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FTCC announces Col. John Wilcox as commencement keynote speaker

By Staff Report, posted May 13, 2026 on BizFayetteville.com

Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC) is honored to announce U.S. Army Col. John Wilcox as the keynote speaker at the college’s 64th Annual Commencement Exercises this Friday, May 15.

FTCC will celebrate the graduates of the class of 2026 in two ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Crown Coliseum. Wilcox will deliver the keynote at both ceremonies.

U.S. Army Col. John Wilcox

During his nearly three-decade long military career, Wilcox has held numerous leadership positions. Most notably for the local community, he was the Fort Bragg Garrison Commander from 2022-24, serving the nation’s largest military installation by population and supporting more than 280,000 military personnel, civilians and family members.

Prior to that command, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, where he contributed to the development of the organization’s 2040 strategy and led force optimization planning teams that set and will shape the enterprise for years to come.

His final military assignment was as J39 for the U.S. Special Operations Command, where he was responsible for synchronizing information, influence, Psychological Operations, and Civil Affairs activities across five Theater Special Operations Commands and more than 80 countries.

Wilcox is a graduate of The Virginia Military Institute and was commissioned into the Military Police Corps in 1999. He volunteered for Special Operations Civil Affairs in 2007.

He holds master’s degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School and the United States Army War College.

FTCC will recognize thousands of graduates at Friday’s commencement.

The morning ceremony will include graduates from the Allied Health Technologies, Funeral Services, Nursing, Continuing Education, Business and Computer Information Technology programs.

Graduates from the Arts & Humanities, Math & Sciences, Public Service, and Engineering & Applied Technology programs will be recognized in the afternoon.

The public is welcome to attend the ceremonies. Both events will be streamed live at this link:

https://www.faytechcc.edu/media-services/ftcc-commencement-ceremony-livestream/

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