Commander, American Forces Network Europe
COL William Bigelow
COL William (Bill) Bigelow, a native Pennsylvanian (later raised in North Carolina) received his commission as a Military Police Officer in 1986 through ROTC at Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C., where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations.
During the first half of his 23-year career, COL Bigelow served in a variety of positions in the Military Police Corps to include platoon leader, company commander, S-3, and provost marshal.
In 1995, COL Bigelow attended the Defense Information School Public Affairs Officer Qualification Course and upon graduation, he began his public career in Panama as the U.S. Army South Deputy PAO.
In December 1998, COL Bigelow was selected for the Joint Staff Intern Program and reported to the Pentagon to work in the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) Public Affairs office. While on the CJCS staff, COL Bigelow provided public affairs support for numerous operations and exercises to include Operation Allied Force, Operation Desert Fox, and Latin American hurricane relief efforts.
In July 1999, COL Bigelow reported to the Office of the Chief of Army Public Affairs, at the Pentagon. He served as the Weapons, Environment, and Technology media officer supporting high visibility media issues such as the grounding of both the Apache and Chinook fleets, Army Transformation, Acquisition of the Stryker Armored Vehicle, and the Future Combat Systems program.
In July 2001, COL Bigelow reported to U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), Stuttgart, Germany, as a media relations officer. He served on both the European and Africa desks and was ultimately assigned as the Deputy Director of Public Affairs. During three years at EUCOM, COL Bigelow worked such diverse public affairs issues as Operation Northern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) humanitarian food drops, OEF wounded and causality repatriation operations, Landstuhl Medical Center wound warrior operations, U.S. military in Europe Transformation, Georgia Train and Equip Program, the Pan Sahel Initiative , and JTF Liberia Noncombatant Evacuation Operations. While at EUCOM, COL Bigelow deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of U.S. Central Command’s JTF-West.
COL Bigelow reported to U.S. Pacific Command in October 2004 and served as the Deputy Director of Public Affairs for three years. During his tour, he managed the daily public affairs efforts of the command as well as coordinated and directed the public affairs aspect of Operation Unified Assistance (Tsunami relief), the North Korean nuclear and missile test incidents, multiple Humanitarian/Disaster relief operation in the Philippines and Indonesia, multiple annual exercises, and theater security cooperation public affairs exchanges.
In December 2007, COL Bigelow reported to the Defense Information School (DINFOS) as the Director of Training. At DINFOS he was responsible for the supervision of over 200 Joint Service and Civilian instructors and the training of over 3,200 Soldiers, Sailors, Airman, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and DoD civilians annually in both the Public Affairs and Visual Information career fields.
COL Bigelow assumed command of the American Forces Network in May 2009.
His awards and decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal 2nd award, Meritorious Service Medal 2nd award, Joint Service Commendation Medal 3rd award, Army Commendation Medal 4th award, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal 2nd award, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Parachutist Badge, Joint Staff Badge, and the Army Staff Badge.
COL Bigelow’s wife Kim is a former Army JAG officer and they have four children. COL Bigelow also has two older children who live in Midland, Texas.
Command Sergeant Major, American Forces Network Europe
CSM John Brenci
CSM John Brenci entered the Army in October of 1984 as an infantryman. He spent the next three years at Fort Benning, Ga., and Aschaffenberg, Germany, before reclassifying into the public affairs career management field. He graduated from the Defense Information School's Basic Journalist Course at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., in 1988.
He has been the command sergeant major for the American Forces Network Europe since July of 2009. Prior to this assignment, he served as the command sergeant major of the American Forces Network Korea and for four years as the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg public affairs sergeant major. During that time, he deployed to Iraq with XVIII Airborne Corps and served as the Multi-National Corps – Iraq public affairs sergeant major. He has held a variety of other positions in public affairs, including Basic Journalist Course instructor at DINFOS (Fort Benjamin Harrison), 1st Corps Support Command public affairs noncommissioned officer-in-charge, associate editor of SOLDIERS magazine, 2nd Infantry Division public affairs chief, and the U.S. Army Aviation Center and Fort Rucker public affairs chief, to name a few. In 2006, he was selected as one of the first five command sergeant major designees in the history of public affairs.
He is a graduate of the editor's course, public affairs supervisor course, joint public affairs supervisor course, senior enlisted public affairs course and the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy (Class 53), among others.
CSM Brenci holds a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from the University of the State of New York and a master's degree in public administration from Troy State University – both of which he earned while on active duty.
His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (four oak leaf clusters), Joint Service Commendation Medal (one oak leaf cluster), Army Commendation Medal (two oak leaf clusters), Army Achievement Medal (one oak leaf cluster), National Defense Service Medal (one bronze service star), Iraq Campaign Medal (two bronze service stars), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal (one bronze service star), Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, Romanian Parachutist Badge, German Parachutist Badge and the Australian Parachutist Badge.