Good morning , ladies and gentlemen ,
I'm Brian Newby and I'm honored to be
your masters of ceremony for this
momentous tribute . I would like to
welcome all of you to the special
occasion , market retirement of Mr
Benjamin Brown , where we pay tribute
to his 51 years of combined federal
service . We're also proud to share
this time with Mr Brown and his family
to recognize his distinguished
government career . Ladies and
gentlemen , please enjoy the musical
selection and honor of Mr Brown .
Ok ? And the
star you just
no
comes the a and
just give her the nod when she starts .
Yeah ,
JC . He used
19 , ok .
Your heart
and I won .
Please rise for the arrival of the
official party and remain standing for
the singing of the national anthem
followed by the invocation .
Oh , said , can
you
holy eight .
What so
and
ask me being
whose broad stripes and
great stuff guys
a right
for watched
and dreaming
the it
was still there .
Yeah .
Was let's stop . Are
spangled
or
that's
and the
pastor Norma Gordon will now deliver
the invocation .
Father . We thank you for this
wonderful occasion for Mr Ben
Brown deacon . Ben Brown .
We thank you for his dedicated service
of 51 years unselfish ,
love , kindness , and
tenderness and love for mankind . We
thank you for this wonderful service
retirement for him and God , we ask
that you bless his future journey in
this life . Amen . Amen and
amen .
Thank you , Pastor Gordon .
You . You can take your seats . I ,
no , that that much . Good morning
General Bowman , Colonel Freeman , Miss
Collins , Chief Hazen , honored guests ,
family and friends . Welcome to the
special occasion , marking the
retirement of Mr Benjamin Brown . We
are gathered this morning to witness
the ceremony of a very full and
productive 51 years of a combined
government career . We also gathered
here to say thanks to a great division
chief . Thanks for his leadership that
made the joint multimedia center
essential in supporting the Secretary
of Defense , the chairman , joint
chiefs of staff and countless
Department of Defense organization .
Just as this is the end of one phase of
his life , it is the beginning of
another . So our gathering today also
gives us opportunity to wish him every
success in the future as he looks
forward to new challenges that is to
come . I extend especially a warm
welcome to Mr Brown's wife , Helen ,
their daughters , Chantelle Brown and
Shaa Wright and also Takisha Rheingold
who was unable to attend . We also want
to acknowledge their son , the late
Cedric Burgess who's here in spirit
at this time , Colonel Freeman , the
commander of the Joint staff support
center will now introduce the guest
speaker for today's ceremony .
Ok .
Well , Mr Brown , if you ever wondered
what a celebrity felt like with
paparazzi in their face , I think
you're getting that treatment today .
Um , I guess that's what happened when
happens when you own your own
photography shop . Um , so good
morning everyone . What a great day to
be in the Pentagon today . I had the
privilege of introducing our presiding
officer that will honor the Brown
family for their 50 plus years of
service to our nation . Lieutenant
General , retired Mark Bowman is a
combat veteran who served in the army
for over 38 years . He has many notable
tours throughout his career that you
can read about in your program . When I
met with , uh , Lieutenant General
Bowman earlier , uh , this week , he
asked that I only discuss two of those
positions . The first is his last tour
on active duty where he was the
Director of Command Control ,
communications , computers and cyber
the joint staff J six . This is where
my family first met General Bowman ,
first , my husband during his tour on
joint staff and then my own tour
working for General Bowman for a short
period . Uh , on the joint staff , the
second position that General Bowman
asked that I bring up is his tenure as
commander of the Joint Staff Support
Center . When I first told General
Bowman , I was selected to command the
JSSC . His eyes lit up and he
immediately started relaying all the
great things about the organization .
Much of that was about the people that
are dedicated to our diverse ,
demanding and no fail mission . It was
during his command at JSSC that then
Colonel Bowman made a lasting
impression on a veteran soldier , Mr
Ben Brown upon retirement . And after
spending some dedicated time with his
family , General Bowman has continued
dedicating himself to our nation
through serving on boards , consulting ,
senior mentoring and speaking on the
many lessons he learned throughout his
long and esteemed career . He is the
strategic mind behind many of the cyber
efforts being implemented today . His
leadership lives on through those he
mentored and led and we are blessed to
have him representing the JSSC family
to honor Mr Brown on his retirement ,
sir . Thank you for being here today
for spending time with team JSSC this
week and honoring Ben and his family by
officiating today's ceremony , sir .
The floor is yours .
Good morning . Uh Thanks
Jagger , appreciate it . Um That's her
call signed by the way . Um
Good morning . Thank you to all of you
for being here . Thanks to JSSC , for
all you do . Thanks to Ben and
thanks for coming to honor him and his
career today . He and his
wife , Helen , his twin daughters ,
Chantel and Shania , his brother
Cornell and his third daughter ,
Takisha , who's not able to be here .
