FORT HOOD, Texas — America troops often get stationed overseas to work alongside allies and sometimes it is the other way around.
Major General Michael Keating is not only the Deputy Commanding General of Fort Hood, he is a 2-star general with the British Army.
"I was commissioned in 1993. I spent the first part of my career flying helicopters. I am an aviator by trade," said MG Keating.
While he dedicates much of his time to the logistics operation that comes Fort Hood, military service is not the only love of his life.
He is also a dedicated husband a father.
”My wife Janie, we’ve been married 23 years. We also have 2 daughters, Isabelle and Taya.”
Like many military families, they came with him.
It’s a long distance from home, and an experience that members of armed services around the world are all too familiar with.
”As we all know, it’s our bigger family members, many of whom did not volunteer themselves, that also share in that bourdon of service,” said COL Matthew Brown, Chief of Staff for III Armored Corps and Fort Hood.
For MG Keating and his family, their time in Central Texas has been better than they could have imagined.
”As a Brit family a long way from home, the welcome that we’ve had, not just on Fort Hood but in the community, has been phenomenal," said MG Keating.
In a way, becoming part of a community that has become a second home.
"I think I can reveal this, My wife and my daughter are not looking forward to needing to leave at the end of our time here. We will all be very sad to leave, we love it here," said MG Keating.
While their daughter Taya is taking classes at Central Texas College, their older daughter Isabelle is back home at a university preparing to follow in her father’s footsteps as an officer in the British Army.
She will become the fourth generation in their family to do so.
