Operation Buckeye Pride

At Bricker Hall | 4-16-09

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

Operation: Buckeye Pride

Flag that flew over Iraq makes its way to the Oval

By Drew Sullivan | The Lantern | Posted 4/17/09

An American flag that was raised by two Ohio State alumni over Joint Base Balad, Iraq, was sent to OSU and re-raised Thursday in front Bricker Hall on the Oval. Col. Sal M. Nodjomian and Staff Sgt. Brandon Boos arranged for a flag, which was flown during a combat mission, to be sent to OSU and re-flown at the university.

Nodjomian termed the process of sending the flag from the base back to OSU to be re-flown "Operation: Buckeye Pride."

Members of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps raised the flag at 7:30 a.m. Thursday and it flew until 4:30 that afternoon. At that time, it was lowered and taken into Bricker Hall, where it will remain in a display case on the second floor for the remainder of the month.

"They are over there doing what we are training to do," said Col. Curtiss Petrek, a commander of the OSU Air Force ROTC. "And the fact that they are over there doing it - this is just one way to support that.

"This lets us reach out and follow our fellow soldiers that are in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Boos' wife, Kara, who was present for the flag ceremony, said her husband will return from Iraq at the beginning of May.

"He loves this university and he loves the air force so much, so it's nice to have the two things together," she said. "It's like having a piece of him here."

Nodjomian is Boos' group commander at the base, and the two learned of their alma mater connection earlier this year. Nodjomian graduated from OSU with a master's degree in 1994 while Boos graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2007.

The flag ceremony was coordinated by OSU Facilities Operations and Development to honor all of the OSU staff members that have served in the U.S. military.

* * *

From Central Iraq to the Oval

Even in Iraq, Ohio State graduates can find fellow alums by calling "O-H"!

Earlier this year at Joint Base Balad, Central Iraq, Staff Sergeant Brandon Boos (B.A., '07) learned that his group commander, Colonel Sal M. Nodjomian (M.S., '94) was also a Buckeye.

Boos and Nodjomian decided to arrange to have a U.S. flag flown at the base and then sent it to Ohio State to have re-flown at the university. The flag also was flown on a combat mission by Brig. Gen. Brian Bishop, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander. Nodjomia termed the event “Operation Buckeye Pride.”

In an email request to FOD Associate Vice President Melissa Bellini, Boos, a Columbus native, said, “To us, every stripe and every star IS home, and that is why Colonel Nodjomian and I would like to send an American flag that has been flown over Joint Base Balad to another place that we both once called home – The Ohio State University.”

The flag has made it to campus and will be raised by nearly 100 ROTC Cadets in a ceremony at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday (4/16) in front of Bricker Hall on the Oval. The flag and other memorabilia will be on display on the 2nd floor of Bricker Hall through the end of the month.

When the flag was flown in Iraq, the base communications department wrote this story. Our best wishes to our men and women in uniform and to fellow Buckeyes everywhere!