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CROOKSTON’S CODY BREKKEN RECEIVES GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR LEADERSHIP AWARD

The 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (1-188th ADA) celebrated Captain Cody Brekken for receiving the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award. Brekken was one of seven Army National Guard officer recipients this year.

Brekken is from Crookston, Minnesota, and serves as a Captain for the North Dakota Army National Guard. He plans on returning home from his deployment in the National Capital Region with the 1-188 ADA sometime in August this upcoming year.

The General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award is presented to company grade officers and warrant officers that display the ideals of General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur commanded troops in the Southwest Pacific during World War II and oversaw the successful occupation of postwar Japan before he led the United Nations forces in the Korean War. He lived and commanded based on three ideals: duty, honor, and country. From these three ideals, only 28 of the approximately 120,000 company grade officers in the Army are chosen annually for this award.

Brekken was presented the award by General Joseph M. Martin, Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, on Oct. 5, 2021, at the Pentagon. All say that Brekken lives MacArthur’s ideals faithfully. Throughout his military career, Brekken has made it a point to do the unprecedented. He has led his troops through multiple National Training Center rotations, including one as the commander of Charlie Battery. His troops performed with such merit that Charlie Battery earned the Alexander Hamilton Award in 2019. Named after American statesman and Continental Army artilleryman Alexander Hamilton, the award recognizes the best Army National Guard battery.

Brekken talked about the honor of being chosen for the award said it’s truly a team award and talked about some of the accomplishments the Charlie Battery has received over the years. “It’s a huge honor, and I spoke to soldiers down here that happened to be on the Battalion, and I told them that this is a team award,” said Brekken. “It’s a personification of the group. My name is on the award, but this Battery has always had an excellent work ethic. We performed in California at the National Training Center multiple times and have done very well. Upon returning, we went on COVID-19 orders helping set up testing sites in Eastern North Dakota. We also got recognition for that, which speaks volumes about the soldiers I get to work with. I can’t say enough about the soldiers under me as well as the leaders above me.”

As Brekken mentioned before, When the call to duty came again, he answered, this time filling a vital role as the Team East commander during N.D. National Guard’s Coronavirus pandemic response. His team was responsible for conducting mobile testing missions, establishing static testing sites, coordinating daily transportation of tests, and managing the field cleaning team. These efforts resulted in over 150 testing sites and over 20,000 samples being safely collected and transported to the state laboratory in Bismarck.

Brekken talked a little bit about his current deployment. “I am currently on operation orders supporting Operation Noble Eagle,” said Brekken. “We provide warning and air defense for the National Capital Region. We use mission partners and use equipment to provide clear sky’s down in the National Capital Region.”

Brekken currently serves on Operation Noble Eagles as one of six ADA fire control officers.

Lt. Col. Waylen Vannurden, Commander, 1-188th ADA, had this to say about Brekken and the award he received. “He is the best battery commander and captain I have had the privilege to serve with throughout my entire twenty-three-year career in the N.D. Army National Guard. He has such a confident, natural leadership presence that Soldiers will continue to follow him, motivated and supportive, no matter what it takes.”

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