Lt. Col. Frank Pera was commissioned as an engineer officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers in June 2001.
Lt. Col. Pera earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering Management from West Point to include one semester at the United States Naval Academy and a Master’s of Science in Engineering Management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He currently holds an Engineer in Training (EIT) Certification from the state of New York. He is also a graduate of the Engineer Officer Basic Course and Engineer Officer Advanced Course, Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, and has graduated from the Army’s Command and General Staff College. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School, Sapper School, the Stryker Leader Course, and Airborne School.
Upon completion of the Officer Basic Course, he arrived at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington to serve on the Stryker fielding team as an Assistant S4 from February through November 2002 before assignment as a Stryker Engineer Platoon leader in the 18th Engineer Company. As a platoon leader, he led two platoons from November 2002 until November 2004 to include a deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF2). Lt. Col. Pera later served with 1/307th Training Support Battalion as the Engineer Branch Chief in charge of training the Pennsylvania National Guard on Stryker operations from April 2006 until November 2007 before being selected to serve in the Corps of Engineer’s prime power battalion as the assistant-S3 then commander of C Company for the 249th Engineer battalion in Fort Belvoir, VA. In that capacity, he deployed platoons in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and numerous federally declared disaster areas from November 2007 until August 2010. Following command, LTC Pera served on the 25th Infantry Division staff in Schofield Barracks, HI in numerous staff positions from September 2010 until May 2012 including deputy of the Reposture team assigned the task of transferring all remaining U.S. bases to the country of Iraq during the final stages of Operation New Dawn. Upon return from his deployment, LTC Pera served as the Brigade Engineer for 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker) before nomination, assessment, and selection as the Regimental Engineer for the 75th Ranger Regiment where he served from August 2013 until August 2015 and had multiple deployments as part of a Counter-terrorism Joint Task Force during both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Resolute Support. LTC Pera then served as the Engineer Targeting Officer for Joint Forces Command in Naples, Italy from 2015-2018. Lt. Col. Pera’s previous assignment was the Executive Officer for the Director of Program Analysis and Evaluation, G-8, on the Army Staff. He is currently serving as the Commander of the 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power) and the Commandant of the US Army Prime Power School.
Lt. Col. Pera’s military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Achievement Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense and Service Medal, Afghan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Overseas Service Medal, NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge, Ranger Tab, Sapper Tab, and the Parachutist Badge.