This year’s program
was presented by Lt. Gen. Richard P. Formica, commanding
general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense
Command/Army Forces Strategic Command. Joining Formica was
Army Astronaut Col. T. J. Creamer, assigned to
USASMDC/ARSTRAT’s NASA detachment at Johnson Space Center in
Houston.
The Athens State Community Band performed a parody of
patriotic music for the event. "We are thrilled to have
Lieutenant General Formica with us this year,” says Lisa
Payne chairperson of the Flag Day Committee “not only to
hear him speak, but to have him witness this yearly
patriotic event. Athens State is very proud of the role we
have played for years in raising the awareness of and
celebrating Flag Day.”
Formica was
commissioned in 1977 upon completion of ROTC training at
Providence College and graduation from Bryant College in
Smithfield, R.I. Formica assumed command of the
USASMDC/ARSTRAT and Joint Functional Component Command -
Integrated Missile Defense on Dec. 15. His previous
assignment was on the Department of the Army Headquarters
staff as special assistant to the chief of staff of the Army
where he worked HQDA Air and Missile Defense Task Force and
other missile defense related issues.
Formica’s awards include the Distinguished Service Medal,
Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with oak
leaf cluster), Bronze Star (with oak leaf cluster),
Meritorious Service Medal (with five oak leaf clusters),
Army Commendation Medal (with oak leaf cluster), the Army
Achievement Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), and both the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and Army Staff Identification Badges.
Creamer was assigned to NASA in July 1995 as a space shuttle
vehicle integration test engineer. His duties primarily
involved engineering liaison for launch and landing
operations of the space shuttle. He was actively involved in
the integrated tests of the systems for each orbiter for its
preparations for its next flight, and directly supported
eight shuttle missions as a vehicle integration test team
lead. Additionally, he focused his efforts in coordinating
the information technologies for the Astronaut Office to aid
personnel in their electronic communications both on JSC as
well as through their travels to other centers.
Creamer and the flag he brought to Athens State,
were launched aboard a Soyuz TMA-17 crew capsule on December
21, 2009, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan,
Russia, docking with the International Space Station two
days later to join Expedition 22 crew. For the next 161
days, Creamer lived and worked aboard the International
Space Station as a flight engineer and NASA Science Officer
on Expedition 22/23. The Expedition 23 crew returned to a
safe landing in central Kazakhstan on June 2, 2010. In
completing this long duration mission, Creamer logged a
total of 163 days in space.
