Gavin Lawrence, a 1991 graduate of Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote (Cheltenham Township), officially assumed the duties of Lieutenant General, the second-highest rank in the U.S. Army, on November 20.

Lawrence now serves as deputy commanding general of Army Materiel Command and senior commander of Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. He was nominated for the promotion in 2024.

From the announcement:

Following his graduation from Bishop McDevitt, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in international relations and commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. His advanced education includes a Master of Arts in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College and a Master of Arts in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.

An All-Catholic lineman at Bishop McDevitt, you can watch General Lawrence address the Royal Lancers after winning the District 12 Championship in 2019 below:

According to a post by the Friends of Bishop McDevitt Facebook page, Lawrence said he was focused on playing football and had no plans to make the military his career when he arrived at the U.S. Military Academy in August of 1991.

“Something changed in me in terms of how I looked at the world,” he said. “I learned what duty meant, I learned accountability, learned the value of service, the value of teamwork, and what it meant to be part of something greater than myself.”

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Photo: Wikipedia, Facebook