Photo By Tom Cherry | Pennsylvania Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler, right, presents the...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – When he enlisted in the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Michael Regan Jr. planned on serving for four years, getting the GI Bill, then going to college to become a teacher.
Forty-two and a half years later, Regan is retiring as a major general after spending the last 7 ½ years as the Pennsylvania National Guard’s deputy adjutant general - Air.
“In 1981 when I enlisted in the Air Force, it never even occurred to me that I would be retiring as a two-star general officer,” said Regan, whose last day as DAG - Air was May 10.
Regan is succeeded by Brig. Gen. Terry Koudelka, who served as the Pennsylvania National Guard’s director of the joint staff since December 2020.
A native of Scranton, Pa., Regan enlisted in the active-duty Air Force in October 1981 and transferred to the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 111th Fighter Wing in February 1984. He served as an aircraft weapons specialist, quality assurance specialist, flight chief and quality assurance chief.
Regan attained the rank of master sergeant before being commissioned as an aircraft maintenance officer in 1994. He held positions as a flight, squadron and deputy group commander before serving as the 111th Mission Support Group commander. He was appointed DAG - Air in September 2016.
“I’ve been very blessed,” Regan said. “I never could’ve imagined I’d have this cool job for the last 7 ½ years. Every job I had in the Air Force was cool, even when I was loading airplanes in the pouring rain or the snow. Loved it.”
Regan has also served with the Michigan and Delaware Air National Guard, and he deployed in support of Operations Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
“Maj. Gen. Regan served an outstanding and distinguished career, leaving the Pennsylvania Air National Guard a stronger, more agile force for our commonwealth and nation,” said Pennsylvania Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler. “We thank him for his tenure, his service, and his unwavering commitment to our Airmen and to our veterans across Pennsylvania.”
Asked what he will miss most about the military, Regan’s answer was simple: the people.
“People always ask, ‘Why did you stick around so long?’” he said. “It was really because of the caliber of people you get to hang out with. Not that we all think alike, because we don’t, but we all made the same choice to put the uniform on. We’re less than one percent of the population, so that’s a bond right out of the gate.”
Regan’s advice for younger Airmen and Soldiers is to focus on their job, not the next promotion, and everything else will fall into place.
“Just do the work, whatever that work is, and people will notice,” Regan said. “Most of the jobs I had, even in corporate America, I didn’t apply for them. People just notice that I was doing the work, and they plug you in, because they want people who focus on doing the work.”
Outside of the military, Regan has held various senior leadership roles in his civilian career, most recently as the vice-president and chief information officer at Lower Bucks County Hospital in Bristol, Pa. Prior to that he held various management positions during his 15 years with Siemens Medical Solutions in Malvern, Pa.
He was also an adjunct professor of business management and technology at Ursinus College and at West Chester University of Pennsylvania for more than 10 years.
Regan, who now resides in Gilbertsville, Pa., said in retirement he plans to spend time with his family and travel. He also hopes to resume teaching college classes.
Reflecting on his original plan to serve for four years, then get out and go to college, Regan said he’s glad things worked out the way they did.
“My dad was drafted during Korea, and he still had relationships with people he went to basic training with 30 years later,” Regan recalled. “I said, ‘I want that,’ and I wanted to give back to my country. I said, ‘I’ll enlist for four years, get the GI Bill and move on with my life.’ Then I found the Guard and fell in love with it.”
| Date Taken: | 05.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2024 08:20 |
| Story ID: | 471407 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA, US |
| Hometown: | GILBERTSVILLE, PA, US |
| Hometown: | SCRANTON, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 244 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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