General Charles Q. Brown, Jr.

General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. is the 21st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, and the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council. Prior to becoming Chairman on October 1, 2023, General Brown served as the 22nd Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. General Brown earned his commission in 1984 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at Texas Tech University. General Brown has served in a variety of positions at the squadron and wing levels, including an assignment to the U.S. Air Force Weapons School as an F-16 Fighting Falcon Instructor. His notable staff tours include Aide-de-Camp to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Director of the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff Executive Action Group. His joint assignments include three assignments to U.S. Central Command as Air Operations Officer, Current Operations Division; Deputy Director, Operations Directorate; and Deputy Commander. General Brown has commanded a fighter squadron, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, two fighter wings, and twice served as a Combined/Joint Air Component Commander with command tours at U.S. Air Forces Central Command and Pacific Air Forces. General Brown is a command pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours primarily in the F-16, including 130 combat hours, and has flown 20 additional fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. Throughout his career, he deployed or directly supported Operation Southern Watch, Operation Northern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Odyssey Dawn, Operation Unified Protector, and Operation Inherent Resolve. In addition to his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas Tech University, General Brown has a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, a distinguished graduate from Air Command and Staff College, a graduate of the Air War College, and served as a National Defense Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses.

General Martin E. Dempsey, U.S. Army (Ret)

General Dempsey retired as the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September 2015, after previously serving as the Army’s 37th Chief of Staff. Past assignments have taken him and his family across the globe during both peace and war from platoon leader to combatant commander. He is a 1974 graduate of the United States Military Academy and a career armor officer. General Dempsey’s awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with “V” Device and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Action Badge, and the Parachutist Badge. In addition to his Master's degree in English, he holds Masters' degrees in Military Arts and National Security Studies. Dempsey now brings his extensive leadership qualities to the Chairmanship of USA Basketball. Elected to the post by the board of directors, Dempsey will lead USA Basketball through the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. General Dempsey and his high school sweetheart, Deanie, have three children who each have served in the U.S. Army. They have nine wonderful grandchildren. General Dempsey is a member of the TAPS Board of Directors.

Brianna Keilar

Brianna Keilar is co-anchor of the 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern block of CNN News Central out of the network's Washington, D.C. bureau. She previously anchored CNN's New Day and CNN Right Now. Keilar is also the author of Home Front, a column focused on military families in attempt to bridge the military-civilian divide. Throughout 2020, Keilar played a pivotal role in the network's expanded coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. She has also pushed for increased government accountability through her regular Roll the Tape segments. Prior to becoming an anchor in November 2018, Keilar served as CNN's senior Washington correspondent, lead reporter covering Hillary Clinton and the Democratic field during the 2016 presidential race, and senior White House correspondent for CNN during the Obama administration. Her efforts in this role earned her a 2014 Aldo Beckman Memorial Award from the White House Correspondents' Association, and her 2012 election coverage contributed to the network's Emmy Award-winning election night coverage. Before covering the White House, Keilar covered activities of both the U.S. House and Senate as a congressional correspondent, where she earned the National Press Foundation's Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress. Prior to covering Congress, Keilar reported on a wide range of stories, including the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, where she was the first CNN correspondent on the ground. Keilar's CNN career began in 2006 as a CNN Newsource correspondent, where she provided breaking news coverage and reported from the nation's capital for approximately 800 CNN Newsource partner stations. Before joining CNN, Keilar served as an anchor, reporter, and producer for a CBS newscast that aired on mtvU, MTV 's college network. At CBS, she also served as a fill-in anchor of Up to the Minute and reported freelance for CBS Evening News Weekend Edition. Keilar's early career includes reporting for the CNN and CBS affiliate in Yakima, Washington, and intern and production assistant at a CNN and FOX affiliate in San Francisco, California. Keilar graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degrees in mass communications and psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Chef Robert Irvine

Robert Irvine is a 16 year Navy veteran, world-class chef, fitness authority, and philanthropist. He seeks to inspire people to live better through all his endeavors. A tireless supporter of our veterans, he gives back to those who defend our freedoms. Robert pioneered a new genre of programming for Food Network with his extreme cooking challenge show, Dinner: Impossible, which ran for 7 seasons and over 100 episodes. He parlayed that success into the even more popular Restaurant: Impossible, which ran for 13 seasons and 160 episodes. Robert didn’t just renovate restaurants and retrain staff in record time, he counseled owners through personal problems that were destroying their businesses. At its peak, 1.2 million viewers tuned in on a weekly basis. Robert has also hosted or appeared on Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America, Next Iron Chef, Restaurant Express, Chopped: Impossible, Guy’s Grocery Games: Impossible, A Hero’s Welcome, Food Network Star, ABC’s Body of Proof, ABC Family’s Melissa and Joey among others.

