MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WHNT) — A captain within the Huntsville Police Department (HPD) has received a promotion in the Alabama National Guard.

Brig. Gen. Michael Izzo was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the Alabama National Guard during a ceremony at Joint Force Headquarters in Montgomery on August 4.

Izzo graduated from the Alabama Military Academy in 1995 and has served ever since, most recently as Chief of Joint Staff at the Joint Force Headquarters Alabama. He serves as a captain for HPD and commands the the Special Operations Division.

Izzo will be reassigned as the Alabama Army National Guard’s Assistant Adjutant General.

Despite this achievement, Brig. Gen. Izzo humbly deflected the success back to what helped him get to the position.

“Today isn’t about me,” Izzo said, “it’s about how I got here. Somebody asks how do you become a general and you look out and it’s your family.”

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey praised Izzo as a “true Alabamian” in a ceremony on Friday.

“When you look at his life, one thing stands out,” Ivey said about Izzo. “This is a man who has committed his life to serving others.