DAHLONEGA - University of North Georgia Athletics has announced the kick off of its award-winning Operation Nighthawks of Honor initiative which recognizes service members who were former or current UNG students.
The 2022-23 initiative is the annual announcement of UNG Athletics' yearlong tribute to the nation's armed forces and will honor Col. (Ret) Ben Malcom. The 1950 graduate was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. Infantry training officer in Fort Knox immediately following graduation. He was stationed in Korea from January 28, 1952, to December 29, 1952. During this assignment, he was stationed in North Korea at the head of the Donkey Units, which consisted of North Korean partisans who used guerilla warfare to fight North Korea.
Col. Malcom retired from active duty in 1979 and served his country in two wars and for 29 years. In 1996, with his collaborator Ron Martz, Col. Malcom published his book "White Tigers: My Secret War in North Korea," which is about his experience in the Korean War.
In 2014, Col. Malcom was inducted into the 2014 Class of the Georgia Military Veterans' Hall of Fame for his bravery and acts of selfless sacrifice while serving as a Company Grade Infantry and Special Operations Officer in the Korean War and as a Field Grade Infantry Officer in Vietnam. Col. Malcom is credited with and known throughout the US Armed Forces as laying the foundation of today's Special Forces, the Green Berets.
The eight annual Operation Nighthawks of Honor ceremony will be held throughout this academic year with all proceeds from the initiative donated to the UNG Boar's Head Brigade Corps of Cadets Endowed Scholarship Fund. Nighthawk Athletics has donated over $4,300 since the initiative's inception on the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
One of only six federally designated senior military colleges in the nation, UNG is The Military College of Georgia and its nationally recognized Army ROTC program attracts students from across the state, region and nation.
UNG has commissioned more than 50 General Officers, ten of whom are currently serving in a variety of command positions including: Commander (Third Army/ARCENT), Commander (XVIII Airborne Corps), Deputy Commander (U.S. Army Europe), Commander U.S. Cyber Command and many more. Many other alumni of UNG completed successful military careers and hundreds are currently serving on active duty today at all levels of command.
