Army pilot having more than 40 years experience who is certified in seven helicopters of the Army and planes will serve as the keynote speaker for the Saturday’s Veterans Day ceremonies.


The event begins around 10 a.m. at Sat. Nov. 11th, when the Chamber of commerce’s annually held Veterans Day parade rolls from First Baptist Church. Veteran’s are welcome to join the parade on floats supplied by the Chamber and must board the floats no later than 10:45 a.m. at the church’s parking lot located on East Three Notch Street.


After the parade after the parade, following the parade, City of Andalusia will host an event on the Covington Veterans Memorial located behind City Hall The veterans are invited to attend a reception at City Hall after the end of the program. The reception will feature music from Andalusia High School’s”A Music Tradition.


5th CW Bryant Fontenot, who retired from the U.S. Army in 2021 after 40 years of service, will deliver remarks. He was in the rank of C5 for a period of 21 years as well as a warrant officer as well as a instructor of standardization prior to his retirement.

An alumnus from Southern Louisiana, CW5 Fontenot joined the Army shortly after finishing high school. He was in a broad spectrum of crucial positions including the most important post at the Republic of Panama, the US Mexico Border, Jordan, Bahrain, Mexico Border, Jordan, Bahrain, Israel, Iraq as well as the State levels in the Alabama National Guard, the National Guard Bureau of Arlington Virginia Forts Novosel, Bragg, Lewis, and Hood and served the rigors of five (5) missions in combat. It was his final military assignment when he was his Command Chief Warrant officer of Division West, which was part of the First US Army, Fort Hood Texas.


His missions in combat include


  • 1998 1998 Operation Southern Watch living with the 26th Kuwaiti Land Forces Brigade located on the border of southern Iraqi border, fighting Iraqi 51 DIV. Iraqi 51 Division.

  • 1999 1999 Operation Northern Watch on and off Failaka Island Kuwait Ahmadi in coordination together with 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit USMC and 5th US Special Forces Group.

  • 2011 2011 Special Operations Task Force – Central, Anbar Province Iraq Training The 2nd Iraqi Special Operations Forces.

  • 2012: Special Operations Task Force Central was pinned to the Syrian frontier Al Qaim.

  • 2012. Separate task force established this time to be Special Operations Task Force – NORTH Northern extremity of Iraq working to prevent at least Iraq as well as Turkey from destroying the Kurds to the ground in the last century.

CSS5 Fontenot is also serving two times at the border between Mexico and America,, assisting in the U.S. security concerns. safety.


CW5 Fontenot is certified in seven Army aircrafts and helicopters. He has accumulated more than 15,000 hours of flight time that are all accident-free. He is currently training and evaluating the Army’s pilots through a position in Federal Service in which he is the Deputy Chief of Standards for Fort Novosel’s flight-training mission.

His distinctions vary, however one of his most treasured ones was his Gold Award of The Order of Saint Michael from the Army Aviation Association of America. It should be mentioned that the most recognizable beacon used for navigation on Fort Novosel was the RUCKR beacon that was used to guide instruments flight training. That beacon’s name is now “BRYNT” and is which is pronounced “Bryant,” and named in honor of our guest speaker today.


Pauline, his wife for over 40 years Pauline has three kids and 7 grandchildren. They are the Fontenots are from Ozark.

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