Westborough – Colonel Brent E. French has been named as the Grand Marshal for Westborough's Memorial Day commemoration this year.
French serves as the individual mobilization augmentee (IMA) to the director of training within the office of the assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs. In this capacity he advises the deputy assistant secretary of defense on training matters related to the seven members of the reserve component.
He was commissioned through the University of Connecticut AFROTC program where he was a distinguished graduate.? After serving eight years on active duty, he was a traditional reservist before becoming an IMA.? He is a security forces officer with expertise in protecting critical resources in deployed locations.? He has commanded an Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron in Oman, the largest active duty security forces unit in Air Mobility Command, and the International Military Police at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.
Since 9/11, French has spent three years recalled to active duty in support of Operation Noble Eagle (homeland defense). He also served three tours in and around Afghanistan.
He received his MBA from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and his Ph.D. in leadership and change from Antioch University in 2012.
French has been a Westborough resident since 1999, moving here after active duty to be closer to his extended family who resides in Burlington, Mass. and Bangor, ME.
His wife Kristin is a social worker and columnist. They have two daughters, Maddie, 15 and Abby, 10.? He also enjoys spending time with his chocolate Labrador retriever, Cooper.
When not performing military duties, he is a consultant with Lexmark and is an adjunct professor in the WPI School of Business, teaching courses on leadership to graduate and undergraduate students.
To learn more about French, click on the link to an article printed in the Community Advocate in November 2012.