Col. Brunkow honored at retirement ceremony

Col. Brunkow honored
at retirement ceremony

FORT BELVOIR, Va. — Col. Corey Brunkow was honored during a United States Special Operations retirement ceremony Friday at the National Museum of the United States Army.
Col. Brunkow graduated from the United States Military Academy with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Infantry in May 1997. He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms Service and Staff School, the Command and General Staff College and the Naval Postgraduate School where he earned a master's degree in defense analysis after writing a thesis on the Future of Raiding. He graduated from the National Defense University's Eisenhower School with a master's of science in defense resourcing and strategy in 2018.
Operational deployments for Col. Brunkow include over 60 months of combat operations over eight deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom to include deploying as the first conventional force operating out of Kandahar Airfield Afghanistan in 2001- 2002, and deploying as part of the initial invasion into Iraq in 2003. He deployed five times with the 2nd Ranger Battalion to Iraq and Afghanistan from 2004-2007.
Deployments included 2011-2012 in the Arghandab River Valley, as well as a tour in Jordan in 2018.
Col. Brunkow's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with four oak leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Valorous Unit Award, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the NATO ISAF Medal, the Senor Airborne Badge, Air Assault, Combat, and Expert Infantryman Badges, the Sapper Tab, and the Ranger Tab.
Col. Brunkow is married to the former Stephanie Kay Hunt of Knoxville, Tennessee. They have one daughter Savannah (13). They will retire in the Purcellville, Virginia, area where Corey will take on leading the engineering division of a Silicon Valley Startup called Horizon3.ai focused on developing autonomous cyber security tools, while pursuing his hobbies of coaching lacrosse and supporting equestrian opportunities for Stephanie and Savannah.