North Dakota Air Guard names new senior enlisted leader: Muehler takes over as Bush retires

Photo By David Lipp | Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Muehler, the 119th Wing command chief, left, visits with Airman 1st Class Lucas Brendemuhl and Airman 1st Class Mathew Fee, both of the 119th Security Forces Squadron, March 14 at a send-off ceremony at the North Dakota Air National Guard, Fargo, N.D., as they prepare for a deployment to Afghanistan. (DoD photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp) (Released)  

FARGO, ND, UNITED STATES

02.04.2016

Courtesy Story

North Dakota National Guard Public Affairs

FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota Air National Guard has a new senior enlisted leader. Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Muehler assumed duties as the state command chief master sergeant in January during a change of responsibility ceremony at the Air National Guard base in Fargo.

Muehler, of Fargo, replaced, Chief Master Sgt. Bennett G. Bush, who officially retired from the National Guard Feb. 1, after four years in the position.

As the state command chief master sergeant, Muehler reports to Brig. Gen. Ronald W. Solberg, assistant adjutant general for North Dakota's Air National Guard. In this capacity as the senior enlisted Airman in the North Dakota Air Guard, Muehler will advise senior military leaders on matters concerning discipline, morale, welfare, effective utilization, professional development and career progression of the state's Airmen.

"We are all thankful for Chief Bush's many years of dedicated service to our state and nation. Service that was marked with a high level of professionalism and competence," said Solberg. "Chief Muehler's reputation as an excellent and proficient senior noncommissioned officer combined with his many years of experience, makes him the perfect candidate to assume this highly visible and important position within our Air National Guard. I congratulate him and look forward to working closed with him on behalf of our talented Airmen."

Muehler began his career in the U.S. Air Force in June 1978 as a pneudraulics system specialist, providing aircraft maintenance for the F-5E Aggressor Squadron. Two years into his career, he was selected to become a member of the prestigious air demonstration squadron known as the Thunderbirds.

Muehler would go on to join the New York Air National Guard's 106th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group, out of Westhampton Beach, in 1986. There he provided aircraft maintenance until 1988, when he transferred to the N.D. Air National Guard's 119th Wing, known as the "Happy Hooligans."

In June 2006, after more than 26 years in aircraft maintenance, Muehler moved into the intelligence career field, when the 119th Wing took on a new MQ-1 Predator mission. As a mission intelligence coordinator and superintendent of the Wing's Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group, Chief Muehler has supported Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.

Bush, who joined the Air Guard while in high school, spent 26 years in the 119th Civil Engineering Squadron. In 2008, he was deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, serving as the chief of civil engineering for the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, out of Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait. While there, he oversaw base maintenance as well as runway maintenance and repair, coordinating and scheduling work with coalition forces from five other countries.

Upon his return from deployment, Bush transitioned from civil engineering to the Bismarck-based Joint Force Headquarters, where he took on the role of state human resource adviser. Working with the Wing's human resource adviser, Bush stood up the 119th Wing Diversity Council. In February 2012, Bush became the fourth North Dakota state command chief.

• Date Taken: 02.04.2016
• Date Posted: 02.04.2016 16:02
• Story ID: 187923
• Location: FARGO, ND, US
• Hometown: FARGO, ND, US