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General Brett Funck '90 and Headmaster Scott Nelson in 2016.
Brett T. Funck, a 1990 graduate of RCDS, was recently promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General in the United States Army. General Funck currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the United States Army Reserve Command with responsibility for all Army reserves worldwide. Previously, he served as the Chief of Staff for the 82nd Airborne Division, and before that, he commanded the Fort Bragg Garrison, the largest military base in the United States. His command at Fort Bragg has been likened to being mayor of a city with some 54,000 service members, civilian employees and their families. He oversaw all operations and services on the base, including a school system with 4,400 students.
General Funck has had an outstanding and interesting career since being commissioned as an infantry officer at West Point in 1994. He earned a B.S. degree from West Point, a master's degree in human resource management from the University of Michigan and a master's in national security studies in Canada, where he was the only U.S. military officer selected for cross training in Canada's National Security Program. He also attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth.
General Funck has multiple deployments to Albania, Kosovo, Jordan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He also headed a team on a special two-year mission that searched for servicemen missing in action as far back as World War II in Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Laos, Vietnam, China, North Korea, and Europe. General Funck's many awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, a Master Parachutist Badge, Ranger tab, and a Commendation for Valor.
While a student at Rye Country Day School, Brett excelled in the classroom and was an ice hockey, lacrosse, and soccer star. He continued as a defenseman on the West Point hockey team and still plays hockey on pick-up teams wherever he finds them on his travels. His mother, Priscilla Funck, was the school nurse at RCDS until her retirement in 2013.
In 2016, General Funck was inducted into Rye Country Day's Hall of Fame and awarded the school's highest honor, the W. Lee Pierson Distinguished Alumni Award. The award has been presented annually since 1993 to an alumnus or alumna who has risen as a leader in his or her field and demonstrated exemplary service to RCDS and the community at large.
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Connections to RCDS Learning Goals:
CITIZENSHIP
- Aspire to make a meaningful and positive difference in the world.
- Demonstrate the Rye Country Day motto of "Not for Self, but for Service" through the choices they make and the actions they take.
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