53rd Troop Command leader promoted to One Star General on Saturday, March 18 at Camp Smith

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Col. Michel Natali

CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, CORTLANDT MANOR, NY (03/17/2017) (readMedia)-- New York Army National Guard Col. Michel Natali, the commander of the 4,000-member 53rd Troop Command will be promoted to brigadier general (one-star) during a ceremony at Camp Smith Training Site on Saturday, March 18.

Members of the press are invited to attend the event.

WHO: Col. Michel Natali, the commander of the 53rd Troop Command and Brig. Gen. Raymond Shields, the Commander of the New York Army National Guard and the presiding officer at the ceremony.

WHAT: Formal Promotion from Colonel to one of five general officer slots in the 10,300-member New York Army National Guard.

WHEN: 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 18, 2017

WHERE: Camp Smith Training Site, Route 202 Cortlandt Manor, NY

Coverage Opportunities:

Video and still imagery of the promotion ceremony. There will be an opportunity to interview both Natali and Shields.

Members of the press must contact Staff Sgt. Michael Davis at 845-656-8702 for access to this secure military facility.

BACKGROUND

Col. Michel Natali

Col. Michel Natali, who commands the New York Army National Guard's 53rd Troop Command, is a native of Watertown and served in Haiti and Somalia with the Army's 10th Mountain Division before joining the New York National Guard.

In civilian life, Natali is a New York State Police investigator, assigned to the New York State Intelligence Center.

Natali deployed to Iraq with the 42nd Infantry Division as Deputy Intelligence Officer in 2005.

He has also served as an Active Duty Guardsman as Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence for the 42nd Infantry Division and as the Commander of the New York National Guard Counter Drug Task Force.

He served on active duty assignments that included command of Headquarters Company of the 110th Military Intelligence Battalion and Intelligence Collection Manager for the 10th Mountain Division Intelligence Section at Fort Drum, N.Y.

"Col. Mike Natali is a proven leader who has demonstrated his ability to lead. He understands both the federal and state missions of the National Guard and is the kind of officer we want serving as a general," said Major General Anthony German, the Adjutant General of New York.

Natali was commissioned into the Military Intelligence Corps in May 1987 after receiving a Reserve Officers Training Corps Commission at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.

Natali served as battalion intelligence officer for the 5th Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, and 8th Infantry Division in Mainz, Germany.

While serving with the 10th Mountain Division Natali deployed to Haiti supporting Operation Uphold Democracy, to Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope and to South Florida as part of the military response to Hurricane Andrew.

Natali joined the New York Army National Guard in December 1996.

His National Guard assignments include Intelligence Officer of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Intelligence Officer for the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters, Deputy Commander of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Commander of the 106th Regional Training Institute, and most recently Director for Intelligence and Security Joint Forces Headquarters-New York.

He is a graduate of the Military Intelligence Officer Basic and Advance Courses, the Signals Intelligence Course, the Command and General Staff College as well as the Military Intelligence and Infantry Pre-Command Courses and the United States Army War College.

Natali holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Norwich University, a Master's in Public Administration from Marist College and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.

His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, and the Army Parachutist badge.

Natali, the son of Franco and Giuseppa Natali, grew up in Watertown and is a 1983 graduate of Immaculate Heart Central High School.

Natali and his wife Barbara have three sons and two daughters.

The 53rd Troop Command

The 53rd Troop Command, located at Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill, is responsible for military police, transportation, supply, engineer, and other Army National Guard support units located across New York. There are about 4,000 Soldiers in these units.

Because of their specialties these units are often mobilized to support the state during weather emergencies.During the response to Tropical Storms Lee and Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the 53rd Troop Command Soldiers played key roles in those operations.