SCR 11-DECORATION OF HONOR AWARD: GABRIEL CONDE                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
5:08:29 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  REVAK announced  the  consideration  of SENATE  CONCURRENT                                                               
RESOLUTION NO. 11, Relating to  awarding the Alaska Decoration of                                                               
Honor to Gabriel David Conde.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
5:08:47 PM                                                                                                                    
DUSTIN ELSBERRY, Staff, Senator Joshua Revak, Alaska State                                                                      
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, presented SCR 11 on behalf of the                                                                  
sponsor. He read the following sponsor statement:                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     This resolution  awards the Alaska Decoration  of Honor                                                                    
     to SPC.  Gabriel David  Conde, a  paratrooper stationed                                                                    
     at Joint  Base Elmendorf  Richardson who lost  his life                                                                    
     in the line  of duty on April 30,  2018 while honorably                                                                    
     serving our state and country in Afghanistan.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     The Alaska  Decoration of Honor is  awarded to military                                                                    
     service members  from Alaska, or those  service members                                                                    
     deployed  while stationed  in  Alaska,  who are  killed                                                                    
     serving  our   nation  abroad.  The   Legislature  must                                                                    
     authorize the  award by  resolution, so  the decoration                                                                    
     can be presented to the recipients' survivors.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Conde  was  raised  in   Colorado  and  graduated  from                                                                    
     Berthoud High School in 2014.  He was known there as an                                                                    
     intelligent  and adventurous  student, who  competed in                                                                    
     track and field for  the school's team, the "Spartans."                                                                    
     After graduation,  he attended  the Colorado  School of                                                                    
     Mines for a  year, before heeding his  personal call to                                                                    
     military  service by  enlisting in  the U.S.  Army. His                                                                    
     unit is  part of the  4th Infantry Brigade  Combat Team                                                                    
     of the 25th  Infantry Division, which is  also known as                                                                    
     "The Spartans"  for their  fierceness in  battle, their                                                                    
     love of their homeland, and their devotion to duty.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     This  "spartan"  was  killed  by  small  arms  fire  in                                                                    
     eastern Afghanistan's Tagab District,  only a few weeks                                                                    
     away  from rotation  back to  Alaska. This  was Conde's                                                                    
     first overseas deployment, during  which he, along with                                                                    
     his  comrades,  supported Operation  Freedom  Sentinel.                                                                    
     The  mission of  the United  States and  its allies  to                                                                    
     maintain a  limited military presence to  train, advise                                                                    
     and  assist  Afghan  forces  and  to  conduct  counter-                                                                    
     terrorism operations against the remnants of Al Qaeda.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     Passage of SCR 11 will  allow Conde's family to receive                                                                    
     the   decoration  in   honor  of   their  loved   one's                                                                    
     sacrifice. While it is our  fervent hope that all those                                                                    
     in  uniform will  return home  safely,  the reality  is                                                                    
     that  a few  will not.  It is  our obligation,  and our                                                                    
     privilege,  to authorize  this decoration  in honor  of                                                                    
     one  of  these  national  heroes,  SPC.  Gabriel  David                                                                    
     Conde.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
5:11:11 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR REVAK opened public testimony and after determining no one                                                                
wished to testify, closed public testimony on SCR 11.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
5:11:39 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR COGHILL moved to report SCR 11 from committee with                                                                      
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR REVAK found no objection and SCR 11 was reported from the                                                                 
Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.