LATHAM, N.Y.--Three New York Army National Guard officers were promoted to Colonel by Major General Ray Shields, the Adjutant General of New York, during promotion ceremonies at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham on Wednesday, October 2.
Promoted were:
• Colonel Patrick Clare, a Clifton Park resident who serves as the Deputy Director of the United States Property and Finance Office at National Guard headquarters;
• Colonel Sean Flynn, an Albany resident who serves as the Chief of Staff of the 42nd Infantry Division;
• Colonel Michael Charnley, a Churchville (Monroe County) resident who is the commander of the 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade based in Latham.
Promoting three officers to the rank of colonel at the same time is “a rare opportunity” Shields said.
Of the more than 10,000 men and women in the New York Army National Guard only 32 have the rank of colonel. The three officers promoted on October 2 “are entering a very select group of senior leaders,” Shields said.
“It is just a tremendous accomplishment,” he added.
Each of these three men have distinguished themselves in deployments to combat zones and in domestic response missions here in New York, Shield’s said.
Charnley entered the Active Army in 1991 and graduated from flight school in 1992. He served as a warrant officer pilot in Korea and Fort Campbell Kentucky before attending Officer Candidate School and earning his commission as a second lieutenant in 1998.
Charnley joined the New York Army National Guard in 2001.
He has served in a variety of positions, to include battalion intelligence officer, brigade aviation officer for the 27th Infantry Brigade Company Team, and commander of the 642nd Aviation Support Battalion.
Charnley deployed to Bosnia in 1999 as a member of the 10th Mountain Division and deployed to Kuwait in 2012. He served in support of National Guard responses to Hurricane Katrina and in Operation Noble Eagle, the security response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
He is a Master Army aviator and is Air Assault and Airborne qualified.
He and his wife Karen have four children: Nicholas, Matthew, Kathleen and Joseph.
Charnley credited everybody he’s served with in helping him become a better officer and his family for supporting him during his full-time and National Guard military career.
Flynn, a former Air Force officer who earned his commission through Air Force ROTC in 1994, joined the New York Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion 69th Infantry in 2000. He has served as a rifle company commander, commander of the 1st Battalion 69th Infantry, executive officer of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and in a number of key staff positions.
He deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005 in Baghdad with the 69th Infantry, and to Afghanistan in 2012-2013.
He responded to the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 and was part of the Operation Noble Eagle security response in 2001-2002.
Flynn’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
He is the author of the book The Fighting 69th: From Ground Zero to Baghdad, the story of the battalion from Sept. 11, 2001 to its deployment to Baghdad.
He and his wife Lori have two children, Hudson and Lucia.
In his remarks, Flynn thanked Shields and 42nd Infantry Division Commander Major General Steven Ferrari, for their faith in him. He also acknowledged the support he’s received throughout the years from his fellow Soldiers.
“None of us can be promoted without the team around us,” Flynn said.
Clare, enlisted in the New York Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 1008th Infantry as a truck driver in 1997. After being commissioned through Officer Candidate School he became a logistics officer.
He has served as a company commander, commander of the 427th Brigade Support Battalion, division logistics officer and transportation officer, and comptroller for Joint Forces Headquarters.
He deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005 and again in 2012. He has served in many National Guard domestic response missions and was part of the response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Clare and his wife Nicole have a son, Ryan and daughter, Michaela.
In his remarks Clare noted that he began a full-time job with the New York National Guard on Sept. 10, 2001. He didn’t realize then that the next day everything would change for the country and the National Guard, he said.
| Date Taken: |
10.02.2019 |
| Date Posted: |
10.03.2019 11:40 |
| Story ID: |
345764 |
| Location: |
LATHAM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: |
276 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
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