Interview of Keith Brace by Thomas McGuire

November 6, 2014

United States Army veteran Lieutenant Colonel Keith Brace traces his military career through his 20 years of service in this interview. He recounts some of his key assignments, deployments, and other memorable experiences. Born March 9, 1969, to Diane and Ken Brace in Silver Spring, Maryland, Brace was inspired by his JROTC instructor to pursue an Army career, resulting in his decision to attend The Citadel on a four-year Army ROTC scholarship. Upon graduation in 1991, he commissioned as an infantry officer, and, shortly thereafter, was assigned to the 82nd Airborne in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In the interview, LTC Brace speaks of a near deployment to Haiti in 1994, an assignment in Germany, from which he deployed on a peacekeeping mission to Bosnia in 1996, his assignment as active duty advisor to the South Carolina National Guard, his deployment to Iraq from 2006 to 2007, where he was wounded by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and awarded the Purple Heart, and his final active duty assignment as the Professor of Military Science at Wake Forest University, where he retired from the Army before returning to The Citadel as the 2nd Battalion Tactical Officer.

This interview of LTC Brace provides an in-depth look at his experiences in Iraq from 2006 to 2007. He provides first-hand accounts of life as an infantry officer in and around Baghdad at this crucial time. He details his mission, the effectiveness of the American forces in Iraq, and several other personal anecdotes that contribute to an overall understanding of his combat experience there.

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