Medal of Honor Recipient Master Sergeant Earl D. Plumlee Retirees

Submitted by MAJ William Brink, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne).

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Medal of Honor Recipient Earl D. Plumlee retired after 25 years of service across the Oklahoma National Guard, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army. He spent 14 years at 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne).

Plumlee received the Medal of Honor for actions at Forward Operating Base Ghazni Afghanistan on Aug. 28, 2013, when the FOB was breached by insurgents wearing Afghan National Army uniforms and suicide vests during a complex attack.  His actions killed the attackers and saved countless American lives.

Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony Rowe said, “Your team loved you…  Earl Plumlee is the living  embodiment of a Special Forces Operator. He is highly intelligent, extremely capable… and a master of the human terrain.…Behind the war hero image that he tries to maintain,  he is one of the most caring and genuine individuals I’ve ever met. Earl has done it all throughout his career. Each one of us who has been lucky enough to be a part of the ride is better off for it. Your leadership, wisdom and guidance prepared the next generation of green berets to compete and win.” Rowe is the senior enlisted advisor at 3^rd Battalion, 1^st Special Forces Group (Airborne) and longtime friend of Plumlee.

President Joseph R. Biden awarded Plumlee the MoH on Dec. 16, 2021. 

Master Sgt. Plumlee first joined the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45^th Field Artillery Brigade as a rocket artilleryman in 1999.

He then joined the Marine Corps after graduating high school in Clinton, Okla. In 2000 and served as a Force Reconnaissance Marine until joining U.S. Army Special Forces in 2009.

In 2015, Plumlee was assigned to the U.S.INDOPACOM Crisis Response Force at 1^st Battalion, 1 SFG (A) in Okinawa, Japan where he served on foreign details for presidents Obama and Trump.  Plumlee returned to JBLM where he served as a Special Forces team leader and in the group headquarter’s force modernization and innovation office.

Photo: Master Sergeant Earl Plumlee receives the Meritorious Service Medal from Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Hudak, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) Deputy Commander, to recognize 25 years of military service during his retirement ceremony on Dec. 4, 2023, on Joint Base Lewis McChord.