Reagan Foundation honors Thornberry

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute last week announced that former House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry of Clarendon and former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work were honored with the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award at the 2021 Reagan National Defense Forum (RNDF) on December 4, 2021.

“Chairman Thornberry and Secretary Work have each devoted decades of their lives to serving and supporting our nation’s armed forces. Their steadfast leadership has contributed greatly to our safety and freedom as a nation,” said Frederick J. Ryan Jr., chairman of the board of trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. “Their knowledge and understanding of defense strategy, budgeting and modernization have been invaluable to preserving our competitive edge. As we honor them at RNDF, we trust that their contributions to the cause are not yet complete.”

Mac Thornberry retired from Congress in 2021 after representing the 13th district of Texas for 26 years. A leader on national security issues, Thornberry was a longtime member of the House Armed Services Committee, which he chaired for four years, and the House Intelligence Committee. As HASC Chairman, Thornberry worked to update and streamline DoD acquisition to get new technologies into the hands of the warfighter faster and to enhance innovation within the military.

Robert Work served as Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2014 to 2017, and was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations and management of the Department of Defense. Prior to his confirmation in that role, he served as CEO of the Center for a New American Security and as Under Secretary of the Navy. In 2019, he co-chaired the inaugural Reagan Institute Center for Peace Through Strength Task Force, which produced a report detailing recommendations for the National Security Innovation Base. Work also served 27 years in the Marines, retiring as a colonel in 2001.

Presented at each RNDF since 2013, the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award recognizes those who have applied, with constant purpose, a strategy to strengthen our armed forces, support our military men and women striving around the world, reinforce our nation’s defense systems and safeguard the lives and interests of the American people.

The award is represented by a bronze eagle set upon a black granite base. The eagle symbolizes the strength, courage and wisdom of both Reagan and the country that he loved so dearly. Captured within the eagle’s talon is a piece of the Berlin Wall, a powerful reminder that, in Reagan’s own words, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

Thornberry and Work join a distinguished group of previous award recipients, including former Vice President Dick Cheney; Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI); U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA); former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and George Shultz; former Defense Secretaries James Mattis, Ashton Carter, Leon Panetta and Robert Gates; former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson; former Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI.), John McCain (R-AZ) and Sam Nunn (D-GA); and retired General Jack Keane.

RNDF is America’s premier gathering for defense and national security experts. Each year, the forum brings together leaders from across the political spectrum and key stakeholders in the defense community, including members of Congress, current and former administration officials, senior military leadership, industry executives, technology innovators and thought leaders. Their mission is to review and assess policies that strengthen America’s national defense in the context of the global threat environment, and to discuss how the United States can lead the world in an era of increasingly complex challenges and opportunities.

The Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award honors those individuals whose courage and leadership in support of our nation’s armed forces, here and abroad, have contributed to the security of the American people and to the advancement of freedom.