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Belleville attorney named to state's top Guard post

Posted August 30, 2007 11:00 pm

Dana Heupel

Brig. Gen. William Enyart of Belleville will become the next state adjutant general, commanding 13,000 members of the Illinois National Guard.

In that position, he also will serve as director of the Illinois Department of Military Affairs and as chief adviser on military matters to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who announced the appointment Friday.

Enyart, 57, is now deputy commanding general for the Illinois National Guard, which encompasses the state's Army and Air Guard units. He will replace Maj. Gen. Randal Thomas, who will retire today (Saturday).

"It's a tremendous joy and responsibility," Enyart said Friday about his new position. "I think we have the greatest soldiers and airmen in the world. I've worked with them for 25 years, and they're just absolutely the lifeblood of America."

Among his priorities will be to try to retain more "mid-point career" troops who have served for eight to 10 years or more in the Guard.

"I think we really need to bring our families into this," Enyart added. "A soldier can't be a guardsman if the family doesn't support him."

Although the Guard has family support groups, he said, "it is a much different and much more difficult position for us than in the active Army."

In the regular military, families often live at bases with their spouses. In the Guard, they can be spread out across a large geographic area, Enyart said.

He also hopes to work with the regular military to try to give Guard troops more notice about when they might be deployed, he said. Additionally, he would like to see a policy where Guard troops wouldn't be redeployed for a certain period after they return.

As a Guard member, Enyart has been deployed to the Ukraine, Poland and Italy. He also served in Italy during active duty with the U.S. Air Force.

Enyart joined the Illinois National Guard in 1982 and has more than 30 years in the military, including his Air Force service. As an Army National Guard member, he has served in the infantry, in the Judge Advocate General Corps and in various other staff positions.

He also is an attorney in Belleville, as well as a certified military trial lawyer. He completed his law degree at Southern Illinois University School of Law and his undergraduate degree in journalism and political science at SIU-Edwardsville.

Among other community organizations, Enyart is active with the Okaw Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America and the City of Belleville Historic Preservation Commission. He is author of the Illinois Business Corporation Minute Handbook and the Illinois Non-for-Profit Corporation Minute Handbook.

Enyart and his wife, Annette Eckert, a circuit judge in St. Clair County, have two sons.

Enyart will assume command of the Guard on Sept. 8. Until then, Brig. Gen. Dennis Celletti of

Springfield will be acting adjutant general. Celletti is assistant adjutant general-Army.

Thomas was appointed adjutant general in June 2003. Since then, more than 8,500 Illinois Army National Guard soldiers and more than half of the Illinois Air National Guard troops have been mobilized in support of the global War on Terrorism. Before assuming command of the Guard, Thomas spent more than 30 years as a Hillsboro High School teacher.

"Major General Randy Thomas performed an outstanding service to the Illinois National Guard," Blagojevich said in a news release, "and I'm sure General Enyart will build upon that record, bringing leadership and vision to help the Illinois Army National Guard better serve and protect our state."

Dana Heupel can be reached at (217) 788-1518 or dana.heupel@sj-r.com.

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