Belvidere Officer Retires from the Illinois Army National Guard After Two and a Half Decades of Selfless Service

Photo By Spc. Davanh Sanamixay | Lt. Col. Bernadette Bland of Belvidere, a veteran of two overseas deployments and multiple domestic emergency missions, holds her Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army with Col. Timothy Newman during her ceremony at the Illinois Military Academy Auditorium on Camp Lincoln in Springfield, Ill on May 3, 2026. Bland served for more than 25 years including multiple overseas deployments and training missions. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Davanh Sanamixay, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs).  

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES

05.02.2026

Story by Staff Sgt. Gerardo Valdes 

Joint Force Headquarters - Illinois National Guard Public Affairs

The Illinois Army National Guard recognized the 25-year military career of Lt. Col. Bernadette Bland of Belvidere, a veteran of two overseas deployments and multiple domestic emergency missions, during a ceremony at the Illinois Military Academy Auditorium on Camp Lincoln in Springfield, Ill on May 3, 2026.
She deployed twice in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She deployed to Djibouti in 2001-2002 as a maintenance platoon leader in the 94th Maintenance Company and in 2014 she deployed to Kuwait as the Chief Supply and Services Officer for the 108th Sustainment Brigade. In 2005 she deployed as a member of Joint Task Force Katrina, providing humanitarian relief in the Gulf Coast region and in 2020 she was activated for the Illinois response to COVID-19. She has also served on numerous overseas training exercises including multiple missions to Africa and Europe.
“I went to Africa five times,” she said. “What other part-time lets you do that?”
Lt. Col. Bland’s military career was an adventure from the start. Bland began her career by commissioning as an ordnance officer through ROTC at Lewis University in May 2001. Her first day of active duty after commissioning was Sept. 10, 2001. “The next day, of course, everything changed for everyone in the military,” she said. “Eight days later I was in Djibouti (Africa).”
Djibouti was as hot as…well, Africa. And the U.S. military didn’t have the military infrastructure there that they do today - for example, air conditioning. “It was hot and miserable for all of us and that was a leadership challenge. But as a unit we learned to ‘embrace the suck’ and became a tighter unit as a result,” Bland said.
Years later, on a training mission with the National Guard in Botswana, Bland learned it can get cold at night in Africa. It was 20-degrees Fahrenheit – and the female tents had no heat. “I was cold, all the time,” she said. That was until high winds blew away the female tents. “At that point we were so close to the end of the exercise that the decision was made not to put the tents back up,” she said. The females were dispersed throughout the camp for the remaining days. Bland was placed in a room next to the kitchen. “It was heated and for the first time during the exercise I could sleep.”
Bland said the the U.S. Army taught her to “Hunt the Good Stuff” long before it became part of the Army’s official resilience training. She also learned to “listen to and actually get to know” her Soldiers. “One of my Soldiers taught me how to weld,” she said. That was a highlight for her and the Soldier, who would often bring it up when they talked later.
Her career in the Illinois Army National Guard started at the 108th Maintenance Battalion where she served as the Personnel Officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment Commander and Logistics Officer. Further assignments included Host Nation Support Officer in the 108th Sustainment Brigade, Operations Officer of the 405th Brigade Support Battalion, Chief Supply and Services Officer of the 108th Sustainment Brigade, Support Operations Officer for the 232nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion and several positions in Joint Force Headquarters culminating with her role as the Joint Logistics Officer for the Illinois National Guard.
“So, my first meeting with her, I fired her,” said Col. Tim Newman, the Joint Strategy, Plans, and Policies Officer for the Illinois National Guard. “I fired her and made her the service support operations officer. That means that instead of writing the orders she was managing all classes of supply except fuel and ammo.”
Newman said putting Bland in that position was a blessing as she was on top of her game and the top major of the 10 that were in his section.
Her awards and decorations include Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, many other federal and state awards and the Ordnance Corps Order of Samuel Sharpe award. She is branch qualified in Ordnance and Logistics and holds a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Administration and a Master of Business Administration from Lewis University.
“It’s been great serving with you,” Newman said. “Your legacy of what you’ve done for the Illinois Guard lives in the Soldiers, officers, and NCOs that you’ve mentored, taught, and coached.”
Newman quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” He added that Bland has “left that trail, and that can be seen in your son picking up the uniform and following in your footsteps.”
Bland lives in Belvidere, Ill. with her two sons; Kevin and Rob. Rob currently serves as a noncommissioned officer in the Illinois Army National Guard’s Rock Falls-based 1644th Transportation Company. Bland is an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

• Date Taken: 05.02.2026
• Date Posted: 05.12.2026 17:18
• Story ID: 565073
• Location: SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, US
• Hometown: BELVIDERE, ILLINOIS, US