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The University of North Georgia (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) Athletics Department has announced the kickoff of its award-winning Operation Nighthawks of Honor initiative, which recognizes service members who were former or current Â鶹ÊÓƵ students.

The 2022-23 initiative is Â鶹ÊÓƵ Athletics' yearlong tribute to the nation's armed forces and will honor retired Col. Ben Malcom. The 1950 graduate commissioned as a second lieutenant Infantry training officer in Fort Knox following graduation. He was stationed in Korea from Jan. 28 through Dec. 29 in 1952. During this assignment, he was stationed in North Korea at the head of the Donkey Units, which consisted of North Korean partisans who used guerilla warfare to fight North Korea. 

Malcom retired from active duty in 1979 and served his country in two wars and for 29 years. In 1996, with his collaborator Ron Martz, Malcom published his book "White Tigers: My Secret War in North Korea," which is about his experience in the Korean War.

In 2014, Malcom was inducted into the Georgia Military Veterans' Hall of Fame for his bravery and acts of selfless sacrifice while serving as a company-grade Infantry and Special Operations officer in the Korean War and as a field-grade Infantry officer in Vietnam. Malcom is credited with and known throughout the U.S. armed forces as laying the foundation of today's Special Forces, the Green Berets.

The eighth annual Operation Nighthawks of Honor ceremony will be held throughout this academic year with all proceeds from the initiative donated to the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Boar's Head Brigade Corps of Cadets Endowed Scholarship Fund. Nighthawk Athletics has donated over $4,300 since the initiative's inception on the 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

One of only six federally designated senior military colleges in the nation, Â鶹ÊÓƵ is The Military College of Georgia, and its nationally recognized Army ROTC program attracts students from across the state, region and nation.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ has commissioned more than 50 general officers, six of whom are currently serving in a variety of command positions. Many other alumni of Â鶹ÊÓƵ completed successful military careers and hundreds are currently serving on active duty today at all levels of command.