CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Wesley H. Rice and retired Col. Craig S. Kozeniesky are inducted into Special Operations Command’s Commando Hall of Honor in a ceremony on MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., April 17, 2024.
The inductees are the first Marines to be selected for this recognition since 2020. Rice and Kozeniesky join a small but distinguished group of past Marine recipients – nine of 100 total inductees. The Hall of Honor was established in 2010 and recognizes those who have served with great distinction and have demonstrated leadership and selfless service within the special operations forces’ community, according to the SOCOM website.
U.S. Army Gen. Bryan Fenton, commander, and Command Sergeant Major Shane Shorter, command senior enlisted leader, SOCOM, will host the induction ceremony to honor the 2024 inductees at the Tampa headquarters.
Rice, who served for 37 years and retired at the rank of major general, spent most of his career supporting military operations in Vietnam, South America, the Middle East, and the Pacific, accumulating approximately three years in combat or hostile fire zones. For his dedication and support to special operations for more than 20 years, he became the first director of the Joint Special Operations Agency in 1984, which within three years became SOCOM.
Kozeniesky, who served for 27 years and retired at the rank of colonel, spent 15 years of his career in various special operations positions. He deployed to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Pacific in support of military operations and activities. As a pioneer in Marine special operations, he led the first Marine contribution to SOCOM, also known as Detachment 1, on a combat deployment to Iraq in 2003. Due to his operational experience and leadership, Kozeniesky became the MARSOC deputy commander and is credited for helping shape what the organization is today.
“I am really happy for these two Marines, and I thank SOCOM for selecting these fine officers for inclusion in the Commando Hall of Honor,” said Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Matthew Trollinger, commander, MARSOC. “Like our previous nine inductees, Maj. Gen. Rice and Col Kozeniesky were immense contributors to the development of the Marine Corps’ special operations capability over the course of their careers. They are great examples for us, having contributed so much to the shared legacy of the Marine Corps and Marine Raiders. We are grateful to each of them and their families.”
MARSOC’s mission is to recruit, assess, select, train, sustain, and deploy scalable, expeditionary forces worldwide to accomplish special operations missions assigned by U.S. Special Operations Command. To accomplish that, MARSOC equips and trains Marines to succeed in austere conditions against a wide range of adversaries in competition through conflict. Marine Raiders execute complex, distributed operations globally in uncertain environments, achieving silent success and strategic impact. For more on MARSOC visit www.marsoc.marines.mil.