66°
WEBSTER, Mass. - Army National Guard Brigadier General Brian K. Balfe will be the featured speaker for the 48th annual Polish-American Veterans Communion Breakfast on Sunday, March 4, 2012.
General Balfe currently serves as deputy commanding general.
Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, who arranged for this year's speaker, will serve as master of ceremonies at the event. The breakfast will be held at the PAV post on Ray Street in Webster opposite the former National Guard Armory, beginning at 9:15 a.m.
"I know that the PAV members and auxiliary will be pleased to hear from such an outstanding military leader as General Balfe. It's a special honor to have someone with his exemplary service record share his thoughts on the Army, the role of the National Guard in our nation's military, and the service and sacrifice of soldiers today and in earlier generations," Moore stated.
Brigadier General Balfe is a 1983 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He holds a 2003 Masters Degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
General Balfe is a graduate of the United States Army Airborne School, Field Artillery Officer Basic Course, Multiple Launch Rocket System Cadre Course, TACFIRE Fire Support Course, Field Artillery Officer Advanced Course, Command and General Staff College, Electronic Warfare Staff Officers Course, Senior Transportation Officer Qualification Course, and the Infantry Pre-Command Course.
His active duty assignments include Multiple Launch Rocket System Firing Platoon Leader, 8-inch Cannon Battery Fire Direction Officer and Composite-Battalion Fire Direction Officer, 24th Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia; Battalion Liaison Officer and Battalion Logistics Officer, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Essayons, South Korea; Battalion Fire Support Officer, 7th Infantry Division, Fort Ord, California; and Commander, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix VII, Camp Phoenix, Kabul, Afghanistan.
General Balfe has held multiple leadership and command positions since joining the New York Army National Guard in October 1990, including Battalion Fire Direction Officer, Battery Commander, Battalion Logistics Officer, Division Fire Support Officer, Division Fire Support Staff Officer, Battalion Operations Officer, Battalion Executive Officer, and twice Battalion Commander. Selected to command 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, he became the first Field Artillery Officer to command a New York Army National Guard infantry unit. General Balfe also commanded 1st Battalion, 156th Field Artillery (Light), which he deployed to the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, LA in August 2001.
In October 2001 he also deployed a battalion task force to New York City in support of civilian authorities following the attacks on the World Trade Center. A year later, he was selected to command 106th Regiment, Regional Training Institute, Camp Smith, New York. In April 2006, General Balfe was selected as the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Commander. He continued in that role and assumed command of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix VII in April 2008 through the end of December that same year.
Highly decorated, Gen. Balfe's awards include the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, and the National Defense Service Medal. He is also a recipient of the Order of Saint Barbara, a military honor society named for the patron saint of artillerymen. General Balfe resides in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife, Tara Boehm Woodman
The PAV Communion Breakfast has featured a number of outstanding speakers throughout its nearly 50 year history. Previous speakers include Bishops Timothy J. Harrington and George Rueger; Congressman Richard Neal; former State Rep. Kenneth M. Lemanski, D-Chicopee; Col. Richard Kattar, Commandant of Ft. Devens; Col. Frank Baran of the Massachusetts National Guard; former executive director of the Governor's Alliance Against Drugs, Thomas Cullen; former Nichols College Presidents Lowell Smith and Debra Murphy; former Assumption Basketball Coach and Executive Director of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Joe O'Brien; former Massachusetts Adjutant General Wayne Wagner; former Worcester State College Basketball Coach Tom Moore; former State Rep. and current State Sen. Richard T. Moore; former State Rep. and former Region I Mitigation Director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Al Gammal; State Rep. Paul Kujawski, D-Webster; Vietnam Veteran and Author Frank Grzyb; Lt. Col. Henry L. Cyr, Jr. (USAF-Ret.); former State Sen. and Massachusetts Public Safety Secretary James Jajuga, Major Wayne Seelig (USAF-Ret.), who formerly led the JROTC program at Bartlett High School, and Major General Timothy Wickstrom.
The breakfast and speaking program on March 4 will be preceded by Mass at 8 a.m. for the Polish-American Veterans at St. Joseph's Basilica in Webster. Veterans and Auxiliary are reminded to assemble outside the church at 7:45 a.m.
