Stuart Bradin
Stuart "Stu" Wallace Bradin was a Colonel in the U.S. Army Special Forces. He became the Founder and President of the Global Special Operations Forces (SOF) Foundation in 2014.[citation needed]
Early Life & Education
Bradin was born in South Carolina on October 11, 1961.[1]
Bradin is an alumnus of The Citadel—where he graduated in 1984.[2] He served as an "armor cavalry scout" in the South Carolina National Guard before he was commissioned into the Army on May 12, 1984 as an armor officer, which he did through The Citadel's ROTC program.[1]
He also has a Master's Degree in Latin American Studies from San Diego State University.[1]
Army Career
Stu was a Reserve Officers Training Corps Cadet, who in 1984 was nominated for an appointment to become a Second Lieutenant in the "regular Army" of the United States.[3]
He spent more than 30 years in the Army, and about 25 of those years were spent as an Officer in the U.S. Army Special Forces.[4]
In 1992, Bradin was selected to be a Latin America Foreign Area Officer, which led him to serve at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz. He has also served tours as an advisor in Peru and El Salvador.
When he was a Captain, he commanded multiple SFODA "A-Teams" in the 3rd Battalion Special Forces Groups [Airborne] in Panama.[1] He participated in Operation Just Cause, where he led a team at the Pacora River Bridge in a battle against Panamanian mechanized/armor unit Battalion 2000.[4]
He also served as a battalion operations officer in 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group [Airborne]. [1]
In 2000, Bradin attended the School of the Americas Command and Staff Course. That ultimately led him to an assignment at the Army Command and General Staff College, where he served as a SOF Instructor.[1]
Bradin served for 3 years as the Deputy J3 (Operations) at Special Operations Command-Europe (SOCEUR) in Germany. After that tour, he was sent to Belgium to support the establishment of the NATO Special Operations Coordination Center (NSCC), which stood up in December of 2007. The Center was elevated in 2010 to become the NATO SOF Headquarters (NSHQ), and Bradin served as the Chief of Staff there until 2011. [1]
He also did a tour in Afghanistan where he was the director of the Special Operations Fusion Cell.
Bradin served the final years of his career at U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) as a member of then-commander Admiral William H. McRaven’s staff.[4]
During that period in 2013, Bradin was the head of the Global SOF Network Operational Planning Team (OPT)[1] tasked with making a plan for a "global special operations network" at U.S. Special Operations Command.[5] He had risen to the rank of Colonel,[6] which is the rank at which he ultimately retired from the Army.[7]
Global SOF Foundation
Stu is the President and CEO of the Global SOF Foundation, which is a non-profit and special operations advocacy group based in Tampa, Florida.[8]
The Foundation has multiple missions, including the SOF for Life Program to support SOF Veterans in their transition from Active Duty Service to Civilian Careers[4], to advising nations like Ukraine on the structuring and creation of their own unified Special Operations command.[7]
Personal Life
Stuart is married to Kelly McCluskey, and they have three daughters—Bailey, Blair, and Bethany.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "SOTECH 11-2 (Mar. 2013)". Issuu. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
- ↑ Citadel Alumni Association. Turner Publishing Company. 2003. ISBN 9781563118777. Search this book on
- ↑ "PN792 - 2,207 nominees for Army, 98th Congress (1983-1984)". www.congress.gov. 1984-04-13. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Most SOF Veterans Are Not Ready For Transition Out of Military Pt1". SpecialOperations.com. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
- ↑ "Defense Department Says It Will Salvage Special Ops under Sequestration". IVN.us. 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
- ↑ "Stuart Bradin | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Ukraine turns to Tampa group for help setting up new commando HQ". Tampa Bay Times. 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
- ↑ "Ukraine turns to Tampa group for help setting up new commando HQ". Tampa Bay Times. 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
- ↑ "Gerald Robert "Jerry" McCluskey". The Leavenworth Times. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
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