Tribute to Major Vaughn L. Ward, USMC

On October 15, 2007, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) recognized the valor, leadership, and service of Major Vaughn L. Ward, USMC. On September 22, 2007, Major Ward received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device for heroic achievement in combat while serving as a Marine Rifle Company Commander in Fallujah, Iraq, from March to October of 2006. The following was included in the U.S. Senate Congressional Record, page S12860.

(IssuesWire) October 18, 2007 -- On October 15, 2007, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) recognized the valor, leadership, and service of Major Vaughn L. Ward, USMC. On September 22, 2007, Major Ward received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device for heroic achievement in combat while serving as a Marine Rifle Company Commander in Fallujah, Iraq, from March to October of 2006.

The following was included in the U.S. Senate Congressional Record, page S12860:

Congressional record
Senate
Page S12860
Oct. 15, 2007

Tribute to Major Vaughn L. Ward
Mr. President, I wish to recognize the valor, leadership, and service of MAJ Vaughn L. Ward, a third-generation Idahoan who grew up working on his family's farm in southern Idaho. On October 22, 2007, Major Ward received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device for heroic achievement in combat while serving as a Marine Rifle Company Commander in Fallujah, Iraq, from March to October of 2006.
    
During 7 months of combat operations, Major Ward distinguished himself as an exemplary leader of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 5. Charlie Company was centrally located in the center of Fallujah and co-located with the Iraqi Police Headquarters. Insurgent forces regularly attacked this strategic position. During the tour, insurgents launched over a dozen complex attacks against his position, utilizing more than 120 rounds of indirect fire, IDF, AK-47 and PKC fire, vehicle borne improvised explosive devices, VBIEDs, improvised explosive devices, IEDs, and sniper fire. Major Ward commanded his marines through these attacks and usually led the counterattack against enemy forces. From March through October, Charlie Company engaged the enemy over 130 times, conducted nearly a thousand foot and vehicle patrols, and carried out over 100 raids against insurgent locations.
    
Major Ward's military honors are only the latest in a career marked by excellence, leadership, and achievement. After graduating from Boise State University, he worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide for former Senator Dirk Kempthorne in 1993. He joined the Marine Corps in 1995 and served until 2000, whereupon he entered the University of Maryland and obtained his masters in business administration, MBA, in 2002. He continued his public service by joining the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, where he trained as an operations officer and served in the Middle East and Africa. In January 2006, Vaughn went on military furlough from the CIA in order to reactivate with the Marines and serve in Iraq. He left active duty in January 2007 and resigned from the CIA in May 2007. Vaughn, his wife Kirsten, and their daughter Ave will return home to Idaho in November.
    
Vaughn's penchant for leadership and hard work has its roots on a small family farm in Shoshone. As young as 8 years old, Vaughn was working at his family's farm, which included a dairy with 70 cows, and a few thousand acres of grain and hay, and hundreds of free-range cattle. By age 11, Vaughn was operating a tractor, plowing the fields in the spring and fall and swathing the summer hay crops. He helped to run the family farm throughout most of his teenage years and feels very fortunate to have had this childhood experience. His grandfather homesteaded the farm, and it was there that Vaughn internalized a true appreciation for the importance of hard work.
    
He was cognizant at an early age of the family's financial challenges. At 14, the age when many teenagers were spending their money on things like music, clothes, and a new electronic invention--computer games--Vaughn bought his family a Christmas tree. They would not have had one, otherwise.
    
Vaughn credits his mom, Maria Tranmer, with his success and his character development. His mother recounts the circumstances of his birth: Due to complications, they did not expect Vaughn to survive. When the doctor came to his mother's room, he said, "Little girl, I don't know what this boy is going to do in life, but it's going to be something special." Maria took these words to heart and, according to Vaughn, "she never pushed me to be something I'm not, but she pushed me to realize my potential. She always supports me and, from the time I was young, told me to do what I am capable of doing, and be the best at it. Her and my family's belief in me is what pushes me to do what I do, and accomplish what I have." Maria is a remarkable woman herself, raising Vaughn and his sister, Shellie, through many years of hardship alone, yet, in Vaughn's words, "never leaving us wanting for anything."
    
Vaughn also points to mentors that have been there for him along the way and helped him during his formative years--from a first-grade teacher who took the time to care to coaches in high school who acted as role models. At age 7, his stepfather, Andrew Ward, a former Marine Corps officer, introduced Vaughn to hunting and hiking in the Idaho mountains and taught him how to ride a motorcycle. He also calls his grandfather, William Tews, the primary male influence in his life. "My grandfather taught me how to shoot a rifle, drive a tractor and what it means to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps." Vaughn continued stating that "my grandpa, father, and coaches shaped the life of a young man and those experiences gave me courage and confidence and opened up unique opportunities for me."
    
Vaughn's time in Iraq cemented and honed his leadership skills. Vaughn observes that if the talk of leadership doesn't translate into the action of leadership, particularly in combat, your credibility dissolves. In war, he says, fear is a cancer, and leaders have to be willing to do themselves what they order others to do. He lived this in Iraq, personally leading foot patrols from the front against the advice of fellow officers. He felt that it was wrong to order his subordinates to do something that he was unwilling to do himself. This bravery and commitment to walk and stand with his men meant something to them. His award submission in part reads: "Major Ward's strong leadership style and his willingness to always lead literally from the front inspired his Marines to continue to engage the enemy."
    
For Vaughn, excellent leadership also means not being fully committed to one's own ideas in the formulation stage of the decision making process. An effective leader knows how and when to listen to the counsel of others, evaluate all available information, and have the confidence to make a decision and execute that decision. Good leaders are accountable for their actions, good and bad, and a good leader shares accolades with those who are part of the effort--a leader, by definition, has to have able and committed followers. One of the lessons he learned in Iraq was the result of the patrols that he led regularly. He tells of patrolling in unfamiliar territory and encountering times when the way ahead was unclear. "All you could do was start walking, and that was how you found your way."
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Vaughn is a committed family man and has the priceless gift of a supportive and loving wife. "My wife was my strength during the hard times when I suffered casualties and lost Marines. She was the only one I could talk to, and I can't believe how difficult it must have been to hear me broken up over the death of my Marines, and be powerless to do anything but listen and offer words of comfort, thousands of miles away. She got me through my deployment." Vaughn also has the support and love of two sisters, Shellie Amundson and Logan Tranmer, both who live in Idaho.
    
Finally, Vaughn makes a point of sharing the good things that our military is doing in Iraq. He notes that Al Anbar Province has been transformed over the past year. The marines of Charlie Company engaged the enemy, purposefully, and fought al-Qaida on terms determined by the U.S. military, not the insurgents. As a direct result of the actions of Vaughn's company, the insurgents, at one point, issued a public message that if the Marines of Company C would stay "inside the wire," they would cease attacks on coalition forces. Vaughn says, "We did not let them dictate how we did our job, and we were successful. There are good stories out there--stories that need and must be told."
    
I have only highlighted a few of Vaughn's many accomplishments, both on the battlefield and off. He is more than deserving of these accolades, although he is quick to point out that his company deserves the responsibility for his Bronze Star. We can only hope that men of Vaughn's caliber will continue their public service to our great Nation as his generation begins to take the reigns. I am honored to be able to tell of this remarkable Idahoan, his family, and the men of Charlie Company here in the Senate and privileged to publicly offer my humble thanks and that of my family, State, and country for Major Vaughn Ward's extraordinary and valorous service to the United States of America, and I am proud to call him an Idaho son.

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