Nebraska’s Adjutant General Announces Plans to Retire

(Lincoln, NE) Gov. Dave Heineman announced today that Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke, Nebraska’s Adjutant General, is planning to retire from his position leading the Nebraska Military Department in early November.

“General Lempke has served Nebraskans with incredible dedication and distinction for more than seven years, and I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to work with him” Gov. Heineman said. “He is recognized as one of the best adjutant general in the nation and he has done an outstanding job during some very challenging times for our Guard family. I have great respect for his leadership and today, I want to congratulate him on all that he has accomplished during his military career. On behalf of all Nebraskans, we are grateful for the years of service he has given to our state.”

Lempke, 60, has served as adjutant general since 2000. He is the head of the Nebraska Army and Air National Guard and the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

He has led the Nebraska National Guard during its most demanding era since World War II, overseeing the mobilizations and deployments of more than 4,000 Nebraska soldiers and airmen to locations around the world since 2001.

Lempke also oversaw the Guard’s involvement in response to several state emergencies, including the flooding of Interstate 80 in 2002, the Hallam tornadoes in 2004, last year’s wildfires in the Nebraska Panhandle, and the ice storms that struck central Nebraska earlier this year. He also oversaw the Nebraska Guard’s mobilization to provide support to gulf coast states following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In addition to his duties overseeing state matters, he is concluding a two-year term as president of the Adjutant’s General Association of the United States, where he has helped guide the National Guard in addressing issues ranging from the restructuring of the U.S. Army force, a series of base realignment and closure hearings, and recent efforts to better structure the Guard.

Lempke said, “Leading the magnificent soldiers and airmen of the Nebraska National Guard for the past seven years has been the supreme highlight of my military career. Working with Nebraska state agencies and communities to secure the safety of our citizens was an added honor I will always cherish.”

A native of Tecumseh, Lempke is a 1969 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He became a pilot, flying T-41C, T-37 and T-38 aircrafts. He accumulated more than 1,600 flying hours and achieved senior pilot status.

He graduated with honors from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1976, receiving a master’s degree in logistics management. He served in the B-1 and B-52 Offensive Avionics System Program Offices until 1979 when he left the Air Force. He was a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve at Offutt Air Force Base for a short time before joining the Nebraska Air National Guard as a guardsman in 1984.

While in the Nebraska Air Guard, Lempke held various maintenance officer positions and led a maintenance team that won the reconnaissance air meet maintenance trophy in 1988. In 1991, he became head of the Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Command, and five years later was promoted to the rank of colonel and assigned to lead the Nebraska Air Guard’s 155th Logistics Group.

While serving in the Air Guard, Lempke rose to the position of vice president with Brunswick Corporation in Lincoln, which manufactures high technology pressure vessels for the aerospace and defense industry.

After retiring from the Nebraska Air Guard in 1999, Lempke was named adjutant general by then-Gov. Mike Johanns. He is the only retired military officer to serve in the position in the history of the Nebraska National Guard.

Lempke said, “More than anything else, I will always proudly reflect on the distinction of being able to serve with the finest soldiers and airmen in the nation; those who make up the Nebraska National Guard.”

The Governor is expected to outline plans for the selection of the state’s next adjutant general next week.

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