Showing posts with label BRONZE STAR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BRONZE STAR. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

BIOGRAPHY: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN FORBES KERRY


FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

On February 1, 2013, John Forbes Kerry was sworn in as the 68th Secretary of State of the United States, becoming the first sitting Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman to become Secretary in over a century.

Secretary Kerry joined the State Department after 28 years in the United States Senate, the last four as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Secretary Kerry was born on December 11, 1943, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, one of four children of the late Rosemary Forbes Kerry and Richard Kerry, a Foreign Service Officer.

Shortly before he graduated from Yale University, Secretary Kerry enlisted to serve in the United States Navy, and went on to serve two tours of duty. He served in combat as a Swift Boat skipper patrolling the rivers of the Mekong Delta, returning home from Vietnam with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts.

Back in the United States, Secretary Kerry began to forcefully speak out against the Vietnam War. Testifying at the invitation of Chairman J. William Fulbright before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he asked the poignant question, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" He also began a lifelong fight for his fellow veterans as a co-founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and later as a United States Senator who fought to secure veterans’ benefits, extension of the G.I. Bill for Higher Education, and improved treatment for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

In 1976, Secretary Kerry received his law degree from Boston College Law School and went to work as a top prosecutor in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, where he took on organized crime, fought for victims' rights, and created programs for rape counseling. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1982, and 2 years later, he was elected to the United States Senate where he served for 28 years.

In 2009, Secretary Kerry became Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, assuming a leadership role on key foreign policy and national security issues facing the United States, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, nuclear nonproliferation, and global climate change. His service as Chairman built on his previous Senate work that included helping to expose the Iran-Contra scandal and leadership on global AIDS.

As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, he worked to learn the truth about American soldiers missing in Vietnam and to normalize relations with that country.

In 2010, as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary Kerry was instrumental in the ratification of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) Treaty, a vital nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia that helps steer both countries away from dangerous nuclear confrontations.

In his 28 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary Kerry chaired the Asia and Middle East subcommittees where he authored and passed major legislation on international drug trafficking, international money laundering, humanitarian aid, and climate change, and he helped negotiate the UN’s genocide tribunal to prosecute war crimes in Cambodia.

He also held senior positions on the Finance, Commerce, and Small Business committees, as well as served as a member of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, where he worked across party lines to try and reduce the country’s debt and strengthen our economy. Prior to his departure from the Senate, Secretary Kerry was the seventh-most senior Senator.

Secretary Kerry was the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States in 2004.

Secretary Kerry is the author of best-selling books, including A Call to Service: My Vision for a Better America and This Moment on Earth, a book on the environment which he co-authored with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry. Together they are proud of a blended family that includes two daughters, three sons, and three grandchildren.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

AIR FORCE TECH SGT. RECEIVES 4TH BRONZE STAR


FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
Col. Eric Ray, commandant of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School, presents Tech. Sgt. Ronnie "Bo" Brickey his fourth Bronze Star April 27, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo/Rachel Arroyo)  


EOD air commando receives fourth Bronze Star
by Rachel Arroyo
Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs

5/15/2012 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- In high school, Ronnie "Bo" Brickey, a thrill-seeking rodeo bull rider from Oregon, was looking for a career that would quench his thirst for excitement.

Brickey found his path when a neighbor's brother, an Air Force recruiter, urged him to look into explosive ordnance disposal.

Since joining the Air Force in 1999, Technical Sgt. Brickey has been on 500 combat missions and has rendered 200 incendiary explosive devices safe.

Brickey was recently presented his fourth Bronze Star at the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School, Hurlburt Field, Fla., where he works as an instructor advising on terrorist capabilities and improvised explosive devices.

The Bronze Star is awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States.

Brickey was awarded this fourth star for exceptionally meritorious service as a team leader during his most recent deployment to Afghanistan.

Colonel Eric Ray, commandant of USAFSOS, presented Brickey his Bronze Star in front of his wife, Miko Brickey, and three children - son Blake, 9, and daughters Lilly, 4, and Daisy, 6 months.

"Sergeant Brickey will tell you 'I was just doing my job,' but the job he chooses to perform is vastly different from other jobs," Ray said. "You, Sergeant Brickey, choose the EOD motto, 'initial success or total failure' as your career. You are truly the quiet professional, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that."

As team leader, Brickey was responsible for disposal of more than 6,000 pounds of unexploded ordnance items, 70 improvised explosive devices and 24 weapons caches.

He successfully disarmed a sophisticated IED with an anti-tampering device that would have prompted detonation with movement in excess of three millimeters.

Brickey was involved in more than 20 troops-in-combat situations. He performed lifesaving medical treatment when two Army soldiers he was patrolling with were struck by an IED. In less than five minutes, he cleared the area of secondary devices, reached the soldiers and administered care.

Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Breece was on a mission with Brickey when he was struck by an IED. Brickey said he remembers seeing Breece fly up and down, administering immediate medical care and then carrying him 300 meters through grape rows back to the MEDEVAC.

"Carrying him to the MEDEVAC felt like it took forever, but, in reality, it only took a few minutes," he said.

Months later, Brickey received a Facebook message from Breece that read:

I wanted to write you earlier, but I didn't know your name, and plus I've been really busy. I want to thank you for helping out when I was hurt. It's kind of foggy now, what happened, but I think you helped to save my life. I was extremely scared I was going to die, but you stayed by my side reassuring me till I got on the bird. Thank you so much.

Brickey said receiving a fourth Bronze Star as a result of his leadership is truly an honor.

"I really appreciate it," he said. "During my first two deployments, I was only a staff sergeant. There were people who outranked me, but I was still given team leader duties, so that made me feel good."

Brickey has become so seasoned as a result of his experiences that it takes him about 20 minutes from the point at which he finds an IED to the point at which it has been cleared, he said.

He passes this expertise and on-the-job training from multiple deployments to his EOD team members and his students at USAFSOS.

Both Blake and Lilly Brickey said they were proud to watch their dad receive his fourth Bronze Star.

Though her husband has spent much time away from his family, it is rewarding to see he is making a difference, Miko Brickey said.

"It is an honor for me to watch him succeed and to see all of the hard work he puts into his job."

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