Um You should be so proud to be
immediate family members of Ben ,
family is the most important to
his colleagues and friends . Thank you
as well for being here . Ben served our
nation as a soldier and a civilian for
over 51 years . I've had the
pleasure of knowing Ben for 25 of those
51 years . The last 25
Ben is a quiet and caring professional .
He's a phenomenal leader . He's the
type of leader that we all aspire to be
and want to work for and with , he's a
role model and he's a friend of mine ,
I submit to you that Ben is a national
treasure . Let's unpack that thought
just a little bit . Um Ben
worked in an area where it was no fail
missions , day in day out ,
one misstep . You're done .
Who in here knows the quickest way to
get his three star general , the
director of dis's attention . Who , who
knows that Laurie , I have a four star
call , sir , four star or any of the
four stars people . Um that support
that four star they call , it's a
massive problem right away . Um It's
never happened . They've never done it .
That's exactly right . So Ben supported
uh the most senior military officials
in dod . He also supported the
Secretary of Defense . So let's
take a different journey . Let's take a
journey through the eyes of the
chairman that he supports . It .
Started with General Powell . Ben and I
worked um with and for General
Powell at the same time . Uh we didn't
know each other . Then , uh , when I ,
I talked to Ben about that , I said ,
hey , did he ever chew you out ? He
goes . No ,
I said , yeah , I know he was the
gentleman general , but I did get
chewed out . It was about this
time of the year . A little later in
December , it was at the J six
Christmas party and then Major
Bowman was standing there trying to
hide a keg of beer . And the General
came up , shook my hand and told me to
get the heck out of the way . He wanted
a beer . Um That was my butt chewing .
Um But you know , a then skinny little
dude trying to hide a keg of beer . It
didn't go that . Well , it was a dumb
idea . Um Moving with
the Times with General Powell , it was
the very first time that Ben got the
mission to both produce and direct the
chairman . He crushed it . Next
came General Shalikashvili . Ben was
totally at ease with General Charlie
and his family . General Charley had
that deep European accent and he meant
business whenever he said anything . Um
But he was so comfortable with Ben and
the team that he come in and joke
around with them . Um , Ben was also
asked by General Shay's family to do
the video honoring him at his funeral .
The family requested it another home
run . Next came General Shelton , the
airborne General Ben and the team had
to put together a video of the general
jumping out of planes . Um , Ben didn't
actually jump out of the planes with
him . He put the video together , but ,
uh , other people got that opportunity .
Um , it also included the general's
time in his hometown in North Carolina
when it was viewed at the general's
retirement . There wasn't a dry eye in
the room . The family was so happy that
they sent a handwrit letter . Thanking
Ben and his team for what they did next
came General Myers Air Force General .
Um He was scheduled to do a video with
Ben , but at the last minute , he got a
call from the White House , had to go
meet with the president . So he gets
done meeting with the president . Comes
back , goes straight down to what was
then the VRF video recording facility .
Um and he shows up and he says , wow ,
you guys are still here . It's 530 you
still got suits and ties on . That's
the professional environment that Ben
was in and led .
They did a um another video continuing
to move with the Times and it was for
General Myers retirement as well . It
was shown at the retirement ceremony
after it was shown the general was
supposed to speak . He got up and said ,
thank you , Ben . Thank you team .
After that , I have nothing to say
except thank you . Another home run .
Next came Admiral Mullen
moving with the Times . Ben struck up a
relationship with this navy captain
named John Kirby . We all see John
Kirby on , on TV , all the time . He
was the navy two star who was the
Department of Defense Pao . Um
when I served now he is a um a White
House spokesperson . Um And uh
so John said , hm , we got this
VRF thing downstairs . Um I need to
know more about it . So he called Ben
up and he asked them to come to the
chairman's dining room and have uh have
lunch with him together . They came up
with the concept and the program of
ask the chairman , this was a program
that was broadcast
worldwide and people could ask the
chairman questions and he would respond
to them in real time . It continued on
another huge success and then it was
general pace and it was game
on this time . We were totally outside
the box . Ben and his team were , they
were told uh you need to do a a session .
It's gonna be live for general pace and
it's not gonna be in your neighborhood .
It's gonna be in Worcester
Massachusetts . Ben went up there a
couple of days early , walked in and
was put together by a bunch of
civilians . Um not to knock those guys ,
but there's certain traditions that we
have in the military things have to be
right . So Ben walked in the flags
weren't right . So he correctly
arranged them , uh folded them ,
calculated the exact number of steps
that the chairman needed to take when
he got in and then told the chairman
when you take the 13th step , I need
you to do a half left face and render a
salute . This was to a live
audience of 2500 people and it was
the gold star families . Those are the
families who have lost a service member
um in service to our nation .
