Retired Brig. Gen. Jeff Foley to grads: ‘Leaving a legacy’

Retired Brig. Gen. Jeff Foley, who retired from Fort Eisenhower in 2010 after a 32-year military career in the U.S. Army, grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Born into a proud military family, Foley’s father served in World War II and landed on the coast of France during the Battle of Normandy.

But Foley was never intent on making the military his career. When he was considering his future options for college, he had a different focus.

“I was the youngest of four kids, and my hometown of Cincinnati was not a military town, but I was always a patriot,” said Foley, who will be the keynote speaker at Augusta University’s Graduate Hooding and Commencement Ceremony at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 8, in the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center. “Growing up, I knew I wanted to play college sports, and I wanted to become an engineer. When the time came, I was recruited to play quarterback at Army, which was a dream come true.”

Foley wasn’t only committed to the football team. He was also active in several sports on campus and got involved in numerous clubs and activities.

“I played football for only one year, dove on the diving team for two years and I played baseball all four years,” Foley said. “West Point is a beautiful place, but, back then, I joined every club I could to get off campus just to enjoy a little bit of freedom from campus.”

“I remember I joined the scuba club because they spent a day off campus going down to New York City and scuba diving in the Long Island Sound in the freezing rain,” Foley added, laughing. “It was a terribly cold experience, visibility was zero feet, but it was a chance to experience New York City in a unique way, so I went for it.”

Becoming a leader

When enrolling in West Point, Foley knew he would have a five-year obligation to the Army after graduating. While he never intended to make the Army a career, two things changed that vision. 

First, he met his future wife Beth, an Army nurse at Fort Bragg, during his initial assignment. They would both be reassigned to Korea together in 1984. Second was the real “eureka moment” in his life in Korea while assigned as a 28-year-old Army captain in command of a company of 220 soldiers at a place called Camp Red Cloud.

“We were 30 kilometers from the Korean Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, separating North Korea and South Korea, where actions were happening on a regular basis that created real tension between the two nations,” Foley said. “My boss was two hours away, so I was on my own in many respects. While I knew I was well trained and prepared for this assignment, the challenges were many. If I was going to be successful, I had to earn the respect and trust of my soldiers quickly while carefully applying every leadership skill I possessed.”

“I will never forget the positive impact I had on so many soldiers and their impact on me,” he added. “We accomplished every mission thrown our way, and it was then I realized that the Army was the place for me. The Army is exceptional at training soldiers how to act and educating soldiers how to think. When you put those together, I went into that position as a 28-year-old company commander feeling competent and confident in my ability to lead.”

Over the years, the Army sent him all over the world, from Korea to Germany to Iraq and Afghanistan. 

“The beautiful thing about the Army is that they are relentless in developing leaders at all levels to help prepare you for the position you’re going in to,” Foley said.

Beginning with his education from West Point and every military assignment that followed, Foley never wavered in his deep feelings of honor and privilege to serve the United States in uniform.

“We learned early on, and it was reinforced every place we went, that the beauty of every assignment was the people,” Foley said. “Beth and I loved every place we served. We spent two years in Korea together. We had a chance to travel all over Asia and the South Pacific. We spent three years in Germany and traveled all over Europe. We’ve served at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Hood, Texas, twice in the Pentagon, and we spent three tours here in Augusta. When I retired as brigadier general of then-Fort Gordon, now Fort Eisenhower, we decided we wanted to stay in Augusta and make it our home.”

Developing future leaders

After retiring from the Army, Foley spent almost three years as an executive administrator in several leadership roles at Augusta University, including serving as the vice president of military and global affairs. For the past 12 years, Foley has served as a leadership coach, consultant and speaker, all designed to help leaders build and sustain high-performing teams that achieve greater results.

He co-authored the book, “Rules and Tools for Leaders,” with one of the most important mentors in his life, retired Major Gen. Perry Smith. He is also the author of the book, “BRAVE Business Leadership: Grow Competent, Confident Leaders and Get Great Results,” and a contributing author to the book, “Servant Leadership in Action,” edited by Ken Blanchard and Renee Broadwell in 2018.

“In my primary role as a leadership coach, I work with successful leaders who want to achieve positive and lasting change in behavior for themselves and the people they lead,” Foley said. “Helping develop leaders in the Army was a special passion of mine. How successful I was is for others to assess, but it inspired me to want to continue that task upon retirement. Helping others grow continues to be a real joy in my life.”

As the keynote speaker at Augusta University’s Graduate Hooding and Commencement Ceremony this month, Foley wants the graduates to understand the importance of leaving a legacy.

“Every one of these individuals graduating is going to continue to deal with people,” Foley said. “They all have achieved greater technical competencies during the academic experience, but ultimately their success lies in how well they can share what they learned with the people they encounter.”

“We are all living a legacy in our lives of how we will be remembered after we are long gone,” he added. “Leaving a legacy of making a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others, I think, is not a bad way to go.”