A Manitowoc County native is now in charge of recruiting for the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
Lieutenant Colonel Jesse Augustine recently took over the command position at the Recruiting and Retention Battalion following the retirement of LTC Shannon Hellenbrand after 26 years in the National Guard.
LTC Augustine grew up in St. Nazianz and graduated from Valders in 2000, and he tells SeehaferNews.com that he always knew he wanted to join the military.
“I went to St Norbert College from 2000 until 2004, and while I was there, an individual that I played football with brought me to the ROTC office,” he recalled.
From there, he was commissioned and went into active duty as an engineer officer.
LTC. Augustine’s first four and half years in service were spent as a part of the iconic 101st Airborne, but he always had a dream of returning to the Dairy State.
That dream came true in 2009 when he did a component transfer and joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
“I’ve held all sorts of different positions here in the Wisconsin Army National Guard,” he noted. “I was an engineer, a company commander, and I’ve been an engineer battalion commander. I’ve held many different staff and managerial positions inside of the organization.”
LTC Augustine also worked for the Walbeck Group while serving in the National Guard, but his heart was always with the military.
“When the opportunity came that I could apply for and ultimately was selected to be the next recruiting and retention battalion commander, it was really a no-brainer for me to come back to active duty and try and be successful in this position,” he explained.
LTC Augustine joined the recruiting department at the perfect time, as the previous leadership was able to, for the first time in seven years, hit its recruitment goals in 2024.
“The previous leadership here did an awesome job,” he said. “(They focused on) building and establishing a winning culture here, rebuilding relationships inside of the schools and communities, and in getting back and making it a viable option for so many of Wisconsin’s residents.”
LTC Augustine is excited to keep the positive momentum going and build on what the previous command team initiated.
He also noted that he makes regular trips back to Manitowoc County as his parents still live in St. Nazianz, his brother is a teacher in New Holstein, and his nieces and nephews attend school in Kiel.
