Retirement Ceremony Honors 28 Years of Service
What began in 1991 as a means to help Chris Schimke pay for college, evolved into nearly three decades of service, commitment and leadership in the South Dakota Army National Guard. Schimke’s dedication to service was recognized during his final drill formation and retirement ceremony held at the National Guard Armory in Sioux Falls on February 5, 2023.
“We have very few occasions to recognize these patriotic individuals who leave the comforts of their home and family to nobly serve a cause greater than themselves,” said Jason Thompson, 196th Brigade Deputy Commanding Officer, reading from the Governor’s Executive Proclamation declaring March 1, 2023 as Major Christopher D. Schimke Day. “Only 17% of all military personnel make it past the 20 year mark and Major Schimke has devoted over 28 years of his life making sacrifices. His loyalty and leadership as an engineer and his service in Iraq and Kuwait have made him a cornerstone in the Armed Forces of this country, and it is a privilege to honor his success, his sacrifice and his service.”
Throughout Schimke’s more than 28 years in the National Guard, he held many positions including Private, Team Leader, Squad Leader, Platoon Leader, Captain, and Operations Officer to name a few. In February 2020, he was promoted to Major.
Looking back to 1991, the driver to enlist, however, was primarily financial.
“I needed to pay for school and saw this as an opportunity to get tuition paid for and also earn some money during the month,” recalled Schimke, who at the time was a 19-year-old sophomore in college at South Dakota State University (SDSU) studying agriculture. "Several people I went to high school with including Casey Burg, Rick Whitlock and Cory Falconer were members of the National Guard and they said good things about it.”
Schimke went to Basic Training in January 1991 and returned in April, resuming studies at SDSU in September.
“I thought it was fun — well Basic wasn’t necessarily fun — but at drill you hung out with your buddies, fired a lot of weapons and blew stuff up,” he remembered fondly, adding that he did nine years between Alpha Company and Charlie Company in the 153rd Engineer Battalion from 1991 - 2000.
After earning his bachelor’s degree at SDSU, Schimke began teaching agriculture, first in Hartington, NE then in Winner, SD at Winner High School. In November of 2000, Schimke temporarily left the Guard to help raise his young, growing family.
Then in June 2003, a cause greater than himself drove him to reenlist.
“It was 18 months after September 11 and at that point in time at the detachment in Winner, there were about eight of my former students that had enlisted in the National Guard. It had appeared fairly obvious that the local unit was going to deploy to Iraq,” Schimke explained. “My students had asked me if they should join the National Guard and I had encouraged them. I felt responsible, like I should be there with them.”
The Alpha Company 153rd Engineers mobilized for deployment in December 2003, landing first at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado in December. In February 2004, they deployed to Kuwait.
“We were the second wave of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It had been established for several months but insurgents were starting to hit their stride and put up an organized fight,” said Schimke, who was a Sergeant at that point when deployed. “We spent almost exactly 365 days in Kuwait, we flew home on day 364.”
In 2001, his civilian career moved him from teaching to finance, when he started working at Wells Fargo. Then in 2006, he and his family left Wells Fargo to work for Farm Credit, moving from Winner to Huron.
In 2008, Schimke moved from Company A to Battalion Headquarters in Huron. In 2010, he accepted a direct commission as a Second Lieutenant. The new career track demanded more responsibility and five months of training at Ft Leonard Wood in July 2010.
Schimke’s burgeoning military career led him to serve as Platoon Leader in several different locations. He also spent time as Company Commander of the 211th Sapper Company in Madison. Additionally he held several different staff assignments with the 153rd. By the time he moved back to his hometown of Wessington Springs in 2014, he was a Captain.
In 2016 Schimke was once again called to deploy, this time to Taji, Iraq.
“I went with the 153rd Engineer Battalion again, the same as the first time with a lot of soldiers who I deployed with before,” he said. “ The Battalion was responsible for the engineer efforts in the region of Iraq, Syria and Jordan. We were deployed nine months.”
Upon returning stateside, from 2018 to present, Schimke’s military career took him to the 196th Brigade, back to the 153rd, then again to the 196th from October 2021 through his retirement. Throughout his decades in the National Guard, he treasures the years of camaraderie with his fellow soldiers, but also shared that a myriad of experiences shape a soldier’s service.
“None of this would have been possible without the family support I received and the sacrifices they made,” Schimke reflected. “In those 28 years, I experienced the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. But in the end, it was worth it.”
