CW4 Gary A. “Mike” Roulier (Ret.)

Last Name: Roulier

First Name: Gary

ACNSL Offices and Committees:

• Health and Readiness Committee

• National Security and the All-Volunteer Force

Rank: CW4

Branch: Army

Last or Significant Assignment:

• Presidential Flight Detachment during President Nixon’s visit to Rome, Italy

Medals and Honors:

• Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal (3)

• Purple Heart (2)

• Defense Meritorious Service Medal

• Meritorious Service Medal (2)

• Air Medal with “V” device and numeral “53,”

• Joint Service Commendation Medal

• Army Commendation Medal

• Army Staff Identification and Master Aviator Badges.

CW4 Gary A. “Mike” Roulier retired in 2009 after a career that saw him serve in five decades, beginning with his first tour in Vietnam in 1967 and spanning to his final combat tour in East Africa in 2006. During his active-duty service as an Army aviator, he had 3,680 flight hours, to include 1,866 in combat during two tours in Vietnam. Remaining in the reserves after leaving active duty, he volunteered to deploy after 9/11. He subsequently served as an aviation safety officer for both the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade in Afghanistan and the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq; safety officer for Joint Task Force (JTF) – Guantanamo in Cuba, and safety director for Combined JTF – Horn of Africa in Djibouti. He closed his career as a senior policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of the Army where he served as the Chief of the Policy Cell for the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee, and senior policy advisor to the Chief, Army Reserve, where he was one of the principal architects of the Army Reserve Employer Partnership Initiative (currently the Army Reserve’s Private Public Partnership).

His achievements include being selected to fly for the Presidential Flight Detachment during President Nixon’s visit to Rome, Italy, in 1969. Mike was flight lead and at the controls of the first helicopter to ever land in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican. In 1975, during joint German-French exercises, he was the first American officer ever designated a “fully combat ready” first pilot in the German Army. In 2003, he was cited by both the Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan and the United States State Department for meritorious achievement during the historic air movement of thousands of pilgrims from Kandahar Army Airfield to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the Hajj.

Mike’s civilian career was primarily in the public sector, and he was serving on the Oregon Governor’s staff specializing in education and workforce policy when he deployed to Afghanistan in 2002.

In addition to his work with the American College of National Security Leaders, Mike is an avid golfer and gym rat. He continues to perform, something he has done since he was a teenager in Greenwich Village in 1965. He is a bassist and vocalist, was active in dinner theater in Portland in the 90s and was part of a cabaret group that headlined at the Mt. Angel Performing Arts Center during the annual Oktoberfest from 1992 to 2010. Mike’s military and civilian education include: Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Portland State University; honor graduate of the Institute of Aerospace Safety and Management, University of Southern California; honor graduate of the Warrant Officer Intermediate Course; and the Warrant Officer Rotary Wing Aviator Course.