Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame Welcomes Two New Inductees

(by Pvt. 1st Class Wilfred Salters, U.S. Army Combined Arms Command) Fort Leavenworth honored its latest inductees into the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame, May 13, 2026 at the Lewis and Clark Center.

Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis and retired Brig. Gen. Colleen L. McGuire were recognized for their significant contributions to the achievement, tradition and history of Fort Leavenworth and the U.S. armed forces.

“Today is a special day. It is a special day for our community because we get to honor two individuals who, through their honor, duty and integrity, have given so much to the Army and Fort Leavenworth,” Maj. Gen. Karen Monday-Gresham, the U.S. Army Combined Arms deputy commanding general – United States Army Reserves, U.S. Army said. “These inductees represent guideposts for how Army officers should conduct themselves.”

Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis was born in Champlain, New York, on Feb. 3, 1805, and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy West Point in 1831. In 1861, Curtis was named head of the District of Southwest Missouri and ordered to clear the state of Confederates because of his extensive military experience.

His most important contribution to Fort Leavenworth came in 1864 when he led the Union to victory at both the Battle of Pea Ridge and the capture of Helena, Arkansas, a key Mississippi River port. In 1864, he was appointed head of the newly established Department of Kansas at Fort Leavenworth, where he eventually ended major Confederate operations west of the Mississippi River.

Dr. Curtis S. King, a retired U.S. Army major and former Fort Leavenworth history instructor, accepted the honor on Curtis’s behalf.

“Curtis had to be very tactically adept,” King said. “He is an undefeated general, and there aren’t many of those around. He won at Pea Ridge, he won Westport — which was three days’ worth of battle — and again at Mine Creek, so Sam Curtis knew his tactics.”

“He was not only an undefeated general, he was the savior of Fort Leavenworth,” King added. The second leader honored at the ceremony was Retired Brig. Gen. Colleen L. McGuire, whose induction spotlights a modern legacy of pioneering leadership. This lifelong commitment to the uniform started with a critical choice she made just after finishing high school.

McGuire enlisted in the Army Reserve after high school while attending the University of Montana. Upon graduation, she received a Regular Army commission and branched into the Military Police Corps.

In 1992, she graduated from Fort Leavenworth’s Command and General Staff College. From there, she took on many assignments, including operations officer for the 16th Military Police Brigade, public affairs officer for Joint Task Force-Somalia, executive officer for the 503rd Military Police Battalion, and public affairs officer for United States Army Alaska.

After an assignment to the Office of the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon, she returned to Fort Leavenworth to command the 705th Military Police Battalion. She later served as commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks. In 2006, McGuire deployed to Baghdad for 19 months as provost marshal for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq. In 2008, she was promoted to brigadier general and appointed commanding general of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command. She retired in 2012.

“Today, with great humility, I accept this honor not as a recognition of individual achievement alone but as a reflection of the people, the mentors, the soldiers, the leaders who’ve shaped my journey and the extraordinary institution that is Fort Leavenworth,” McGuire said.

The Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame, established in 1969, recognizes individuals whose service at the post significantly shaped the Army’s history, reputation and mission. With the induction of Curtis and McGuire, Fort Leavenworth honors both its origins and its ongoing commitment to leadership, education and excellence.

Watch video of the full ceremony on the Combined Arms Command Facebook page

For more photos see the DVIDS article