Army officer lives by personal motto: pride, hustle, desire
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Very few Army soldiers reach the rank of Major General.
"It's more rare than I thought, says General Harrison. "It's pretty exciting when you're with the gate guards, when they look at my I.D. card... they see my image, wow, it's a Major General."
General Richard A. Harrison is one of two generals currently on Fort Bliss.
He serves as the Commanding General of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
General Harrison oversees more than seven thousand soldiers and arranges movements of people and equipment all over the world.
A native of Sunbury, North Carolina, General Harrison joined the Army in search of camaraderie.
"I didn't grow up playing sports. So the Army was sort of my team," says General Harrison.
Enlisting as a private, he commissioned in 1994 and has served in a variety of command and staff positions.
He does all this living by his personal motto: P. H. D.
General Harrison says, "The acronym stands for Pride, Hustle and Desire."
He says those words make great officers.
"First of all, they're proud of the last name, they're proud of being part of the United States Army and the unit they're assigned to," says General Harrison. "That's the pride I want them to have every single day."
He also adds soldiers need to hustle and desire to be the best.
In addition to pride, hustle, and desire, the general also says its important to remain humble. He says he had a humbling lesson of his own earlier in his career.
While going over his career timeline with his mentor, General Harrison was asked about his wife's goals.
"I jokingly said, Sir, to follow me around," says General Harrison.
 That response landed him in hot water.
General Harrison says, "He yells... get out of my office. I can't believe how selfish you are."
Lesson was learned.
After 33 years of service, General Harrison says he couldn't have done it without his family.
"I'm someone's husband, someone's someone's father, someone's someone's son."
He advises other military leaders.
"Never forget that we all come from different walks of life. I have achieved nothing that another soldier can't achieve."
