U of I facilities director leading major military training exercise

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URBANA, IL (07/16/2018) (readMedia)-- U of I facilities director on the weekdays, battalion commander for the Illinois Army National Guard on the weekends. And now Lt. Col. Tim Newman of Fisher, Illinois, is trading students for hundreds of Soldiers, as he helps lead a massive month-long military training exercise.

Newman and approximately 4,500 fellow Illinois Army National Guard (ILARNG) Soldiers are headed for a month of combat training exercises at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The exercise includes the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), with units across Illinois, plus more than two dozen enabler units from around the United States.

Like most National Guardsmen, Newman is a civilian-soldier. In his full-time career, he's the Electrical and Computer Engineering Facilities Director at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He's also Commander of the ILARNG's 766th Brigade Engineer Battalion, based out of the Decatur, Illinois, armory. Newman says, while he manages very different teams on the civilian and military sides, the skills he's picked up in each career assist in the other.

"The leadership skills translate on both sides, using operational and strategic planning, plus forecasting for both positions. Whether it's planning for the lifecycle of a building or repairing a runway on deployment, it's all about thinking two, three, four steps ahead to ensure every circumstance is covered."

ILARNG leaders say they realize this month-long training is a big commitment for many Guardsmen. But for Newman, ensuring everything in his civilian career and family life is covered for the month he's gone all comes back to planning.

"It's a struggle at times, but success has to do with having a supportive employer at the U of I, especially the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, plus a strong family support system with a wife and son who've handled long deployments before. Making it work is a constant balance between family, civilian, and military duties. It's important to keep open lines of communication with everyone involved."

The Soldiers of the 33rd IBCT will train in realistic combat exercises throughout their rotation into August at JRTC.

Photo Cutline 1: Lt. Col. Tim Newman of Fisher, Illinois, Commander of the 766th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Illinois Army National Guard (ILARNG) and Electrical and Computer Engineering Facilities Director at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign