On Nov. 4, Army Maj. Michael Liscano Jr. arrived at the University of Georgia to attend his son’s oath of enlistment ceremony. A second-generation Army tanker, Liscano wanted to show up as both a father and a tanker as Cadet Michael Liscano III began the process of becoming the family’s third generation in uniform.
Liscano Jr. is in the midst of retiring from the Army after 20 years in the Armor branch and is well known on social media as “The Armor Major.” His short, often funny videos of life in the Army’s mechanized world have earned him over 15,000 followers on Instagram.
The younger Liscano was swearing in as an ROTC cadet at UGA. Liscano earned his way to scholarship status after a year in the program, which requires an enlistment oath into the Inactive Ready Reserves. Normally the oath would have been administered by his military science professor, Lt. Col. Weston S. Layfield.
But Layfield instead offered the opportunity to the cadet’s father.
“We were both surprised. For me, it was like a huge honor. It was like a passing of the torch because my dad is retiring soon,” Liscano III said. “So, I get to carry on the Liscano legacy in a way because both my grandfather and my dad were in the Army. It was a huge honor, like having my own dad swear me in.”
As a Dad, I’m so proud & honored to have the privilege to swear-in my son, Cadet Michael Liscano III @saintmichael_3
into the @UGAArmyROTC
program?. His grandpa, SSG(ret) Michael Liscano Sr(RIP) would be SO PROUD! Will there be a future “The Armor MAJOR?”??????. Congrats Son?! pic.twitter.com/TSqimNu9kC— Michael Liscano Jr. (@jr_liscano) November 12, 2024
Liscano Jr. arrived in his dress blues, complete with combat medals and ribbons for deployments that include Iraq twice, once to Afghanistan, and once to Poland for Operation Atlantic Resolve.
“As soon as I walked in there, they were kind of taken back, and the professor of military science,” Liscano said. “They finished up the paperwork, and he comes up to me and says, ‘Would you like to swear in your son?’ I said yeah — it truly was surprising — I was just gonna be there as a dad to support him.”
Liscano Jr. then asked his son to raise his right hand, and the two recited the oath of enlistment. Liscano III is now the third generation to serve in the Army. Staff Sgt. Michael Liscano, Sr., was the first to join in 1973 — an era when military service, said Liscano Jr., when both those who joined and society’s view of the military was very different than today.
“A family member said, ‘Why would you join an organization that’s full of criminals that use drugs?’” Liscano Sr. said. “My dad said, ‘Well, what’s the difference between that and what I’m doing now? At least if I join the army, I will have a future and can better myself, get out of here, and explore the world.’”
And he did, being stationed in Germany and South Korea. Liscano III said that Liscano Jr.’s experience traveling the world with his dad was the same example that influenced his son to pursue serving in the Army.
Liscano Jr.’s father was also present at his commissioning ceremony, pinning on his son’s 2nd Lt. bars at a ceremony in 2003 at the Georgia Military College.
Liscano III said his dad had long been his role model and mentor, helping him learn the fundamentals of soldering, from packing his rucksack to mentoring his leadership skills.
“I grew up moving around, and I saw the values that the Army has, especially when it came to my dad being a great leader, being out with his men,” Liscano III said. “I want to embody that. I thought, hopefully, one day, I’ll be as great as him when it comes to leadership — he’s the gold standard in my eyes.”