It went perfect . They also went a
little further . One mom had another
soldier who was deployed . She hadn't
spoken with that soldier in quite a
while . And then boom , that soldier
popped up on the screen and there was
mom and they talked right there all
life . No fail . It went
perfect . Um Ben came back and still
had a job . Ok .
The next three chairmen uh I worked
with um both of us worked with them .
They're all , they were all bosses and
our friends . Um
General Dempsey . Ben loved working for
General Dempsey . So did I , I did it
three times . Um I was a repeat
offender . General Dempsey used them
extensively . Um an
example of how they work together is
they had this , this script and it was
for an advertisement uh for the Super
Bowl . So in the script , they had to
toss uh the General a football um
little pressure . Um he's not a big guy
um but he did catch it , then he
delivered his remarks . Boom , done
and walked off . He earned the , the ,
um , the , um , nickname is , uh ,
one take Dempsey . It took him one time
and he was , he was done . Um , that's
just the way he did . He was
comfortable with it . Um , next was
General Dunford . General Dunford was
an amazing guy to work with wicked
smart , super intellectual . We would
do a product , a product for him and it
would get to him and it probably be
because of time a 98% product and he'd
spend the next 48 hours and he'd make
it 97 or 98% . That was him . He was
so dedicated . He was just totally
focused , but using
JSSC and the media wasn't really the
way he wanted to do his job . So
um on comes Mark Millie , um
we all know him . Uh he was the
chairman on 6th January and life
changed . Everything became very
political and charged . Um
So any media presentation that he
did had to be ultra perfect .
General Millie is a special forces
officer who accepts
nothing but perfect . He demands it .
Um People are afraid of him but
he General Millie and his wife were so ,
so comfortable with Ben and the team
that they came in one time and they
were gonna do a presentation . The
general looked at it and the speech
that his guys did for him , he said
that I still cut it . So Ben and his
guys , General and Mrs Millie sat down
rewrote it and presented it . It went
perfect . Um
Ben became closer to him than most
people will ever understand and saw a
side of him that very , very few people ,
um except those of us who know him
personally expect from him .
Um , he's a gruff , grumpy , hard
to work with guy ,
but inside that tough guy is somebody
who cares about people and families .
And what's right . Finally , we have a
new chairman , um General CQ Brown .
Um , our world events since he took
over , since a day after he took over
have not been good . Um There is
nothing good in the news that's
happening . Um You can look at it that
we're at war in a lot of places . We've
got more soldiers deployed than most
people would ever think of . So General
Brown has yet to use the capabilities
of JSSC and those that , that uh , Ben
provided . Um , but he will trust me
again . All of these were no fail
mission . We had about nine chairmen
discussed there . I can't do public map
but that's 36 stars .
Um , I had the pleasure being the ops
officer first in uh , um JSSC .
So I'd always look around , pay
attention to what's going on around me .
Uh , make mental note and I knew all
about these guys , but they didn't work
for me . I didn't have to worry , worry
about them . Um , and then
as I saw the stuff that they were able
to do the things that they were able to
pull together . I was just stunned and
then I got lucky and got the command
job . I have a bad habit . I only push
buttons that work . If the button don't
work , why push it ? Um But
sometimes the button works , but you
got to check up on them . I never once
had to check up on Mike Neal
Bob Hughes or Ben or
any of the people in JSSC , many of the
smiling faces um in here
actually made me at one time look good .
That's an accomplishment .
So I think that sums it up
and who can argue with me about Ben
being a national treasure because he is
Ben , my friend . Thank you for
everything . I salute you
too funny .
OK . Thank you General Bowman . In
recognition of Mr Brown's exemplary
service , Colonel Freeman will now
present him with his end of tour award .
Ladies and gentlemen , please rise
attention to award
citation to accompany the award of the
Exceptional Civilian Service award to
Benjamin A Brown . Mr Benjamin A Brown
is awarded the Defense Information
System Agency , exceptional ci civilian
service award for distinguished service
with the Defense Information Systems
Agency from March 2009 through December
2023 . Mr Brown distinguished himself
remarkably in leadership ability ,
technical experience and multimedia
services in the National Military
Command System , mission support and
the National Military Command Center
operations . He exhibited extraordinary
leadership in overseeing the joint
multimedia centers $35 million high
definition television production
facility for audiovisual recordings and
media management , supporting senior
leaders , mission partners and war
fighters as the first ever for the
joint multimedia center . Mr Brown
implemented and executed a new
comprehensive budget plan that
identified funding requirements for all
major equipment within the joint
multimedia center . This plan now
serves as the new standard reference
for F for future division project
planning . Mr Brown led the way in
producing and documenting the 150th
anniversary of the Congressional Medal
of Honor Society and Foundation
celebration that was held in the
prestigious Pentagon Hall of Heroes in
2011 . The event was a herculean event
and a go to example for a best
broadcast service . The breadth of Mr
Brown's work has been essential to the
national military command System and
the defense Information system agency's
organizational success and it has been
and it has had significant and
impacting contributions to the war
fighter . Mr Brown has served 13
chairman , Joint Chiefs of Staff and 16
defense Communications Agency slash
defense Information system agency
directors over the course of his career .
