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As vice president of business development and integration, MG Gary L. Harrell oversees the evaluation and execution of mergers and acquisitions and executes integration strategies for facilities acquired by Pacer Health Corporation.
Prior to becoming vice president of business development and integration, MG Harrell was a major general in the Army where he retired after 35 years of service at the age of 57. A former Delta Force commander, MG Harrell helped rescue U.S. hostage Kurt Muse from a Panamanian jail in 1989 and he pursued down Colombian drug lord Pablo Escabar. He searched for mobile Iraqi Scud missile launchers in the first Persian Gulf War in 1991, was a commander during the 1993 battle of Mogadishu which was the premise for the movie Black Hawk Down, and led the largest special operations force into combat in U.S. history in Iraq.
MG Harrell, began his career in 1973 when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. In 1997 he was assigned to the Airborne Special Forces Group in Panama and served as a commander. In 1981 he was deployed as a member of the first multinational force to the Sinai Peninsula. Over the next 20 years, MG Harrell served in various positions of increasing responsibility and in July 2000 he assumed duties as Director, Joint Security Directorate, U.S. Central Command. He took control of Special Operations Command, Central, in July 2002 where he commanded the largest special operations forces assembled since World War II, consisting of over 20,000 personnel in Northern Iraq. In April 2005, he was assigned as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations/Commander, deployable Task Force, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Force, Brunssum, The Netherlands.
MG Harrell’s awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal (with V-device and 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Clusters), Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Joint Service Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters) as well as numerous service and campaign medals. He has also earned the Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist, Master Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, SCUBA Diver Badge, Special Forces Tab and Ranger Tab.
MG Harrell is a graduate from East Tennessee State University and U.S. Army War College. | 