Army Astronaut, WSMR Commander Promoted to Brigadier General

White Sands Missile Range Commander Brig. Gen. Andrew Morgan was promoted to Brigadier General during a promotion ceremony May 28 at the Organ Mountain Parade Field.
Morgan, an Army Astronaut and Space Operations Officer, assumed command of WSMR on June 24, 2025.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the Army for paving a path that allowed me to serve with the finest servants this nation has to offer,” Morgan said. “I’ll continue to follow this path as long as there is a trail ahead, and when that path runs out the teammates I’ve gathered on this journey is the only thing that matters when I finally walk away.”
Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, former U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense presided over the promotion. Gainey completed command on April 29, 2026.
Gainey said this is only the second time the Army has promoted one of the 20 Army officers ever selected as NASA astronauts to General Officer. Brig. Gen. Robert Stewart, who flew two missions on the space shuttle in the 1980s, was promoted to general officer more than 30 years ago.
In attendance were many of Morgan’s family and friends including crew members of NASA’s recent Artemis II mission. From 2019 to 2020, Morgan served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station for Expeditions 60, 61, and 62.
“We’ve been the site of some of our Nation’s most critical firsts,” Morgan said about WSMR. “The first to test a nuclear device at Trinity Site in 1945. The first to launch a rocket to space from Launch Complex 33 in 1946. Across the decades, our core competencies—in open-air and missile defense, hypersonic weapons, directed energy, denied and degraded environments, and nuclear effects testing—continue to mark firsts for our country. We’re keeping America's leading edge sharp as we find ourselves in a new era of Great Power Competition.”
Morgan thanked several individuals who taught him how to lead and supported him throughout his career and talked about the importance of his network of vital connections.
“This is for all the young officers, NCOs and leaders out there that I work with daily,” Morgan said. “Team WSMR is my team today. But the foundational experiences of this team began three decades ago,” Morgan said. “The people who taught me how to lead, honed my technical and tactical craft, and how to be a good teammate are now scattered throughout this audience. To all those young leaders the greatest gift I can offer you today is the privilege of introducing you to the best teammates I’ve ever had. The greatest reward of my service isn’t this promotion; it is sharing this journey with the generation of leaders following behind me in a career forged by teammates.”
Finally, he thanked his wife, his four children and his parents for their support throughout his life.