The distinctive accomplishments of Mr
Brown's ref reflect great credit upon
himself . The Defense Information
System agency and the Department of
Defense .
Thank you , Colonel Freeman . Ladies
and gentlemen , please remain standing
for the reading of the retirement
certificate . General Bowman . Please
join Mr Brown to present this award
dear Mr Brown . Please accept my
heartfelt . Thanks and congratulations
of on behalf of the men and women of D
ISA for your years of dedicated and
professional service to the United
States and the Department of Defense .
You have completed your career with
integrity and distinction and I am
proud to have had the honor to serve
with you . We've had the privilege to
witness your superb efforts as the
chief , multimedia and Visual
Information Division , your efforts
directly contribute to this is
providing world class multimedia
products and services to the most
senior levels within the department ,
including the Secretary of Defense ,
the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other
mission partners . Your legacy will
continue as a result of this countless
number of future leaders you have
touched nurtured and mentored along the
way . I salute you for your selfless
service to our nation best wishes and
all your future endeavors . Sign
Lieutenant General Robert J Skinner ,
Director Defense Information System
Agency .
Yes , sir .
Please take your seats . General
Bone will now present Mr Brown with the
Presidential certificate of
Appreciation . I extend to you my
personal thanks and sincere
appreciation of a grateful nation for
your contributions of an honorable
service to our country . You have
helped maintain the security of the
nation during a critical time in this
in , in its history with devotion to ,
to , to duty and the spirit of
sacrifice and keeping the proud
traditions of our military service .
Your commitment , dedication has been
an inspiration for those who follow in
your footsteps and for all Americans
who join me today in saluting you for a
job , extremely well done . My best
wishes to you for happiness and success
in the future . Sign Joseph R . Biden ,
junior commander in chief .
Next General Bowman will now present Mr
Brown with the Secretary of Defense
Certificate of Appreciation . Mr Brown .
I would like to express my sincere
appreciation for your exemplary service
to our country and the Department of
Defense , your knowledge ,
professionalism and unwavering ability
to succeed is a sentiment , sentiment
to your legacy of accomplishments in
audio visual production . You have been
a valued visionary with standards of
leadership and a reputation for
excellence that will permanent
throughout the dod for years to come .
You have my heartfelt wish for all
enjoyment , re retire for , for an
enjoyment , reti enjoyable retirement
and unlimited success in your future
endeavors . Sign Lloyd J . Austin , the
third secretary of Defense . OK .
General Goldman will now present Mrs
Brown with the spouse certificate of
Appreciation .
Mrs Brown . On the occasion of your
retirement of your husband from the
Department of Defense , I would like to
commend you for your unselfish faithful
and devoted service . Your steadfast
support , sacrifice and understanding
help to make possible for your
husband's last contribution to United
States of America .
Mm
General Baldwin will now present the
disciple .
OK . That , that would work .
Ok .
Thank you , General V . You can , you
can take your seat , MS Collins will
now present Mr Brown with the JSSE
Frame .
I just wanna say briefly that it's been
a , a complete honor to work with you .
Ben . Ben is one of those professionals
that has the JSSC tr uh He's been here
as a military professional , a
contractor , professional and a AGS
civilian . And I must say I've always
been so impressed by your compassionate
leadership , your unflappable
professionalism and your dedication to
both the mission and your people . So ,
on behalf of JSC .
Yeah , OK . Someone else beside you ,
I think the uh portrait of the uh
multimedia television studio . Um I
will say I , I like to joke that the um
lunar landing didn't happen . I won't
happen right here . But uh but uh thank
you Ben and also
on behalf of the JSC leadership team ,
a small token of our appreciate .
Thank you , Miss Collins . Mr De Jesus
will now present a special gift to Mr
Brown on behalf of the joint multimedia
center .
Just um
I might have to cut my , my comments a
little bit short , short on time , but
there's a lot of things I wanna say
about Mr Brown . Um I'm currently his
branch chief , one of his branch chiefs .
