Tune in to hear our special guest Ron share his thoughts about one of my Purple Thoughts!
Ron Breland - Retired Soldier and Warfighter Nation Chaplain U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ron Breland (Ret.) served in the United States Army from 1990 to 2005 as a DoD Certified Firefighter and a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Specialist. As a third generation firefighter, Ron realized early that his destiny was to serve. In 1993, Breland volunteered for the humanitarian-turned-combat mission in Mogadishu, Somalia where he engaged the enemy on their own ground. Unbeknownst to Breland at the time, he suffered a minor Traumatic Brain Injury after a truck explosion. He was also a Quick Reaction Force Member at Swordbase, and thwarted a surprise attack on his basecamp by two Somali insurgents, which he quickly dispatched during the evening of October 3rd. A tour to the war torn region of Kosovo would come later, in 1999, where then Sergeant Breland was hand-picked by the XVIII Airborne Corps Command Staff and named the Task Force Falcon Fire Chief, serving under then Brigadier General Carlos Sanchez. Breland successfully ran fire stations on three base camps in two countries while forging mutual aid agreements between the United States and other Balkan nations. During this tour, Breland’s specialized team responded to a Special Forces Team that was killed after driving over an anti-tank mine, which seriously affected Breland’s morale. Ron would not be diagnosed with PTSD until 2001, just before 9-11-01. As a Squad Leader serving in Ar Ramadi, Iraq from 2003 through 2004, Breland led his Quick Reaction Force on over 300 missions outside the wire during their tenure in the Sunni Triangle. His Battalion, having taken heavy casualties throughout the year, the most of any single Battalion level unit at that time during OIF, Breland sank deeper into his PTSD symptoms and depression. SSG Breland was medically retired in July of 2005. The experiences and positions held both in the Fire Service and as a combat-proven leader would serve the nation’s First Responders well as he transitioned into the next phase of his professional life. After medically retiring from the United States Army in 2005, Ron Breland served as the New Mexico State Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordinator, a division of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. There, Breland also served as the Program Manager of New Mexico Task Force-1, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Task Force under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Support Function - 9, and personally trained thousands of Military and First Responders in the fields of Incident Command (ICS), Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), Vehicle-Borne IEDs, and Suicide Bomber Prevention Training in only two years. Breland was also selected as a member of the Department of Homeland Security's focus group to examine and establish response actions of First Responders; a cumulative report which directly served in the development of Homeland Security Presidential Directive-19 (Combating Terrorist Use of Explosives in the United States). This elite group was derived from an International community of Bomb Squad Commanders, Hazardous Materials professionals, and other response personnel. Ron also taught Counter-Terrorism Courses for the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Domestic Preparedness, New Mexico Tech, and the Nevada Test Site; all members of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium. Ron now serves as a Chaplain through a unique Military Outreach Ministry; his wife’s 501 (c)(3) - Warfighter Ranch. This organization exists to help heal the invisible wounds of the heart, mind, and soul through Jesus Christ! A unique Military Artist, Ron uses parachute cord to reach out to over 20,000 Warfighters individually over the last 13 years. Ron believes each and every piece is "a sermon for one". Ron is the author of four books; most notably ”Ghost Nation – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Society”, which he co-wrote with his wife, Helen, to offer different vantage points of PTSD and to help others understand this debilitating condition. The Breland family currently resides in Glendale, Arizona, have 5 children and 3 grandchildren!
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