The Honorable Timothy G. Connolly attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in January of 1980. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion (Ranger), 75th Infantry, Fort Lewis, Washington, where he served on active duty from 1980-1983. He had reserve assignments with the 11th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and the Kentucky National Guard, where he was responsible for the development of a prototype program for counternarcotics operations. | A member of the Individual Ready Reserve since 1983, Mr. Connolly was activated and assigned to the U.S. Army Special Forces Command in January of 1991. He was deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of operation DESERT STORM in early February, where he was assigned to the 450th Civil Affairs Company, and served as a civil affairs advisor to the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. As a member of Task Force PSYOP, Mr. Connolly participated in the combined arms combat assault on Tallil Airbase near An-Nasiriyah, Iraq, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He later served as a logistics officer with the 22nd Support command (TAA) in Saudi Arabia and as a planner with the Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. | His awards and decorations include: the Bronze Star Medal w/1 Oak Leaf Cluster; Army Achievement Medal; Kuwait Liberation Medal; Southwest Asia Service medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars; National Defense Service Medal; Canadian Parachutist Badge; Ranger Tab; Parachutist Badge and Air Assault Badge. | Mr. Connolly worked on the presidential campaign staffs of Senator George McGovern in 1972 and Governor Jimmy Carter in 1976. He was Director of Telecommunications for Senator Gary Hart at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, and co-directed the Kentucky coordinated campaign of Governor Michael Dukakis during the 1988 presidential general election. In 1986. Mr. Connolly was a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Kentucky. | In January of 1992, he joined the New Hampshire presidential campaign of Governor Bill Clinton as scheduler for Hillary Rodham Clinton, and later directed field operations in several states during both the primary and general election. He served as campaign Director of Telecommunications at the Democratic National Convention in New York and was Deputy Director of Operations for the opening ceremonies of the 1993 Presidential Inaugural Committee. | Mr. Connolly received his A.B. in Political Science from Vassar College in 1978. At the time of his induction into the Hall of Fame, he was serving as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. In this capacity he was principal advisor and deputy to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict for the development of policy and strategy on the integration of special operations forces into the national defense strategy.