Brett Jones, Singer Songwriter

Brett Jones is a country music singer/songwriter originally from Warm Springs, Georgia. His first professional staff writing position was with country star Ronnie top twenty single, and in 1996, his first #1 country single. Since his career began, he has notched seven #1 country singles, two #2 singles, 14 top tens, and over 150 major label recordings. Some of his notable recordings are: You Gotta Love That by Neal McCoy, Cover You In Kisses by John Michael Montgomery, A Little Past Little Rock' by Lee Ann Womack, Better Man, Better Off by Tracy Lawrence, You Wont Ever Be Lonely by Andy Griggs, What Do You Think About That by Montgomery Gentry, Don't Ask Me How I Know by Bobby Pinson, Good Little Girls by Blue County, That's How Country Boys Roll by Billy Currington, Crazy Town by Jason Aldean, and If Heaven Wasnt So Far Away by Justin Moore. As a performer, Brett has been on play bills with: Little Texas, Tracy Byrd, Ricochet, Michael Martin Murphy, Joanna Smith, the Gatlin Brothers, Eddie Raven, Gary Morris, Michael McDonald, Big and Rich, Daryl Worley, Billy Currington, Phil Vassar, Shawn Camp, Rob Crosby, Andy Griggs, Randy Houser,Jason Jones,Jamie Johnson, Darryl Singletery, Bobby Pinson, Rhett Akins, Blue County, Mark Chesnut, Billy Ray Reynolds, Hank Cochran, and Kenny Chesney among others. Brett has also been a successful publisher sine 1997, and has had a hand in the careers of Tony Lane, Joanna Smith, Jason Jones, and Dallas Davidson. Some of his copyrights are: Honky Tonk Badonkadonk by Trace Atkins, Put A Girl In It by Brooks & Dunn, and Start A Band by Brad Paisley.

Robert Patrick, Actor

Robert Patrick has worked with the top actors and directors in his field for the last 20 years. His breakthrough role came as the legendary T-1000 in Terminator 2. He was the first actor in the history of motion capture and since then, he has worked on iconic films and television shows including Die Hard 2, Wayne's World, Last Action Hero, Fire in the Sky, Cop Land, The Faculty, Walk the Line, Bridge to Terabithia, Spy Kids, Flags of Our Fathers, The Sopranos, The Outer Limits, Elvis, The Unit, The X-Files, Sons of Anarchy and True Blood. He starred as Agent Cabe Gallow in Scorpion for CBS for four seasons and most recently was seen in The Laundromat and Perry Mason. He is currently co-starring in the new series Peacemaker. Patrick is a lifelong supporter of the military and the USO. The grandson of an Army veteran, who served during World Wars I and II and the Korean War, Patrick grew up with a profound respect for troops. He regularly goes on USO hospital visits and has participated in four USO tours to seven countries since 2008, visiting more than 8,100 service members and military families. As a longtime motorcycle enthusiast and Boozefighter, Patrick served for years as an Honorary Grand Marshall for the famed Love Ride which benefited veterans. He became the proud co-owner of Harley-Davidson Santa Clarita.

Matt Pavone, Artist

Matt Pavone is a visual artist based locally in Northern Virginia, and an active community volunteer. He serves on the Middleburg Art Council, in Middleburg Township, and on the Board of Directors for a local nonprofit, The Artists in Middleburg. In addition, he partners with various other local and national nonprofits to help fundraise and raise awareness for their causes. Among his various creative pursuits with the art world is an ongoing art series focused on flags - in particular the American flag. Matt's interest in the American flag as a symbol stretches back to his early childhood in New Jersey, at which time his adjacent neighbors were World War II veterans, brothers, Nick and Frank Maltese. His earliest childhood memories include the American flag, which Nick and Frank flew 365 days a year. As an artist who creates stylized depictions of objects from his own past, the flag is naturally an image Matt gravitates toward. I rely heavily on his emotional connection to those objects to express how he feels using color. He works with different mediums and frequently uses collage, stencil, and hand-cut wood silhouettes to create his artwork. Matt also incorporates a variety of different painting techniques to produce an impression of those memories. These memories tend to flow through panels of imagery that are based on what he describes as looping memory tracks (e.g. flags, flowers, coffee, etc). From these memory tracks, he investigates his influences and explores his identity using color and patterning. He attributes his creative approach to exposures to street art and counterculture of New York City and Montreal in the 1980s and 1990s, where as a child, Matt spent significant time.

The U.S. Army Band Downrange

Downrange supports the men and women of the Armed Services through popular music while reaching all audiences, young and old, with their continuously up-to-date repertoire of rock, pop, country, R & B, and inspirational signature patriotic arrangements that are popular with all listeners.

The U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps

"The Commandant's Own," the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps' mission is to provide music and drill ceremony to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Commanding Officer of Marine Barracks Washington, D.C. founded in 1934 as an augmentation to the United States Marine Band, "The Commandant's Own" is the only active duty drum and bugle corps currently serving in our Armed Forces.

Voices of Service

Voices of Service (VOS), part of the nonprofit Center for American Military Music Opportunities also called CAMMO is a singing quartet which includes retired Master Sgt. Caleb Green, retired Staff Sgt. Ron Henry, Sgt. Maj. Christal Rheams and Sgt. 1st Class Jason Hanna.

Tony David & WildeFire (Pamela Hughes & Kerry Edwards)

Tony David is an active Board Member for The Colorado TAPS Celebrity Classic. Tony has supported TAPS not only locally in Colorado but now on a National level. Tony has been an active Board Member for 15 years and he as well as his singing partners have personally raised over $400K donating their time performing and assistance in fund raisers across the Denver Metro area.