Colonel Sean Flynn
27th Brigade Combat Team Commander

Colonel Sean Flynn joined the New York Army National Guard in 2000, where his key assignments include Platoon Leader and Company Commander in the historic 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment – the “Fighting 69th” – in New York, Executive Officer of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment in Utica, Battalion Commander of the Fighting 69th, Brigade Executive Officer of the 27th IBCT in Syracuse, and Division G-3 and Chief of Staff of the 42nd Infantry Division in Troy.

Prior to joining the Army, Flynn served in the U.S. Air Force from 1994 to 2000, with active duty assignments as a Public Affairs Officer for the 81st Training Wing in Biloxi, Mississippi and the 354th Fighter Wing in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Flynn earned his commission in 1994 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps.

His major operational deployments include Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012, Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004, Operation Noble Eagle in 2001, and Operation World Trade Center in 2001.

Flynn worked in New York as a financial communications and public relations consultant from 1997 to 2006 before becoming a full-time military officer.

Flynn is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advance Courses, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Department of Defense's Joint Public Affairs Officers Course.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Master's Degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Medal with one Bronze Star, Iraq Campaign Medal with one Campaign Star, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with One Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Aperture and Silver Hourglass, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon with “3” device, Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon, Air Force Training Ribbon, the NATO Medal, and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.

Flynn is the author of The Fighting 69th: From Ground Zero to Baghdad (Viking 2008), a narrative non-fiction account about the evolution of the National Guard from a strategic reserve to an operational force in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

He resides in Albany, N.Y. with his wife Lori Ann and their two children.

Current as of July 2021

Contact the 27th BCT Webmaster @ ng.ny.nyarng.list.dmnawm@army.mil