Johnny Isakson: “today I wish to thank and congratulate my defense fellow, Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Bodge, on a successful year serving in…”

“today I wish to thank and congratulate my defense fellow, Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Bodge, on a successful year serving in my office. The expertise and experience that Ryan brought to my team was invaluable, and he will certainly be missed after he leaves. Prior to his assignment as a defense fellow, Ryan served as the commander of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Bagram Air Field, BAF, in Afghanistan. He led a blend of more than 500 coalition and contract personnel responsible for the defense of 36,000 personnel, a 27-kilometer perimeter, and the Air Force Central Command's busiest airfield with more than $3.5 billion in combat assets to include two specialized teams: Fly Away Security and Tactical Security Element personnel. His squadron was Tactical Control to Task Force Solid, responsible for the Bagram Ground Defense Area. Ryan was born and raised in Cold Spring, NY, and he enlisted in the Air Force in 1992. He served as an F-16 and A-10 aircraft weapons load crew team chief and then in a special duty as a professional military education instructor. In 2003, Ryan commissioned to become an officer after successfully completing officer training school. He has served as a flight commander, convoy commander, officer in charge of training and resources, operations officer, high-risk response leader, major command, USAF, staff officer and two-time squadron commander.…”