NY Army Guard Command Sgt. Major Edwin Garris, a former Buffalo police officer, retires after 37 years of military service

Garris, the highest ranking enlisted Soldier in the New York Army National Guard, served in three wars

Please Note: The name of Major General Michel Natali was misspelled in the photo caption. The Division of Military and Naval Affairs regrets the error.

Latham, New York (07/08/2025) — New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Major Edwin Garris, a former captain in the Buffalo Police Department, was honored for his 37 years of Army service during retirement ceremonies conducted on July 7, 2025, at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham.

Garris had served as the top enlisted leader in the 11,600-member New York Army National Guard since 2023. He was replaced by Command Sgt. Major Leylan Jones, who formerly served as the command sergeant major for the 369th Sustainment Brigade.

Garris is a veteran of three wars. He served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991 as an air defense artilleryman and then deployed to Iraq in 2004 and to Afghanistan in 2008, as a member of the New York Army National Guard.

During his retirement ceremony, he thanked his wife Cynthia and his daughters LeShante, Valicity, and Angelena for their support during his years of Army service.

He also thanked the Soldiers who he has served with and leaders who mentored him during his career.

During the ceremony, he was awarded the federal Legion of Merit and the New York State Conspicuous Service Medal.

He was also presented with a retirement gift by the command sergeants majors of the Army National Guard contingents from the other states in the Northeast United States with whom he served.

Garris enlisted in the Army in 1983 and was trained as an artilleryman in 1984. He graduated as the honor graduate of his class and was assigned to Rivers Barracks in Giessen, Germany, as a member of the 2nd Battalion, 92nd Field Artillery Regiment.

He went on to serve with the 24th Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and then retrained and transferred to Air Defense Artillery, redeploying to Germany assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

In 1990, he deployed to Saudi Arabia with the 1st Battalion, 5th Air Defense Regiment, as part of Operation Desert Shield, the response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. He continued to serve there as Desert Shield turned into Desert Storm, the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Garris left the active Army in 1994, and after a break in service joined the New York Army National Guard in 1999.

He served with the 1st Battalion, 127th Armor Regiment and in January 2004 he joined the 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery, where he trained for a military police mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom prior to deploying from 2004 to 2005.

He served as an operations sergeant with the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from 2005 to 2007, when he reclassified as an infantry Soldier and joined the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, which was deploying to Afghanistan.

Garris served as the operations sergeant for the squadron during the 2008 deployment to Afghanistan and then became a troop first sergeant after returning to New York.

In 2009, he was assigned as the division fires operations sergeant major of the 42nd Infantry Division and in 2012 he took on full-time duties as the operations sergeant major for the FEMA Region II Homeland Response Force.

In October 2013, Garris deployed to Guantanamo Bay as the command sergeant major for the 102nd Military Police Battalion and served as the Joint Detention Group senior enlisted leader.

Garris then served as the command sergeant major for the 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery, from June 2015 to December 2019, when he was assigned as operations sergeant major for the 42nd Infantry Division for deployment to Kuwait.

The division served as the headquarters component of Task Force Spartan, the 10,000-Soldier Army force in the Middle East during 2020.

Garris served as the command sergeant major for the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from 2021 until taking on the assignment as the New York State Command Sergeant Major in July 2023.

His awards and decorations include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal W/ Campaign Star, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal, and the Combat Action Badge.

He and his wife Cynthia have been married for 39 years, and plan on moving to Texas.

Media Attachments