Um I was also a BT C facilitator as a
contractor with him and I was also his
uh superintendent when I was here in
the military . Um I didn't , I still
don't believe that today is the day Mr
B and , and , and it's , it's kind of
like an inside joke because I think Mr
B been trying to retire for the past
seven years . It's always next year ,
it's always next year . So we , we , we
never know , maybe , uh you might send
it , we don't want to retire . But um
I've always heard Mr B talking about uh
the VRF and his love for the VRF and
that's what sparked it . And uh this is
what created the JMC JCM . Um
So , I kinda understand why you don't
wanna go because it's hard to let go of
something that you love , something
that you created something that you ,
you were there when it , when it began .
Um But I want to assure you that the
JCM , the JMC , the VRX
are in good hands with the team that we
have right now . Um
uh uh uh uh to Mr Brown . Um It's a
little like right here . It's a
bunch of photos of Mr Brown . I mean ,
so , on behalf of uh JMC , Mr Brown ,
we uh we appreciate you and uh
and uh I'm not sure if you , you work
on this , this model of came ,
but uh uh this is uh another , another
gift from the JMC on behalf of your VRF
JMC family . Thank you for your years
of service and leadership . This ,
that , that was good . That's good . I
like that . Thank you , Mr De Jesus .
Also , Mr Brown still has film that can
run in that camera bit ,
got it at this moment right now , Mr
Brown would like to present his family
with flowers and gifts closure
on the gift first . And that I
over the years there have been times
when my customers wanted someone to
sing the national anthem , they didn't
want to play , they wanted some . So
Miss Angela from
10th grade , eighth grade when they
just start , 10th grade has been coming
in , helping us singing the song and I
didn't know that but she's in
theatrical . And so that has really
been made a way for her as she
progressed up the ladder . She's
attended college and I think she's
finished already . And so we're just
excited what she's gonna do . And I was
just so happy that I could play a role
in you coming and helping us out . And
so this is just a token just to say
thank you for those .
But mm mm
and of course that couldn't have
happened without the approval of her
mom .
I want to recognize my pastor that's
here . Amen . Thank you so much for
being here . Passing , bless , bless to
meet you .
Thank you .
So the Lord bless me with some
great darts . OK . Power the tea
up a little bit tissue .
I , so they're
twins . Uh So do we back up a little
bit . So when I lost my grandfather ,
excuse me , today is my day .
Yes , sir . Yes , sir . So I lost my
grandfather five days later ,
24 . I thought it was very
special when you were born
consistently . One , they've always
been very sweet daughters , their mom
and I are very proud of them . And uh I
was trying to make basketball stars out
of them . I was in high school . In
fact , I was coaching the team for a
while , but we are grateful to the
Lord for what he's done for us and the
blessing and then when is going on , we
get married and then we try to get the
other one married . I mean ,
I actually see .
Thank you . Mhm .
We were so bad that when Tavia , she
went to school and she back to spy on
math . Yeah , they eventually got
married and we were so happy to have as
part of our family de has been doing
great things and I am so glad to be in
his company time to go down to Virginia
Beach . And so I'm just looking forward
to the great things of the lot your
back .
Yeah . Ok .
So throughout this work , I did not
walk alone . I had somebody to
walk with me . So my
wife has been there uh please
every step of the way . Sometimes I
didn't want to hear what she said if
you're but all
in all it's been a blessing . Amen . Uh
He ever since you and I said we do
our , our life has changed and I'm so
grateful to God that he puts you in my
life . I look forward to
Mr So uh talking about
you see this here
that
OK to I
mhm . Ladies and
gentlemen , it gives me great pleasure
to present Mr Benjamin , a Brown
Division chief Joe Multimedia Set .
Thank you so much
before I get into my narrative . Uh
It was just a blessing to hear how the
general was summing up some of the
things that happened uh with the
chairman and all and it's , it
sounds like fun and it was fun . But
then there were some challenges there
that we had to meet and I thank God
that I was able to do it and I couldn't
have done it . And as I looked around
the room , almost 80% of the folks in
the room , almost 80 have worked for me .
And I am so grateful to what we
have accomplished over these 30 some
years . So thank all of you , you know
who you are , you know , and you know ,
some of you travel from Denver and all
the places just to be here with me
today and I'm so grateful for that .
All right . So my
time on the stage before I exit stage
left . Ok . Well , well , well ,
uh before I get into this again , my
military career , my contracting career ,
it's , it's , it's all been good . I've ,
I've enjoyed myself . It's been great .
I appreciate the
accomplishments and of course , uh I'm
just gonna talk about one or two , but
there was so many and general Bowman
hit on some , but it was , uh , a
blessing . Uh , ma'am , uh , from
small town America like you are
for someone myself . And , uh Serra Ma
curry over there who , uh , helped me
into this . We came from small towns
but yet , and still there was a huge
impact on our national security . And
so for that , I am very proud of the
accomplishments . So let's see if we
can get through this . Uh , I need
somebody to watch on how we doing .
