A joint luncheon recognition was recently held for the Great Bend Optimist and Rotary Clubs. Brigadier General Vic Braden, Deputy Commanding General, Army National Guard, for the United States Army Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth was the speaker.  
Brigadier General Vic Braden’s focus is on the development of adaptive and agile leaders who can think critically and creatively.
In his civilian occupation, Brigadier General Braden is the Deputy Kansas Attorney General in charge of the criminal litigation division where he leads 15 attorneys who prosecute homicide, child predator, public corruption, and methamphetamine manufacturing crimes throughout the state of Kansas.
Brigadier General Braden was commissioned into the Field Artillery branch upon graduation from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in 1982, and transferred to the Aviation branch after completing the rotary wing aviator course in 1985.  He has held key command and staff positions in the United States, South Korea, the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, and Afghanistan, including Task Force Commander, 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation Regiment, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 2003, and Senior Advisor for the 205th Afghan National Army Corps, while assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2009 and 2010.
Brigadier General Braden holds an Associate of Science degree from Pratt Community College, a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern Oklahoma State University, a Juris Doctorate from Washburn University’s School of Law, and a Senior Service College Fellowship from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
A native of Pratt, Brigadier General Braden and his wife, Marla, live in Lawrence. They have two grown daughters, Chelsea and Emily.