BOLESLAWIEC, Poland — On June 25, 2026, during a ceremony at Forward Operating Site Boleslawiec, Poland, U.S. Army Col. Michael Filanowski, deputy chief of staff- operations, Multinational Division North East, NATO, was presented the Purple Heart by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John W. Lubas, commanding general, 3rd Infantry Division, in recognition of combat injuries and actions in Afghanistan more than two decades ago.
“Everybody that deploys to combat, especially those that have traded small arms contact with the enemy, knows everybody leaves a little bit of something on the battlefield,” said Lubas.
The award honors Filanowski's actions that resulted in him receiving a traumatic brain injury with ruptured ear drums on May 31, 2005, when, as a second lieutenant, he led a combat patrol with the 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
While operating in the Nadir Shah Khot Valley of Afghanistan's Khost province, Filanowski's vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device consisting of two 107 mm rockets. Despite sustaining wounds in the blast, Filanowski dismounted his disabled vehicle, returned fire on enemy positions, rendered immediate medical aid to seriously injured crew members, and led his platoon to suppress and defeat the threat.
“There’s never enough time to get ready; you have to stay ready,” said Filanowski. “You can't get ready during an emergency, you have to already be ready.”
Filanowski, a native of Shelton, Connecticut, is married to Jaclyn Buzgo Filanowski and is the proud father of a daughter, Evangeline Grace. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2004, where he was commissioned as an infantry officer.
From 2005 to 2009, he served in various leadership roles within the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, including rifle platoon leader, weapons platoon leader, company executive officer, and battalion assistant operations officer. His service during this period included a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan and a 15-month deployment to Iraq.
“I was very lucky. I was in this situation with professionals. We looked after one another not just in combat but afterwards,” said Filanowski. “I did this because I love my country and family, we need to protect it, it was just my duty. I did nothing extraordinary that anybody else who isn't in the unit wouldn't have done.”
After completing the Maneuver Captains’ Career Course, Filanowski served from 2009 to 2012 in Baumholder, Germany, as a company commander with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, and as a troop commander for the brigade reconnaissance troop with the 170th Brigade Combat Team, which included a 14-month deployment back to Afghanistan. He went on to command a company in the 5th Ranger Training Battalion, Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, in Dahlonega, Georgia, until 2013.
Following his graduation from the Command and General Staff College, Filanowski served as an operational planner at III Corps Headquarters from 2015 to 2016, deploying for 12 months to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. He then served as a battalion operations officer and executive officer for the 2nd Squadron, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, from 2016 to 2018, deploying to Poland for seven months in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
“People fight hard for what's behind them, they don't hate what's in front of them,” said Filanowski, elaborating on if he would respond differently now being married with a daughter. “They love what's behind them, and that's why they fight. I would do the same thing now with a family, as I did when I was a single 23 year old lieutenant.”
After strategic planning roles in the National Capital Region with the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Strategic Studies Group and Headquarters, Department of the Army, G-3/5/7, from 2019 to 2021, he took command of the 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, leading the squadron during its historic first Stryker rotation to South Korea in 2022.
Filanowski is a graduate of many of the U.S. Army's most demanding courses and schools. His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Ranger School, Airborne School, Jumpmaster School, and the Bradley Leaders Course. He has also completed advanced staff and strategic studies at the Maneuver Captains’ Career Course, the Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and the National War College.
“What makes us so effective is the NCO corps,” said Filanowski. “From my first sergeant to my platoon sergeants, to my senior scouts, down to my team leaders, those gentlemen, those professionals, knew their role advising officers on how to best accomplish a mission resulting in an extraordinarily lethal and effective cavalry troop.”
While a recipient of numerous personal awards and decorations throughout his career, Filanowski remains most proud of the unit citations earned alongside his fellow soldiers. Specifically, he holds in highest regard the Valorous Unit Citation and the Meritorious Unit Citation awarded to his unit while serving with Delta Troop, 5th Cavalry Regiment, in 2011 for outstanding service in Afghanistan's Kandahar province.
“Whatever happens it’s not going to be an individual activity, you're going to go as a team and come back as a team,” said Filanowski. “You're going to be scared, it's just a fact. You have people that depend on you and you on them and as a team you will make it through to the other side.”