No , your day . Oh , my day . Ok . All
right . All right . Ok .
First of all , good morning , family
and friends and thank all of
you for joining me here today to
celebrate my retirement day . Thank you .
First , I want to thank God for 51
years of service to the Department of
Defense for he has kept me
through the good and through the bad
and to the pastor of our service .
Thank you for being here and to the
Holy Light members . Thank you for
being here as well to
Lieutenant General Mark Bowman , who
is my former JSSC commander .
Thank you for taking the time , sir to
host my ceremony . My heartfelt
appreciation . Thank you so much
to the joint staff officers . I'm
looking for my J 36 . I don't see him .
But anyway , in his absence , to the
joint staff officers , the mayor of the
N MC C , the National Military Command
Center who is a Lieutenant Colonel
Shane and
to my commander
Colonel Angela Freeman
to my deputy commander . This Laurie
Collins by senior listens by
Sergeant Hayson to all my fellow
division chiefs . Thank you
for being there and thank you for
being there for the JMC . Uh We cannot
have accomplished the things that we
have accomplished without each of you
and your support to my
lovely wife of 42 years . My
Children , Ksa Chantelle Shania
and Derek . You are mean the
world to me and you . Why I'm standing
here today to my brother
Cornell , his wife Laverne .
You always been there for me and I want
you to know , I really appreciate it to
the 844 facility
team , project managers ,
audiovisual technicians and video
engineers throughout my years of
operations , television service .
You never let me nor the
JMC fail . Thank you .
And I see a lot of your faces here . Uh
When there were problems , those guys
knew how to patch around the situation ,
we knew there was a general officer
coming , they know how to take care of
it . I go one gentleman , I don't know
where he came in from , but he came in
today special to be with me and I so
much appreciate that and to
my former supervisor , Mr Michael Neal
and Mr Bob Hughes who's joining me on
virtual .
Thank you both for your mentoring and
camaraderie over the many years of
service and to all of
you that's here today . Thank you so
much for being here . To help me
celebrate 51 years of service .
So let's get started . Let's talk about
some highlights . Now ,
folks from my church know that I , I
like to move around . I don't like to
be locked in behind me . II I need to
get out there but I don't have a rest
mic with me today . So I guess I had to
behave myself for me . It all started
June 1972 a week after graduating from
high school , my classmate then
Mr Waddell Carey . Now Sergeant Major
Carey retired , said to me ,
will you join the army with me ? And
Walter Barber ? So back in those
days , the army had something called
the buddy plan . And so we came in on
the B plan . Now , I want you to know
the buddy plan was good as long as you
was in basic training because you had
someone to talk to , you know ,
somebody that knew you and you knew
them . So it was good . Also part of
that deal was the army said they was
gonna pay us $288 a month .
Now , back then , that was a lot of
money . So it , it , it didn't take him
long to buy me $288 . Hey , I'm
ready . But it was great . So
after basic training with the army , my
army buddies and I , we all went
separate lo separate directions , they
went to schooling and other assignments .
Fast forwarding my career 9 , 11 years .
So I'm at Fort Gordon , Georgia . I'm a
staff sergeant in the United States
Army . And it's 1983 I
was working on a special project and in
this project , uh I was supposed to
deliver this back to the Pentagon .
Well , I had never been to the Pentagon
before . I didn't know anyone here . So
I accepted the assignment . I bought
the it device to the building and the
coordinations was made with then
sergeant first class Donald Chapman ,
who said , where is Donald at ? Donald ?
There is do .
And I bought the equipment into the
building , put it wherever it's
supposed to be . And then sergeant
first class Chapman said to me ,
how would you like to work at the
Pentagon ? I thought
with my mom living in Baltimore , that
sounds very dandy .
However , being a young soldier , I
knew the army wasn't really gonna give
you anything good lo and
behold after I got back to Fort Garden
three weeks later . And , and this was
quick , I received orders
to come to Fort Myers Virginia with
duty in the Pentagon . That
ladies and gentlemen was the turning
point of my career .
The television duties at the Pentagon
recording facility VRF . That plaque
that they gave me a few minutes ago .
It was different of jobs I had been in
before I noticed that the work and the
mission that I was doing and uh let me
stop and say , I can't tell you what I
was doing because I do , you know the
side that I got to shoot if I tell you ,
right . So , so what I was doing had an
impact two our
nation and our national security .
It made me feel a sense of importance .
I , I felt like someone , you know , I
felt like I was uh kinda important .
So I did that job and I
got off my track here now . So let me
find myself every
day . There seemed to be some type of
operation mission . It made me feel
special knowing that I was supporting
the country . My supervisor , Mr Mike
Neal and other teammates taught me
another side of television that I
wasn't aware of . They taught me how to
direct and they taught me how to
produce .
