Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., a graduate of the Citadel, gave the orders to storm the compound where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed. He was promoted to four-star general in March and gave the mission a green light from his headquarters in Tampa. McKenzie was commissioned into the Marine Corps after graduating from the military college located in Charleston, SC. His absence from a reunion event on campus last weekend that McKenzie was originally going to attend now makes sense.

By U.S. Department of Defense - http://www.centcom.mil/ABOUT-US/LEADERSHIP/Bio-Article-View/Article/1798987/commander-general-kenneth-f-mckenzie-jr/https://media.defense.gov/2019/Mar/28/2002106852/-1/-1/0/190328-M-LM779-001.JPG, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77640979