[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14516]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL RYAN BODGE

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, today I wish to thank and congratulate my 
defense fellow, Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Bodge, on a successful year 
serving in my office. The expertise and experience that Ryan brought to 
my team was invaluable, and he will certainly be missed after he 
leaves.
  Prior to his assignment as a defense fellow, Ryan served as the 
commander of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Bagram 
Air Field, BAF, in Afghanistan. He led a blend of more than 500 
coalition and contract personnel responsible for the defense of 36,000 
personnel, a 27-kilometer perimeter, and the Air Force Central 
Command's busiest airfield with more than $3.5 billion in combat assets 
to include two specialized teams: Fly Away Security and Tactical 
Security Element personnel. His squadron was Tactical Control to Task 
Force Solid, responsible for the Bagram Ground Defense Area.
  Ryan was born and raised in Cold Spring, NY, and he enlisted in the 
Air Force in 1992. He served as an F-16 and A-10 aircraft weapons load 
crew team chief and then in a special duty as a professional military 
education instructor. In 2003, Ryan commissioned to become an officer 
after successfully completing officer training school. He has served as 
a flight commander, convoy commander, officer in charge of training and 
resources, operations officer, high-risk response leader, major 
command, USAF, staff officer and two-time squadron commander. Ryan has 
deployed in support of the following missions: Southwest Asia, 
Operation Iraqi, and Enduring Freedom, as well as Resolute Support and 
now Freedom's Sentinel. He has served on the Air Education and Training 
Command Security Forces staff as an executive officer and chief of 
force protection programs and technology.
  Ryan's humble character rarely does justice to his accomplishments 
and accolades. However, he does speak very proudly of his wife, 
Tiffany, from Valdosta, GA, and their son, Garrett. Military families 
are true testaments of both strength and pride. They are constantly 
challenged by deployments, changes in duty stations, and uncertainties. 
These hurdles create resiliency which the Bodge family patriotically 
embodies. Ryan's family are his pride and joy and will equally be 
missed by our office team.
  While we will miss having Ryan in our Capitol Hill office, I know 
that he will be moving on to greater things. I want to again thank Ryan 
and his family for their service to our great Nation and congratulate 
him on his promotion.

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