After that came the big jobs
and the first big job was to direct a
production with them . The late General
Colin Powell ,
it was great like General Bowman said
that he came in , he did what he was
supposed to do that only propelled me
to do even more now that I look
back , I've managed and directed videos
and messages for over 13 chairmans that
have sit in that seat . They were all
unique in their television skills .
And I believe my team and I gained
their trust . And for that , I am so
grateful . Moving
forward in my career in 2018 ,
my supervisor selected me to manage the
joint multimedia center . It's a
$35 million television production
facility inside the N MC C . And
it's where we have produced many videos ,
crisis events and where we
delivered breaking news to Pentagon
senior officials and to the warfighter .
But also there we produced
shows for Elmo , the Sesame
Street Gang and that
included uh the financial expert , Miss
Susie Orman , comedian Larry , the
cable guy , the honorable John
Glenn , who was one of our astronauts
and that's just to name a few . So
all in all , there's been a lot of
accomplishments in the JMC and the VR I ,
I am so thankful for my
management observing and inspiring my
talents and my desire to work in
television seemed like the more I
wanted to do Mike Neil kept propelling
me . He sent me out to the National
Broadcast Association out in Las Vegas
and uh I learned more and so it , it
just kept making me a a better person .
So I am and I want to thank all of my
bosses and customers for allowing me to
achieve my full potential and give me a
chance to make a name for myself .
For you , entrusted me with your
projects , your dreams and your
visions . Thank you
to all my JMC and VRF teammates . And
there's a lot of you sitting out there
over the many years you have shared
with me your vision on how we as a
team could accomplish more than we
ever dreamed . I want to say
thank you from the bottom of my heart .
For each of you believing in me .
You have been my second family
to my family . You have always loved me
and reminded me how much I am the apple
of your eye , Derek .
Hell . And I are so happy . You are
part of the family and soon to
celebrate two years of marriage with
Chona . It
is rather difficult
to celebrate 51 years of service .
Brad . Would you bring that easel over
for me , please ? It is difficult to
celebrate 51 years of service . Just
put it right here in the middle without
remembering those that have gave all
and is resting in the heavenly home .
There are many who have left us
over the years . However , there are
two , I'd like to mention today that
had a great impact on the joint
multimedia center and myself .
First , we're gonna talk about Air
Force Senior master sergeant ,
retired Mamie May Burke ,
whose picture you see in front of you
ma was a loan photographer assigned to
the office of the chairman with a huge
demand for her skill set . And many
times she would reach out to the JMC
for support and over the years with her
help , the JMC relationship to support
the chairmans has grown by leaps and
bounds . And so we
want to say that we lost Mimi in May
of 2021 . But the groundwork
that she laid , we are still doing it
today . And so for that , I am grateful .
Secondly , I want to talk to the
second picture there . His name is Mr
Juan L Grimes . He's a US army master
sergeant , retired . He's a member of
the JMC . He was labeled the hardest
working person in the Pentagon . Would
you agree with that Mr Holmes
as an audio visual specialist , Mr
Grimes knew his job and he was very
good at it . He and his team would
average annually over
12,000 video
clips a year , over 12,000 video
clips , these video clips
went around the world to analysts that
was stationed in different places
remotely around the world . And when
these analysts came back to the
Pentagon , they came down and they
thought they were gonna find this huge
area where there was a lot of people ,
but it was only two people and they
were so surprised of what
they saw and many of them would
congratulate Mr Grimes for a job well
done for just 1 to 2 people doing
that much work . Have we lost one
last January of 2022 ?
And so in sharing my thoughts and
accomplishments and all the memories
and there are so many , these are the
things that I will take with me as I
take the next steps in life .
This has been a long and fulfilling
journey . My wish and my hope
is for the future of the JMC , will
soar to even higher heights and the JMC
will continue to explore new technology
and create new paths and how to support
our war fighter , our senior decision
makers and the Department of Defense .
And before I get to my closing , I
wanted to on behalf of my family . And
I thank Mr Brian
Newby and his team
for the work that they've done for
this ceremony , the escorting the
food , everything . I , I just , I
wasn't allowed to do anything . So uh
please join me and give him a big round
of applause . Mr Brian .
In my closing , I've selected
some statements from a song that you
all know . Well , and it was the song
that was played at the beginning of the
service by Lee Greenwood .
If tomorrow , all the things I work for
were gone
and it's just my Children and my wife .
Oh , thank God for living here today .
C the flag still stands for freedom
and they can't take that away .
Yes , I'm proud to be an American
and I won't forget the men ,
the women they gave that right to me .
I will stand up next to you
and fight for her today . God bless you
and may God bless the United States of
America .
OK .
