Washington ( CNN ) -- The Afghanistan commander whose career ended after a controversial profile in Rolling Stone magazine joked about his predicament and his post-military life at his retirement ceremony Friday in Washington . `` For those here tonight that feel the need to contradict my memories with the truth , remember I was there , too . I have stories on all of you , photos on many , and I know a Rolling Stone reporter , '' Gen. Stanley McChrystal said , poking at the reason for his forced retirement . McChrystal 's illustrious career came to an abrupt end when he resigned as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan after he and his staff were quoted in a Rolling Stone magazine article criticizing and mocking key administration officials . McChrystal collected his medals and verbal commendations from the top men of the military , White House and the Afghanistan ambassador with a bittersweet smile . `` I left a mission I felt strongly about . I ended a career I love that began over 38 years ago . I left unfulfilled commitments I made to many comrades in the fight -- commitments I hold sacred , '' he said . `` My service did not end as I would have wished . '' But , McChrystal said , he and his wife , Annie , will approach the future with `` hope and iPhones . '' He said the couple had spent some years apart but were now reconnected , aided by new technologies like Skype . The West Point graduate and former Green Beret was a senior official for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , Adm. Mike Mullen . Between 2003 and 2008 , he was the commander of the highly clandestine Joint Special Operations Command , which oversees the military 's most sensitive forces , including the Army 's Delta Force . `` We say goodbye to Stan McChrystal today with pride and sadness , '' Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said at the ceremony . `` Pride for the remarkable roster of achievement that he has compiled as a man and a soldier . Sadness that our comrade and his prodigious talents are leaving us . '' Said Jawad , ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States , thanked McChrystal for what he had done for his country and said `` a number of Afghans would call him a friend . '' In 2009 , Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked for the resignation of Gen. David D. McKiernan , the former U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan . McChrystal would have `` fresh eyes on the problem '' in Afghanistan , Gates said at the time . President Barack Obama tapped McChrystal in June 2009 to be the top commander in Afghanistan . McChrystal was known for his discretion and keeping the media at arms length . That perception was shattered when the infamous Rolling Stone article came out in June . He did not directly criticize Obama in the article , but reporter Michael Hastings writes that the general and Obama `` failed from the outset to connect '' after the president took office . Sources familiar with their first meeting said McChrystal thought Obama looked `` uncomfortable and intimidated '' by the room full of top military officials , according to the article . The journalist wrote that an unnamed aide to McChrystal mocked Vice President Joe Biden . McChrystal did not deny the article 's accuracy . In a statement , he called the comments `` a mistake '' and apologized for `` poor judgment . '' McChrystal said that the relationships developed in his career were the most important to him , which he said he would honor with two beer kegs after the ceremony at Fort McNair . He extended the the invitation to everyone present .
NEW : Defense secretary lauds general 's talents , service . Stanley McChrystal jokes about the sudden end to his military career . Score: 6 He is characterized as mocking part of Obama 's administration in the article .