Gov. Heineman Announces Promotion of Nebraska Adjutant General to National Post

Gen. Judd H. Lyons

 

(Lincoln, Neb.) Gov. Dave Heineman today announced that Maj. Gen. Judd H. Lyons, Adjutant General of the Nebraska National Guard, has been named Deputy Director of the U.S. Army National Guard. His start date has not yet been determined, but is expected to be this summer. As Commander in Chief of the Nebraska National Guard, Gov. Heineman will select the State’s next Adjutant General.
“This is great news for Gen. Lyons and speaks very highly of the quality of leadership at Nebraska’s National Guard,” said Gov. Dave Heineman. “I want to congratulate Gen. Lyons on this promotion. He has been an outstanding adjutant general. The fact that this is the second consecutive Nebraska Adjutant General to become the number two person leading the Army National Guard is a high honor for the State.”
Maj. Gen. Lyons, 50, is Nebraska’s 32nd Adjutant General. He assumed command of the Nebraska National Guard on Aug. 23, 2009 when then Adjutant General Tim Kadavy was promoted to this position.
As Deputy Director, Maj. Gen. Lyons will be responsible for assisting the director of the Army National Guard in formulating and coordinating all programs, policies and plans affecting the Army National Guard and its more than 350,000 citizen-soldiers. He will be assigned to the National Guard Headquarters in Arlington, Va.
“It has been my honor to serve here in the Nebraska National Guard for over 33 years,” Maj. Gen. Lyons. “I’d like to thank Governor Heineman for giving me the opportunity to serve as the Adjutant General. It has been especially rewarding to have served since 2009 as Adjutant General. I am extremely proud of the accomplishment of our Nebraska Military Department’s men and women. Over the last four years we have deployed our Air and Army National Guard members overseas in record numbers. These same men and women have responded magnificently to historic flooding and wildfires here at home.”
As Adjutant General, Lyons was the senior uniformed National Guard officer responsible for leading the nearly 4,700 Army and Air National Guard personnel in Nebraska. He is also a member of the Governor’s Cabinet and directs the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.
During the past four years, Nebraska Soldiers and Airmen have deployed in historic numbers for overseas missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and other locations across the globe. They were also involved in a number of recent humanitarian missions to Central America and northern Alaska.
Domestically, the men and women of the Nebraska National Guard responded to the winter Blizzard of 2009, the historic flooding on the Platte and Missouri Rivers in 2011, and last year’s considerable wildfires in western and central Nebraska.
Other highlights of Lyons’ tenure include continuing strong efforts in recruiting and retention; the completion of the Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters in Lincoln, and readiness centers in McCook, Beatrice and Columbus; on-going readiness center construction at the Mead Training Site, Lincoln and Grand Island; the fielding of the UH-72 Lakota helicopter; the strengthening of the Nebraska National Guard’s ties to the Czech Republic through the State Partnership Program; and national-level awards in the areas of food service, logistics, maintenance, journalism, community relations and medical preparedness.
“It has been a privilege to lead and serve with a team comprised of uniformed members, state employees, and emergency management professionals,” Maj. Gen. Lyons said. “While it is a tough decision to leave, this is an opportunity to serve at the national level assisting the Director of the Army National Guard to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead in our role as an Operational Force in the Reserve Component.”
Prior to his current assignment, Maj. Gen. Lyons served as the Nebraska National Guard’s Chief of the Joint Staff in Lincoln. Maj. Gen. Lyons deployed to Afghanistan from Nov. 2006 until June 2007, where he served as the Commander of the 209th Regional Security Assistance Command, which was part of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix V.
Maj. Gen. Lyons received his Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in Management of Human Resources from Bellevue University in 1994 and his Master of Science degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College in 2005. He is also a graduate of the Joint Forces Staff College, the CAPSTONE Course of the National Defense University, the George C. Marshall Senior Executive Seminar and the National and International Security Course of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Additional details on the selection process will be announced at a later date, but it will be similar to the process used in selecting Maj. Gen. Lyons with a panel reviewing applicants and forwarding the list of finalists to the Governor. The Governor intends to name a successor in the coming months