Pacific operations chief recognized as a patriot

By R. Slade WaltersFebruary 28, 2022

Pacific operations chief recognized as a patriot
FORT SHAFTER, HAWAII – Director of the Hawaii National Guard’s joint staff, Brig. Gen. Moses Kaoiwi, Jr. (right) presents the Department of Defense Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Patriot Award to Don Bradshaw, director of operations for U.S. Army Installation Management Command-Pacific (middle), during a brief ceremony held at the IMCOM-Pacific headquarters on Feb. 25, 2022. Hawaii Army National Guard Col. Mark Young (left) nominated Bradshaw for the award. (Photo Credit: R. Slade Walters) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SHAFTER, HAWAII – Director of the Hawaii National Guard’s joint staff, Brig. Gen. Moses Kaoiwi, Jr. presented the Department of Defense Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Patriot Award to Don Bradshaw, director of operations for U.S. Army Installation Management Command-Pacific, during a brief ceremony held at the IMCOM-Pacific headquarters on Feb. 25, 2022.

Bradshaw was nominated for the award by Hawaii Army National Guard Col. Mark Young, who is also a civilian operations officer at IMCOM-Pacific when not serving in uniform for the National Guard, which he has been actively doing since early 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Don, I just wanted to publicly acknowledge you and thank you for your continued support … as guard members, we need the support of our family and our employers. If we don’t have that, we are unable to do what we do,” said Young during the ceremony.

The Patriot Award is presented to supervisors for “support provided directly to the nominating Service member and his or her family,” and “reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide-range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families, and granting leaves of absence if needed,” according to the EGSR website.

During the ceremony, Kaoiwi spoke about the importance and scope of Young’s duties while actively serving and acknowledged that Young’s contributions wouldn’t have been possible without Bradshaw’s support and cooperation. “I appreciate that a lot, the ESGR team appreciates that a lot,” said Kaoiwi.