24 January 2007

 

LTC Chris Charveron receives the Polish Armed Forces Bronze Medal from LTG Waldemar Skrzypczak, Land Forces Commander, on January 10. (more photos)

On January 10, Lieutenant General Waldemar Skrzypczak, Commander of the Polish Land Forces, presented the Bronze Medal of the Polish Armed Forces to Lieutenant Colonel Chris Charveron, Deputy Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation, U.S. Embassy Warsaw. The presentation was made in the Land Forces Headquarters in the “Cytadela” by order of the Ministry of National Defense for exceptionally meritorious services provided to the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland. Also participating in the solemn presentation ceremony were Lieutenant General Jeffrey B. Kohler, Director, U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and Colonel Stanley Prusinski, Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation, U.S. Embassy Warsaw.

Lieutenant Colonel Charveron, an officer of the Illinois National Guard who has been serving in Warsaw for some five years, distinguished himself by coordinating Peacekeeping Operations Training for thousands of Polish soldiers deploying to Operation Iraqi Freedom; conducting a Sergeants Major Academy and Command Group Orientation for new Polish Command Sergeants Majors; sending hundreds of Polish Non-Commissioned Officers to U.S. leadership courses in Germany; coordinating support by the Illinois National Guard to the Polish Multi-National Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom; and by organizing over $1.5 million worth of events supporting F-16 aircraft integration which will ultimately provide close-air support to Poland’s Land Forces.

As Colonel Prusinski commented, Lieutenant Colonel Charveron’s cooperation with Poland’s Armed Forces “...was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and the finest State Partner that a U.S. ally could ever hope to have – Illinois!”