Staff Sergeant Gary Bowen was a junior political science major from Spring Lake, NC. He was an outstanding Army ROTC student leader and an accomplished drill team and color guard trainer. Staff Sergeant Gary Bowen started his Army career in 1990, after having been a United States Marine Rifleman. He was quickly indoctrinated into the Army Infantry, immediately shipping to Southwest Asia during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm earning the Combat Infantryman’s Badge while assigned to “D” Company, 2nd Bn, 325th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Staff Sergeant Bowen was assigned to NC A&T in April 2002 and has served as a vital member of the ROTC Battalion. In addition to his everyday duties as the Administrative Noncommissioned Officer, he coached and mentored the “Aggie” Drill Team and the Pershing Rifles, increasing participation, performance, and their competition record. He was also responsible for ensuring that the University Color Guard was trained and ready to execute the very demanding calendar that they kept. Also while assigned to the Military Science Department, Staff Sergeant Bowen was attending classes, working toward his BA, maintaining a 3.2 GPA. Before assignment to NC A&T, Staff Sergeant Bowen regularly served in position held for NCOs of higher grade. He served as the Administrative NCO with the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, NC and with a Postal Company in Germany, both positions normally reserved for NCOs of higher authority. Some of Staff Sergeant Bowen’s other credits are his participation in Operation Joint Endeavor (1st rotation of the Bosnia Implementation Force), disaster assistance during the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and assorted training operations with other allied military forces. His decorations include 2 awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, 5 awards of the Army Achievement Medal, 4 awards of the Army Good Conduct Medal, 2 awards of the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, The Armed Forces Service Medal, 2 awards of the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, Army Service Medal, Overseas Service Medal, the NATO Medal (Former Yugoslavia), the Saudi Arabian Medal for Kuwaiti Liberation, the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Joint Meritorious Unit Commendation, and the Army Superior Unit Award. In addition to those awards, Staff Sergeant Bowen was authorized to wear the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, The Army Parachutist Badge, the Army Pathfinder’s Badge, The Bronze German Armed Forces Marksmanship (Schützeschnur) Rope, and the United Arab Emirates Parachutist Badge.

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