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Michigan Air National Guard State Command Chief Announces Retirement

  • Published
  • Michigan ANG
LANSING, Mich. --  Chief Master Sgt. Michael Dalton of Carleton, Mich., has announced his retirement from the Michigan National Guard, effective January 1, 2012. Dalton serves as the command chief master sergeant for the Michigan Air National Guard based at the Joint Forces Headquarters in Lansing. As the state's command chief for the Air Guard, he is the senior enlisted advisor to the commander of the Michigan Air National Guard and oversees matters of health, welfare, training, and morale for the 2,700 plus members of the Michigan Air National Guard.

"Command Chief Mike Dalton has excelled in his service as the state's senior enlisted leader for the Michigan Air Guard. His work within the state and on the national level has been exemplary and he has raised the position of state command chief to a new level; his experience and sound counsel on all enlisted issues will be sorely missed," said Maj. Gen. Robert Johnston, commander of the Michigan Air National Guard.

Chief Dalton began his assignment as command chief master sergeant for Michigan Air National Guard in October 2003. In addition to his duties as command chief for the state, he was selected by the command chief of the National Guard Bureau in 2009 to serve as the chairman of the Air National Guard Enlisted Field Advisory Council. In this position, he presides over the council which represents more than 93,000 Air National Guard enlisted members nationwide. From May 2007 to July 2011, he has served as the program manager and lead instructor for the Air National Guard Command Chief Orientation Course at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Prior to his selection as chairman of EFAC, he served as the Region 6 coordinator representing enlisted Air National Guard members from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kentucky.

Before his assignment to the Joint Force Headquarters in Lansing, Chief Dalton was assigned as the command chief master sergeant for the 127th Wing based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Mt. Clemens, Mich. Beginning with his first assignment to the Michigan Air National Guard in 1971, Chief Dalton has been assigned duties of great responsibility such as chief of operations, structural shop superintendent, mechanical shop superintendent, and operations section non-commissioned officer-in-charge. Chief Dalton has served as deployment commander or superintendent on several civil engineering deployments to Panama; Honduras; Canada; Alaska; and Washington. He has also deployed for training to Latvia as part the State Partnership for Peace program. Over the course of his career he has been awarded two Meritorious Service Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the State Distinguished Service Medal and numerous others.