Staff Reports
A man who was born and raised in the Bartholomew County community of Grammer recently retired after a nearly 30-year career in the Army.
A retirement ceremony was conducted for Col. Brian J. Tempest on June 11.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant, infantry officer, in 1989 through the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corp at Purdue University in West Lafayette.
After Temptest received his commission, he was assigned to A Company, 3-327 Infantry Battalion, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he served as an infantry platoon leader.
Tempest’s career also included assignments at Fort Drum, New York; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Kitzingen, Germany; and Fort Riley, Kansas; and Fort Knox, Kentucky. He deployed to Turkey as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and later had deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
As a lieutenant colonel, Tempest commanded the 299th BSB, 2/1 ID and deployed the battalion to Iraq in 2008-09. As a colonel, he commanded the 1st Sustainment Brigade, 1st Infantry Division and deployed with it to Afghanistan in 2012-13.
Tempest’s most recent assignment was a chief of staff for the 1st Theater Sustainment Command at Fort Knox.
His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, a Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Army Commendation Medal with five oak leaf clusters.
He is married to the former Renee Ballehr of Round Rock, Texas. They have two daughters, Madison, 20, and Courtney, 13, and a son, Michael, 11.
