Veterans Day program set for Friday

At 10:45 a.m., in the auditorium of Collins Intermediate School, the Scottsboro High School Band will perform. That will be followed by the program at 11 a.m.

Brigadier Gen. Brad Nicholson, commanding general of the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command, will be the guest speaker.

The command leads the Army Materiel Command Security Assistance Enterprise; develops and manages security assistance programs and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases to build partner capacity; supports COCOM engagement strategies; and strengthens U.S. Global Partnerships. As the commander, he oversees FMS cases with more than 140 countries and a total value exceeding $205 billion.

Nicholson previously served as the Deputy G5, U.S Army Europe and Africa in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Nicholson served in various Foreign Area Officer assignments to

include Deputy G5 and Chief, International Operations Division, G5, U.S. Army Europe and Africa; Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché, Army Attaché, Abuja, Nigeria; Chief, East Africa Division, U.S Army Africa Command: Chief Office of Security Cooperation, Kamala, Uganda, Foreign Area Officer, Dar es Sa, Tanzania; Political-Military Strategist, Department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff, G3/5/7, Washington, D.C.; Political- Military Planner, Joint Staff J5, Washington D.C. Brig. Gen. Nicholson speaks French and German with extensive experience in Nigeria, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Earlier assignments as a Company Grade Officer included multiple Field

Artillery positions in the 82d Airborne Division, 1st Armored Division, and V Corps including Commander of B Battery, 1st Battalion-27th Field Artillery Regiment.

He was commissioned in 1998 as a Field Artillery Officer through the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps at North Carolina State University, where he studied History and English. He holds a Masters of Public Policy from Georgetown University, and is currently a Doctoral Candidate (ABD) in Political Science at the University of Utah.

His military education includes a Senior Service College Fellowship through the Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program at the School of Advanced Military Studies, Intermediate Level Education at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the Joint and Combined Warfighting School, the Joint Military Attaché School, the Defense Language Institute, and the Defense Institute for Security Assistance Management.

His awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, the Army Staff and Joint Staff Identification Badges, and the Master Parachutist Badge.