GOSHEN COUNTY – After more than two decades and multiple deployments, Sgt. 1st Class Michael M. Munoz can append “retired” to the rank he’s worn proudly all those years.

Munoz retires after 22 years in the Army, including a total of 44 months serving in combat zones. He is the grandson of Virginia Munoz of Torrington.

Munoz joined the Army in April 1998 and attended Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Following additional training at Fort Bliss, Texas. His first duty station was Fort Drum, N.Y., in 1999 with the 10th Mountain (Light Infantry) Division.  

From there, Munoz was reassigned to Fort Campbell, Ky., in 2001, where he served with the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division, leading to his first deployment during the initial invasion of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.  

While at Fort Campbell, Munoz graduated from Air Assault School. Munoz’s third assignment in 2004 was as a Drill Instructor for Basic Training in the U.S. Army Reserves with the 80th Division at both Fort Jackson, S.C. and Fort Knox, Ky. Munoz graduated from Drill Sergeant School as the Distinguished Honor Graduate, and was deployed to Iraq a second time as a Drill Instructor to advise Iraqi Drill Instructors at the Iraqi Basic Training Academy in Taji, Iraq.  

Munoz returned to Active Duty in 2007 and back to Fort Drum, where he was the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of an Air Defense Airspace Management Cell for the 10th Mountain Division.  In 2009, he was sent to Joint Base Lewis McChord with the 1st Corps’ Air and Missile Defense Cell, where he deployed a third time to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.  

Upon returning from Afghanistan, Munoz received orders to Camp Zama, Japan, in 2012 where he worked at 1st Corps Forward and US Army Japan Headquarters’ AMD Cell’s NCOIC.  

After returning to the US in 2016, Munoz became an Observer and Coach/Trainer at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.  There he completed 33 rotations, teaching fellow soldiers desert warfare tactics.  

Munoz’s final duty station in 2019 was Fort Riley, Kan., where he served as the 1st Infantry Division’s AMD Cell’s NCOIC. There, he was the senior most enlisted Air Defender on the installation. 

SFC Munoz’s awards and decorations include: 

Meritorious Service Medal (3rd award), Joint Service Commendation Medal (3rd award), Army Commendation Medal (4th award), Army Achievement Medal (8th award), and many other awards and decorations.

The family of Michael J. Munoz would like to thank him for his time and service and congratulate him on his retirement.