she was success- ful in order to move wherever the Army sent him to support his career. Their daughter, Alexis, also was a big help to her father.
When promoting him two years ago, to be one of only 50 Lieutenant Gener- als in the entire Army, Gen Via called him: “an outstanding Soldier, a tremen- dously gifted leader, and an exceptional General Officer.” Indeed he is!
Above: LTG Piggee visits Soldiers in Camp Taji, Iraq and receives sustainment operational update.
24 | THE JOURNAL
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