CHRIS ACKER, (Colonel, U.S. Army, retired) (HOW OUR GOVERNMENT WORKS – DESIGNED vs. ACTUAL) entered the Army in January 1969 from Delaware, Ohio. Over the next thirty-nine years, he has served as an enlisted soldier, noncommissioned officer, warrant officer, and branch officer in all components of the Army; U.S. Army Reserve, Army National Guard, and the active Army. His initial assignment was in the 81st ARCOM, 175th Quartermaster Company, and U.S. Army Reserve. In 1973 Colonel Acker transferred to the Army National Guard, assigned to 1/238th Air Cavalry. In 1974, he entered the Warrant Officer Flight Training Program, graduating in August 1975. Colonel Acker’s initial aviation assignment was to the 129th Assault Helicopter Company, 269th Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Follow on assignments were as section leader in the 2nd Aviation Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Korea, and instructor pilot in the Department of Flight Training, Fort Rucker, Alabama. He has also served in the Directorate of Combat Development, Fort Rucker, Alabama, from 1988-90. Colonel Acker received a direct commission to First Lieutenant, Armor, in November 1980. He subsequently commanded the 17th Assault Helicopter Company, 25th Infantry Division, Hawaii. While assigned to the 101st Air Assault Division he served as a battalion executive officer and S3 Operations Officer with the 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Colonel Acker commanded the 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, V Corps, Germany, from November 1994 to November 1996. He has served on the Army Staff, DCSOPS (DAMO-FDV) as the Utility Aircraft systems integrator, and later, on the Joint Staff, J7 as the NATO Crisis Management exercise planner and the executive officer to the J7, Pentagon. Colonel Acker served as Commandant, Warrant Officer Career College from June 2000 to June 2002 at Fort Rucker, Alabama. His culminating assignment was to First United States Army, Fort Gillem, Atlanta, GA with duty at the Adjutant General Department, State of Ohio, where he performed duties as the Senior Army Advisor to the State Adjutant General. Following his military retirement in 2008, Colonel Acker participated in the First Army Senior Mentor Program, was employed by Northrop Grumman as an Analyst for the Mission Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth, KS, served as a Tactical Analyst Facilitator at the Joint Multi-National Training Center, and exercise writer for Kosovo deployment training at Hohenfels, GE.
 

His professional military education includes the Army War College, Command and General Staff College, Combined Armed Service Staff College, Armor Advanced and Basic Courses. Colonel Acker is a Master Army Aviator with over 2200-instructor pilot hours and 5,600 total flight hours. In 1987, he was recognized as the Army’s first recipient of the General Douglas MacArthur Memorial Leadership Award. Additionally, he commanded the Army Aviation Association of America “Aviation Unit of the Year” in 1987. Colonel Acker holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL and a Masters in Strategic Studies from the Army War College, Carlisle, PA.