Sergeant Major Robert Gene Brashears

Description:

Sergeant Major Brashears of Harrisburg served two combat tours in Vietnam. Awards include Legion of Merit, three Bronze Star Medals, and the Air Medal with the 1st Air Cavalry Division.

Sergeant Major Brashears completed two twelve-month tours in Vietnam receiving the Bronze Star Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters. In addition, he was awarded the Air Medal as a member of the 1st Air Cavalry Division. 

His two overseas tours to Germany were curtailed by Department of the Army. First, when as a Master Sergeant, he was returned for a stateside assignment to a vacant Sergeant Major position, and the second time when he was selected for a special assignment with duty station to the Army Reserve Personnel Center, St. Louis, Missouri. 

He was selected for promotion to Sergeant Major in his nineteenth year of service (1980) and was promoted to that grade on 2 July 1981. 

He served as Sergeant Major for two General Officers, Thomas G. Rhame and Neal T. Jaco, both retiring as Lieutenant Generals. 

His diverse assignments (sometimes politically sensitive) and their exemplary achievements, his being Liaison to the Veterans Administration, his being the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Soldiers’ and Airman’s Home, Washington, D.C., and his representation of the Sergeant Major of the Army on Morale, Welfare, and Recreation are particularly unique and noteworthy. 

On 27 April 1990 Sergeant Major Brashears was awarded The Order of the White Plume. The White Plume was established in 1982 by the Adjutant General of the Army to recognize outstanding service and contribution to MWR and family programs. It is the Army’s highest medal for achievement in support of the Army MWR. Winners of the White Plume represent true service to the soldier, the Army, and the Nation.

The narrative reads as follows: 

For his dedicated professional support and endless contribution to Army soldiers and families. As the principal enlisted advisor to the Commanding General and Senior Noncommissioned Officer, retired services, United States Army Community and Family Support Center, Sergeant Major Brashears served with distinction and on many occasions represented the Commanding General and the Army at key meetings for which issues impaction on quality of life for soldiers and their families were resolved. Sergeant Major Brashears promoted soldier and family programs through a worldwide network with the Army’s top enlisted leaders. His personal interest and involvement for the Army Soldiers’ Show and the better opportunities for single soldiers program have been the key to their success and also secured top level Army support. His distinguished performance and outstanding accomplishments will have a long lasting positive impact on the quality of life for soldiers and their families. 

More Info:

Sergeant Major Brashears of Harrisburg served two combat tours in Vietnam. Awards include Legion of Merit, three Bronze Star Medals, and the Air Medal with the 1st Air Cavalry Division.