SALUTING HOBEY: General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Princeton University alum, salutes as the national anthem was played before the Princeton University men’s hockey team took on Dartmouth last Saturday night. Milley ’80, a former Tiger hockey player, was on hand to take part in the “Hobey 100 Weekend,” celebrating the 100th year of the Hobey Baker Rink. Standing to Milley’s left is Princeton Director of Athletics John Mack. (Photo by Shelley Szwast, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

Mark Milley learned some valuable lessons from playing for the Princeton University men’s hockey team in the late 1970s.

“Personally I think sports are a very valuable thing to develop leadership skills,” said Milley, who played defenseman for the Tigers. “Team sports teach you a lot of lessons about teamwork. If you look at the Princeton hockey team, you are going to see kids who are coming from Canada, you are going to see kids from every province in Canada and then you are going to see kids from the United States. You are bringing together people of diverse backgrounds, diverse skills, diverse attributes, and you are forming a cohesive whole to a singular purpose. That is what team sports is all about.”

Utilizing that experience, Milley, a 1980 Princeton grad who also participated in the school’s ROTC program, rose through the ranks of the U.S. Army to become a four-star general and is currently serving as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Last weekend, General Milley, 64, returned to his old stomping grounds, taking part in the “Hobey 100 Weekend,” celebrating the 100th year of the Hobey Baker Rink.

“It is a unique experience coming to Princeton, it is unique in a lot of ways and hockey is a big part of it and a big part of my life,” said Milley, talking Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink as the Princeton men’s team battled Dartmouth, wearing a throwback No. 6 Tiger jersey, the number he wore during his college career like his hero Teddy Green of the Boston Bruins.

“The most memorable thing is the bonding and the cohesion and the camaraderie that is developed through a shared experience at a young age, through shared good times and shared bad times and sacrifice. Some of these guys I haven’t seen in two or three decades or in some cases four decades but we are picking up like it was yesterday. That is the bond you get a young age.”

Before Princeton took the ice against Dartmouth, Milley got to address the guys with a pregame talk.

“The basic message was you had a good game last night; you didn’t come out on the right side of the scoreboard but you had a good game,” said Milley, referring to Princeton’s 4-3 overtime loss to No. 9 Harvard on Friday which saw the Tigers squander a 3-0 third period lead. “You played well and it was a tough loss, but don’t let that eat at you. You have got to move on, you have to pick yourself up. One of the great lessons of sports is you get knocked down, you pick yourself up, and bounce back. So tonight is a different game, everything is different.”

Some 40 years after playing for Princeton, Milley and his teammates are still picking each other up.

“That part of it is important, to maintain connectivity with those that went before you,” said the square-jawed Milley, who sipped coffee as he watched the game. “We do a Zoom call every quarter. Everyone has ups and downs, some of these guys have struggled in various way of life through health or personal tragedy. You will always see one of the other guys pick them up. It is really nice to see that, no matter how old you are, whether you are 18 or 19 and you are here as a freshman, sophomore or junior or whether you are a successful businessman or whatever in the course of life. It is always good.”

Milley enjoyed a very good moment on Saturday as he got to do a ceremonial puck drop before the start of the contest.

“That was great, especially coming off the ice,” said a chuckling Milley, who nearly took a tumble as he headed back to the stands after the drop. “I had to go back to my days of playing hockey. I thought I exhibited exceptional athletic skill there, not falling at 64 years old.”

Over the years, Milley has kept up with the Princeton hockey team.

“Coach [Ron] Fogarty is a good guy, I have talked to him a bunch of times,” said Milley. “He has been very, very good with me. Whenever I get back I do something with the team.”

In addition, Milley makes time from his busy schedule to keep up with the NHL.

“A lot of times the sound is off and I just keep it in the background,” said Milley, a native of Winchester, Mass., and an unabashed supporter of the Boston Bruins along with the other Boston pro sports franchises.

“As you can imagine, we put in some pretty long hours. Literally my joint staff in the Pentagon, without exaggeration, are working 12-14 hours, and in some cases 18 or more hours a day. It is seven days a week, the world doesn’t stop spinning.”

For Milley, getting off that carousel to spend some time at Hobey Baker Rink was inspiring.

“They have done a lot of renovations over the last
15-20 years,” said Milley, noting that the venerable building is the oldest on-campus hockey venue in the country. “The basic structure is the same though, the stone and all of that stuff. It is a beautiful rink, structurally. They did a lot of work underneath in the locker room and stuff like that which are really great improvements. This rink has really significant historic value to not only the University but to the country.”

Milley’s Princeton experience played a significant role in his development as a person and a soldier.

“This school meant a lot to me and I learned a lot here academically, intellectually, and I grew a lot as a human being,” said Milley. “This school gave me much more than I probably deserve. So all of my life all I wanted to do was to serve and to be a servant leader for others and be involved in a cause that is greater than myself. This school imbued that spirit and ethic in me.”

Seeing that spirit as he visited the campus last weekend left Milley feeling good about the future.

“I get inspired by going to see these kids,” said Milley. “I get inspired by their positive attitude, their morale, their innovation, their curiosity, and their ethics. These are good young people. At the end of the day, I am very optimistic about our country because of the youth of our country.”