Duty, honor and country — the words of Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1962 are words that have inspired multitudes of American soldiers.
MacArthur’s speech was delivered to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and has been felt by generations.
Duty, honor and country are driving forces for Port Allegany native Cory Angell, so perhaps it’s fitting that his career has taken him to the U.S. Army Garrison West Point. Earlier this month, he started working as a civilian director of communications for the garrison.
“The garrison was started in the Revolution, because the ground overlooked the Hudson River, as a way of preventing the British from going up the Hudson,” Angell told The Era.
“It’s remained an active Army garrison since,” he explained. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point campus is supported by the garrison.
Angell’s most recent employment was as a deputy press secretary with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. And he remains a member of the Army National Guard, holding the rank of major. He’s been in the National Guard since September 1990.
While his current post is as a civilian, his background in the military and in emergency management prepared him well for his current duties. His first week on the job at the garrison held some familiarity.
“We just did emergency operation training,” Angell said. “It was neat to go from the Emergency Management Agency of Pennsylvania as a communications guy, and the first thing I did my first week was an emergency management exercise.”
“West Point is an incredible opportunity,” Angell said. “Its history, its traditions, the people that are here. Some of the best in the Army are here to train its future leaders. To be a part of the team that supports the growth of the future Army is an incredible honor.”
Angell said he’s visited West Point before, as a fan of the Army football team.
“To be able to walk the grounds here on a daily basis and to interact with these people on a daily basis,” he said, “it’s incredible.”
Angell graduated from Port Allegany High School in 1991, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in 1996 and Widener University School of Law in 2007.
He enlisted as an infantry mortarman and later became the second person to be commissioned at Pitt-Bradford through Reserve Officer Training Corps in conjunction with St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, N.Y.
He served as platoon leader and executive officer in the 1/112th Infantry from 1996 until he relocated to Harrisburg in 1999, when he went into public affairs.
Angell was deployed to Afghanistan in late 2002 as the public affairs officer attached to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. In 2008 he was deployed to Taji, Iraq, as the public affairs officer with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. In 2016, he served in Afghanistan as the lead public affairs officer for Special Operations Command.
