Let's make this birthday one to remember.

85 years old (Born on May 10, 1940)

Happy Birthday, General Wayne Downing! You've tackled missions tougher than assembling IKEA furniture and navigated situations trickier than explaining military acronyms at family dinners. From Panama to Iraq, your leadership has been legendary—proving that special operations aren't just about stealth and precision but also a good sense of humor.

Your strategic brilliance in leading the War on Terror set standards higher than your birthday cake candles this year. May today bring you fewer briefings and more laughter; after all those covert ops, you've earned some overt fun! Here's wishing you another year filled with success—and perhaps fewer surprise deployments from loved ones hiding behind couches yelling "Surprise!"