George Summit, better known as ‘Don’ to friends and family, enlisted in the United States Army in 1978, Commissioned in 1983, and retired at the age of 60 in 2019. Don is a leader that spent more than 40 years in an Army uniform, and a Soldier who truly understands that no one Soldier can accomplish a mission alone. He spent a long career leading and developing teams and watching with pride as those he trained and led succeeded time and time again. 

On one mission to Honduras as an Engineer Company Commander, Summit faced challenges with hostile locals who opposed the school project they were assigned to build for the community. The Army had built a school previously out of wood and unfortunately members of the local community burned it down. This mission was to begin building a new school out of bricks. When antagonistic landowners approached his team with rifles and an arrogant attitude, he diffused the situation. Not only did he and his team build the foundation they were assigned to build during their two-week mission, but they finished the entire school that served the population well into the future. 

Later, during a deployment to Iraq, Summit and his team developed plans to build bridge abutments out of non-standard materials so they could connect struggling communities and enable local people to cross a large river enabling them to vote in early Iraqi elections. Summit and his team finished the bridge despite enemy resistance, and reconnected Iraqi communities. He served the Soldiers under his command, taught them to use the means at their disposal to solve problems, achieve missions, and brought life-saving support to local populations across the world. 

One of his most memorable experiences was leading a team of engineers from Utah to Colorado in 2013 after devastating floods washed out roads and isolated communities from vital support. He and his team of 40 Soldiers removed boulders from the overflowing river, planned and built a temporary road to replace the washed-out highway, and again connected isolated communities to critical life support during their 44-day mission. He recalls this project and others he has completed during his extensive career in the military with a fondness and pride, knowing that he and his team changed lives. 

When asked about his career in military support roles Summit said, “Some people that are veteran’s feel like they didn’t do anything important. I assure you they did something important. They were there, and they were part of the team, and that mattered.” 

Summit is a man who showed up to work, prides himself in accomplishing the difficult tasks, and embodies the idea that teams can accomplish anything when they put their collective minds to it. In a final though, Summit simply shared, “good people need other good people to lead them; I could do my part by trying to be the best leader I could be, so they could take care of our country.”