The Columbia 11-11-11 Club will host its annual ceremony and banquet on Saturday, Nov 11, at 11 a.m. at the VFW, Fourth and Manor streets, Columbia.

The speaker will be Lt. Col. Seamas Whitesel of the U.S. Army. After graduating from Heidelberg American High School in Germany and Lehigh University, he commissioned into the aviation branch and completed training, including instruction on the UH-60 Black Hawk. As an officer, he served at the company, battalion and brigade levels, including command of the flight company at the Joint Readiness Training Center. He also deployed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Whitesel next joined the Foreign Area Officer branch as a South Asia specialist. To gain knowledge, he studied Hindi and Urdu, attended the Bangladesh Defense Services Command and Staff College, traveled throughout Asia and earned a master's degree in international policy and practice, with a focus on South Asian foreign politics, at George Washington University.

He then held various positions within the Defense Intelligence Agency, including chief of the South Asia Political and Military Analysis Branch, executive officer and military assistant to the agency's deputy director of commonwealth integration, and senior defense official and defense attache to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. He is currently on the Army staff in the G-3/5/7, from which he is detailed to the National Security Council as the director for South Asia Regional Affairs.

He and his wife, Lindsay, have five children.

Reservations are required by calling Kevin Kraft at 717-684-2370. For more information, call Bob Herman 717-672-1525.