NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Melaine “Gayle” Braley, formerly known in her hometown as “Gayle” Johnson, grew up in Garland, N.C. She is the daughter of Tommie and Melva Johnson and is married to Army Colonel Bill Braley of Canaan, N.H. She currently resides in Newport News, Va., where her husband recently relinquished the brigade level command of the U.S. Army Aviation Logistics School (USAALS) at Ft. Eustis.

Upon Col. Braley’s retirement from the Army, they plan to reside in the Newport News area. As part of a recent retirement ceremony, Major General James O. Barclay III recognized Gayle with several awards for her volunteer service to the military.  Her awards included the following: The Department of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Award for her outstanding service to our Nation and her extraordinary contributions to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Community; a certificate f Appreciation from the Chief of the Staff of the U.S. Army for her untiring support to her spouse throughout his years of military service; The Order of Anne Morrow Lindberg Award for improving the well-being and quality of life for Soldiers and members of the active duty aviation community; and The Order of our Lady of Loreto Award from the Army Aviation Association of America for her outstanding support to the Army Aviation Family and Army Aviation Community.

Throughout the years, Gayle provided selfless volunteer service as a military spouse, and contributed significantly to the well being of the military families. She previously received several awards of various levels for her dedication, contribution, and support to the military.

Her previous awards included: The Commander’s Award for Public Service for selfless volunteer service to the U.S. Army; the V Corps Heart of Victory Award presented by the Commanding General of the V U.S. Army Corps, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, for her outstanding volunteer service; the Sustaining the Heart Award presented by the Commanding General of the 3rd Corps Support Command, Brigadier General Boles, for her outstanding volunteer support to the families of the command; several coins for excellence presented by Battalion and Brigade Commanders as well as from several General Officers; and a certificate of appreciation from the Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the national Defense University in Washington, DC, Rear Admiral Mauer as well as multiple certificates of appreciation from the garrison commanders for her selfless dedication and volunteer service.

Wherever the Army took the Braley’s on permanent change of station orders throughout the years, Gayle quickly became a volunteer within the various communities. Her accomplishments and support to the military families and community activities were many. Gayle has been a positive role model and mentor for junior leader's spouses everywhere she has been. The epitome of the supportive spouse, she has made an enduring, positive effect on the Soldiers and families of the Army family. She has had active involvement in Family Readiness Groups, spouses clubs, thrift shops, chapel programs, and charities both at home and abroad.  She has served as chairperson and worker bee with equal zeal and enthusiasm. Her dedication speaks volumes about her core principals and belief that Soldiers and their families are national treasures, and that Army Aviation Soldiers live up to the Aviation Branch Motto "Above the Best." 

When her husband assumed command of the 7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, at Storck Barracks in Illesheim, Germany, Gayle immediately became an effective member of the command team. Taking over a dormant Family Readiness Group (FRG), she developed it into a vibrant support structure for the Soldiers and their families during preparation for and deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

During the hectic predeployment preparations, she led the FRG in providing refreshments during rail loading operations, as well as luncheons with the Soldiers and their spouses to discuss critical issues associated with the deployment. While the Soldiers were serving in combat in Iraq, she organized family events such family bowling nights and weekly family nights at the dining facility to foster camaraderie and to keep the information flow crisp, relevant, and factual. She created a “Lunch Bunch” weekly lunch club, and established a garden club that allowed time for the spouses of the deployed Soldiers to get together and share concerns while at the same time helping to beautify the installation by planting flowers. Gayle served flawlessly as the touchstone for information, strength, and compassion, keeping the family members informed, and their concerns quickly and accurately addressed.

Throughout the battalion's deployment, she maintained weekly communication with the Battalion Commander at the deployed location and passed on the latest news to the families, held family information sessions, coordinated for video teleconference sessions to allow the spouses to see and talk with their deployed Soldiers, and established a battalion newsletter that went out to the spouses with the latest information about their deployed Soldiers and events within the Illesheim Community. She designed baby blankets with the Battalion LOGO and gave them as gifts to mothers of newborns within the Battalion, organized sessions with the spouses to build and send goodie boxes and Christmas stockings to the deployed Soldiers, recorded Christmas songs that she played on the piano and sent to the deployed Soldiers for the Christmas Eve Service, coordinated with churches within the Continental United States to send packages to the deployed Soldiers, and coordinated assistance through the community services for the families.

On Sundays you could find Gayle volunteering in the Illesheim Chapel as a pianist and organist. Although the Army involuntarily extended elements of the Battalion in Iraq and her husband, then Lieutenant Colonel Bill Braley, could not come home with the bulk of the Battalion, she continued to stand in receiving lines to shake the hand of every re-deploying Soldier and welcome them home with a smile on her face. Following redeployment of the Battalion back to Germany, she participated in reintegration sessions with the Soldiers and their spouses in a program that assisted with the readjustment of families. As a battalion commander’s spouse, she represented the military community at a working luncheon/briefing with General Bell, the Commanding General of the United States Army, Europe, where she provided input to the General on family needs and activities within the community. Based upon her insightful feedback, GEN Bell presented Gayle with a Commanding General’s coin for excellence.

Following battalion command, Gayle accompanied her husband to Heidelberg, Germany where he served on the staff of Lieutenant General (LTG) Sanchez, Commanding General of the V U.S. Army Corps. Throughout the assignment in Heidelberg, she volunteered many hours assisting in the Heidelberg Military Community. Gayle served as a Thrift Shop volunteer and as a member of the spouses club at board meetings and luncheons. She prepared baked goods for the Soldiers at special events and upon their return from field training exercises. Based upon her extensive community involvement, General Officers’ spouses solicited Gayle’s feedback on ways to improve the community in support of the military families.

Upon leaving Germany, Gayle accompanied her husband to the Pentagon followed by his attendance at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) at the National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, D.C. She volunteered on the ICAF Spouses Club Board as a Membership Chairperson and as an International Student Spouses Liaison. She also contributed over 100 volunteer hours assisting in the NDU Bookstore.

For her volunteer contributions, the NDU staff presented Gayle with tickets for both herself and her husband to attend the NDU Foundation Dinner where the highlight of the evening was the presentation of the NDU Patriot Award to Senator John Glenn. The ICAF Commandant, Rear Admiral Mauer, presented Gayle with a Certificate of Appreciation for her dedication and volunteer service. Gayle’s established a legacy of positive enthusiasm and avid support of Army Soldiers and their families at Ft Eustis, VA.  When Colonel Braley assumed brigade level command of USAALS, Gayle immediately became involved as a board member of the Fort Eustis Spouses Club and volunteered as the Thrift Shop Coordinator. She saw a need throughout the community to assist families with the rising cost of clothing school age children and instituted a seasonal community clothing swap. She established a team to solicit and collect donations of gently used garments, and organized the clothing swap on payday weekends. Hundreds of military families from around the area came to the swap to get badly needed clothing for their children.

The clothing swap has been so successful that it has become a recurring event in the Fort Eustis community.