DRAPER, Utah –
The Utah Army National Guard will welcome its new command chief warrant officer during a change-of-responsibility ceremony scheduled to occur at 2 p.m., Monday, Dec. 5, in the Draper headquarters’ auditorium.
During the ceremony, Command Chief Warrant Officer 5 Brian Searcy will relinquish the role of command chief of the Utah Army National Guard to Command Chief Warrant Officer 5 William Erickson.
Erickson, a Pleasant Grove resident, has served in the Utah Army National Guard for more than 36 years, most recently as the Utah National Guard Active Guard Reserve personnel manager. Prior to this assignment, Erickson served as the warrant officer strength manager, officer personnel manager, and the Joint Force Headquarters deputy for the Army personnel directorate. He has served in numerous positions of leadership at all levels of command.
Erickson joined Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 140th Field Artillery, “Animals,” as a cannon crewmember in March 1986, and has been an active member of the Utah National Guard since. He deployed in support of Operation Noble Eagle in 2002 to Tooele, Utah; in support of Hurricane Rita relief in Louisiana in 2005; and for Operation Enduring Freedom to Herat, Afghanistan in 2013.
"The Utah National Guard has a long history of producing high quality warrant officers that serve the citizens of the state of Utah and our nation. I am grateful to work with these highly skilled Soldiers and leaders that manage, operate, troubleshoot, train, and maintain the Army’s complex systems,” said Erickson. “The Army warrant officer will face new challenges as the Army transitions to large-scale combat operations, advanced systems, and a return to self-sustainment versus contracting. My focus will be to recruit the best Soldiers to become warrant officers, to retain existing warrant officers, and to build a resilient and ready warrant officer cohort that will be critical through this transition."
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Brian Searcy, a Draper resident, was appointed as the Utah Army National Guard command chief warrant officer on June 16, 2018, where he currently serves. He is also the chair of the Army National Guard Warrant Officer Advisory Council. He was selected by Lieutenant General Jon A. Jensen to be the Command Chief Warrant Officer for the Army National Guard in November.
Searcy enlisted in the Utah Army National Guard on Jan. 20, 1988, in Service Battery, 222nd Field Artillery, as a cannon crewmember. In February 1992, he transferred to Delta Company, 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion and reclassified as an interrogator and Spanish linguist and served as an interrogation section sergeant. In February 1995, he was a Spanish linguist for the Utah Counterdrug Program. In February 1998, Searcy transferred to Charlie Company, 141st Military Intelligence Battalion. On April 30, 1999, he was appointed to warrant officer 1 as a human intelligence collection technician. On Sept. 1, 2005, he transferred into Joint Forces Headquarters Utah and reclassified as a property accounting technician. On June 1, 2006, Searcy became the overseas duty training officer for Training Branch in the Active Guard Reserve program. May 3, 2012, he became the force integration readiness officer, and in 2013 assumed responsibilities of the mobilization readiness officer.
Searcy deployed in January 2003 with 141st Military Intelligence Battalion, Forward 1, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and served as interrogation chief, Joint Interrogation Debriefing Center for Iraq Survey Group and Defense Intelligence Agency.
Searcy is married to Caroline, and is the father of three children, Brayden, Hailey and Jace.
“I am honored and humbled to have served as the command chief warrant for the Utah Army National Guard for the past four-and-a-half years. It has been a rewarding opportunity,” said Searcy. “I’m grateful for all the support I received from both the members and leaders of the Utah National Guard. The Utah National Guard has remarkable Soldiers and Airmen. Additionally, I’m very grateful to my wife, Caroline, and my children for the sacrifices they have made so that I can serve and continue to serve in a new capacity in the Army National Guard.”
The ceremony will be streamed on the Facebook Live at 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 5.