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Bryan Suits

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Bryan Suits
BornHonolulu, Hawaii[1]
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army
*Army Reserve
*California National Guard
*Washington National Guard
Years of service1989[2] - Unknown
RankFirst Lieutenant[2]
Unit161st Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsOperation Desert Storm[2]
SFOR[2]
Operation Iraqi Freedom[2]
AwardsBronze Star Medal[2]
Purple Heart[2]
Other workTalk Radio host

Bryan Suits is an American war veteran of three military conflicts in Kuwait, Bosnia, and Iraq, and has been a talk radio host for more than 10 years. He has hosted talk-shows for radio stations in Seattle, WA: KIRO (AM) and KVI, and in Los Angeles: KFI AM 640. Suits was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and grew up in Washington. He was heard weekday afternoons on KOGO-AM/FM in San Diego until Friday, February 17, 2012. Suits can be heard on KFI on Sunday afternoons. He is based in Oregon.

Biography

After graduating from Washington State University, Suits became a broker-trainee at Drexel Burnham Lambert.[1]

Military service

Enlisting in the United States Army Reserve in 1989, he served in Operation Desert Storm as a medic. In 1998 he deployed as a member of the California Army National Guard to Bosnia as part of SFOR. In 2002, he attended Officer Candidate School and received his commission. As a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, Washington Army National Guard he deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Due to events during his deployment to Iraq he became a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.[2]

While in Iraq he occasionally called into the Kirby Wilbur Show and reported on his experiences. He was also a contributor to the Iraq election log on the BBC news website.[3] Lieutenant Suits collected rubber boots from his radio show listeners and distributed them to Iraqi children in what became known as "Boots for Suits".[4] Upon his arrival back from his tour of duty in Iraq, he claimed that his ballot for the November 2004 general election, which he said was mailed to his wife from Iraq, was never counted. His claim became part of the public debate surrounding the contested 2004 Washington gubernatorial election.

Media career

The "Bryan Suits Show" first ran Monday to Friday from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. PST on KIRO (AM) from 1999 to 2002.[5][6] Suits then moved to the prime drive time hours of 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 PT on KVI, following Sean Hannity.[7] The topics on the show ranged from local news to kicker stories to the War on Terror. Suits usually employed his sense of humor on all topics. He referred to the last hour of his show as "The Iraq Block" and devoted it mostly to discussion on the war in Iraq. It is in this hour that his experience in Iraq helped put some news items in perspective. Suits was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and returned to KVI in 2005 to continue his show.[8]

On March 6, 2003, an Iraqi caller named "Mohammed" confronted United for Peace and Justice spokesperson Andrea Buffa on Suits' show. The clip was posted on the KVI website and quickly circulated around the Internet. However, some individuals noted that the individual did not have an Iraqi Arab accent.[citation needed]

Suits' show was canceled by KVI on November 9, 2007.[9] Some listeners complained that November 9 was the Friday preceding the Veteran's Day holiday (typically observed on November 11, each year in the U.S.).

Suits' show was replaced by the KVI show The Commentators with John Carlson and Ken Schram, formerly aired from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon. KVI aired the Laura Ingram show from 3pm to 5pm. Ironically, KVI put Peter Weissbach in for an hour of Bryans old time slot (5-6pm), the very host whom Suits had been brought in to replace.[citation needed]

Suits periodically filled in as a guest host from 7-10pm, following the controversial removal of John Ziegler in December 2007 on KFI, AM 640 of Los Angeles.[citation needed]

Suits announced December 31, 2007 that he had accepted a position from 7-10pm, following John and Ken beginning January 2008 on KFI AM 640 of Los Angeles. In April he was joined by long-time friend and fellow radio host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, and they performed the show together under the banner of "The Kennedy & Suits Show". Kennedy's final broadcast on "Kennedy & Suits" was September 30, 2009, with Suits going it solo again as the "Bryan Suits Show". In addition, Suits hosted The Dark Secret Place from 2pm-4pm on Sundays, in the time slot formerly held by Kennedy before she moved to weekdays.[10]

Suits announced, on his January 8, 2010 show, that his last day at his current 7:00 pm KFI Los Angeles time slot would be on Friday, January 15, 2010. He planned to continue his Sunday show, Dark Secret Place on KFI. Citing family reasons, and not specific on his career move, he and his family were returning to the Seattle, Washington area. His replacement on KFI, Tim Conway Jr., would begin at the 7:00 pm time slot on Monday, January 18, 2010.[11]

KVI AM 570 in Seattle, announced the return of The Bryan Suits Show weekday mornings, from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., starting Monday morning, January 25, 2010.[12] Some 10 months later, KVI AM 570 in Seattle cancelled its conservative-talk lineup and switched to an Oldies format, on November 8, 2010.[13]

While The Bryan Suits Show had been canceled, once again, by KVI in the days preceding Veterans' Day, the Bryan Suits Show Facebook page stated that he had a safety net in place when hired back by Fisher Radio. In addition, Suits continued to host The Dark Secret Place, on Sundays from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, on AM 640 KFI Los Angeles.[14]

On November 2011, became the mid-day host on KOGO in San Diego.[15][16][17]

Suits midday show on KOGO ended on February 17, 2012.

References

  1. ^ a b "Bryan Suits". KFI. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Meet the Soldiers". Military Channel. Discovery Communications, LLC. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  3. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4201047.stm BBC NEWS- Middle East- Iraq election log contributors
  4. ^ Bryan Suits (9 December 2004). "Iraq log: 9 December 2004". BBC. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  5. ^ http://www.seattlepi.com/tv/radi10.shtml. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  6. ^ Virgin, Bill (13 November 2002). "Radio Beat: Latest word on radio talk: Listen for more changes". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  7. ^ Virgin, Bill (12 March 2003). "Radio Beat: KVI's Suits suiting up for the Army -- again". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  8. ^ Virgin, Bill (16 March 2005). "Suits re-ups with KVI after duty in Iraq". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  9. ^ Virgin, Bill (14 November 2007). "On Radio: Jim Wilke, host of 'Jazz After Hours,' celebrates 50 years in radio business". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  10. ^ http://leaningstraightup.com/?p=1574/ Bryan Suits News! Goodbye Seattle, and hello LA!
  11. ^ http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/bryan-227628-kfi-jan.html Orange County Register: Tim Conway Jr. to replace Bryan Suits on KFI.
  12. ^ "Welcome back Bryan Suits and John Carlson to KVI", KVI.com.
  13. ^ http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/83060/kvi-a-goes-oldies-on-nov-8th
  14. ^ Richard Wagoner (14 January 2010). "Suits' KFI evening show comes to an end". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  15. ^ "Big changes in local radio". San Diego County News. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  16. ^ Gary Lycan (17 November 2011). "Holiday radio round-up". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  17. ^ "News & Talk Now on FM Radio". Industry News. San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2011.

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