God bless you, Dr. Gates. You are truly an honorable man of courage and conviction. You were the right man, in the right place, at the right time, when you chose to come to A&M. I believe the same is true now of your decision to serve our county. As much as we will miss you, we are grateful that you will be watching over our servicemen and women, and providing your strong leadership in determining our defense policies.
Please come back “home” when you’ve completed that service. You will remain in the thoughts and prayers of your Aggie family always.