Thank you , Mr Brown . Did you say
1972 ? Ok . Just wanna make sure .
Thank you so much . Thank you so much .
All right . So we have a little special
celebration . I mean a , a selection .
Uh So Miss Angela Alexander will , is
gonna come up and she has a little
special , uh , song and a small
presentation for you , Mr Brown .
Hi . Um , so I , um , yeah , so I
didn't expect to , like , actually get
so emotional today . Um , Mr Ben , I'm
really honored to be a part of your
ceremony , uh , today . Um , it sounds
like you've done . I don't even know
what , uh , JCM stands for . I don't
know what it stands for . Um , you know ,
I don't really know anything about this
but I , you know , I can tell that
you've done just an amazing , an
amazing job , you know , so
congratulations on 51 years .
Congratulations on being able to retire .
Um , and this is just um kind of a , a
tribute to you . Um , you know , me and ,
but this is an idea from like me and my
mom uh just to kind of send you off .
Well , um , so yeah .
Hm .
Hope you , your sense of wonder
you get your , I always keep
that hunger . May you
never take one single breath for
granted . God forbid
love ever leave you empty
handed . I hope you still feel
small when you stand beside the ocean
door closes . I hope one more opens ,
promise me that you'll give f the
fighting chance . And
when you get the choice to sit it out
or dance ,
hope you dare hands
o those mountains in the
distance first
for the path of least resistance .
The living might mean taking chances ,
but they're worth taking .
Loving might be a mistake , but it's
worth making .
Let some help and heart leave you
better . When you come close to
selling out to reconsider ,
keep the heavens above more than just a
passing glance . And when you get the
choice to sit outdoor
dance , I hope you .
Yes , hope you
hands ,
hope you did and
I hope you'll still feel small and
you'll stand beside the ocean
whenever one door closes , I hope one
more opens . Promise
me that you'll give faith the fighting
chance . And when you get the
choice to set it ,
dance , I hope you
and I hope you did .
Hand you
hands . Hope you
today . Hands .
Oh , that
you do this every day . Oh ,
so OK .
You know , it's funny how Children
grows up , you know , uh they start ,
uh , but I'm a proponent even in my
church . Uh , if we can do something to
help our young people , uh , you know ,
let's do it .
Yeah ,
I thought I had a front row seat at the
voice .
Thank you , Angela .
The greatest military
power in the world . Look up .
See , I stand for peace .
True on injustice .
I stand for freedom . I am
confident . A little allergen .
I am right . When I'm throwing
my fellow bandit , my head is held a
little high . My coats ,
let them true . I
bow to no one
more than 200 years . I have fought
every battle of every war .
Edinburgh . So aromatic .
That's all I wanna do of France .
Features of Norman . Wow . Ok .
Now , so career
Vietnam Sands of Kuwait
Iraq in the mountains of Afghanistan
Law School of other places . All
forgotten by all , but not by those
who was there with . I read my soldiers
self , Marie ,
I was there . I followed them .
They washed over me . I
was trying .
I was in a small hill . It was evil ,
rather to and it's hard still my
sailors and marines cheer for and now
it was proud . I have been sore
burn , torn and trampled on the streets
of countries that I help set free
does not hurt . Yl in this ,
I have been soiled , burned , torn and
trampled on the streets of my own
country
when it's done by those who about seven
title with that
shall but we're gone . The right hand
strong .
Mhm .
I slipped the bonds of earth for my
bank point on the moon . I stand guard
over the new frontiers of space . I
have been a solid witness to all of
America's worse , the finest
hours . But my finest hour
comes when I'm torn into strips on the
field of battle for my wounded comrades
when I've flown at half max the honor .
So seven ,
you hear me ? The Marie
were not laid in the trembling arms or
reading model . Wow ,
his son or daughter at the graveside .
But they're falling in love . One .
I am . Wow .
18 , it's open
order . Long way .
The mercy of God long . They are
Brown .
I'd like to present to you , sir . The
words of all Gods , a veteran and a
patriot .
Enough said , yeah ,
ok .
The flag used in the ceremony uh today
was flown over the Pentagon on December
5th . So again , ladies and
gentlemen , please join me in a round
of applause for Mr Brown's 51 years of
total service to our nation . Thank you ,
Mr Brown .
Uh ladies and gentlemen , this
concludes today's ceremony on behalf of
Mr Brown and his family . Thank you for
taking part of this time honored
ceremony . Please enjoy fellowship and
refreshments in the reception area
located just right behind us . Mr Brown
family will join you there in a moment
right after a group photo with family
and friends and past VRF and JMC alumni .
Also as a note due to another follow on
event at 1 p.m. we have to vacate this
hall right here at noon , 12 p.m. Thank
you for attending the service and have
a good day ,
something like talking about .