Custer, S.D. – The South Dakota Army National Guard promoted Halsey Hall, of Rapid City, to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer Five, during a ceremony at Crazy Horse Monument on Saturday, April 29, 2023. Chief warrant officer five is the highest rank achievable in the warrant officer corps. Hall held his previous promotion at Crazy Horse in July 2015, which was the first military promotion at the monument.
Hall enlisted in the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 842nd Engineer Company in 1988 as a Material Control and Accounting Specialist. He served in various positions during his enlisted career prior to his promotion to Chief Warrant Officer One in 2002.
Brig. Gen. Deb Bartunek, South Dakota National Guard Director Joint Staff, was the speaker for the ceremony. Hall first served with Bartunek in the 665th Maintenance Company when the unit was activated to provide security operations at Ellsworth Air Force Base in 2003-2005 and then-Capt. Bartunek was the commander. Hall received his promotion to Warrant Officer One by Bartunek prior to the unit’s activation.
“Chief Hall has worked so hard for this honor, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving. His efforts and experience have had national and international impacts on the readiness of our forces, and he has always been willing to do anything asked of him. He is a warrior and a true professional,” stated Bartunek.
Hall completed a nation-building exercise in Panama as part of Task Force Rushmore in 1993 and supported Operation Enduring Freedom/Noble Eagle from 2003 to 2005. He has completed tours at National Guard Bureau in Virginia as a Logistics Support Officer and at the National Guard Professional Education Center in Arkansas as the Supply Course Manager.
Hall stated, “This promotion to Chief Warrant Officer Five was my most difficult promotion to date. I appreciate that the organization honors my ten years at the national level and those duty assignments. These have prepared me to work successfully and provide a strategic level of leadership and performance for our state. Also, this promotion represents more than just an acknowledgement of my hard work to get to this level but shows how diversity and inclusion have grown in our organization. It was an honor to be the first Native American promoted to Chief Warrant Officer Five by Brig. Gen. Bartunek, the first female general officer in the South Dakota National Guard.”
Hall works full time for the South Dakota National Guard as the Force Integration and Readiness Officer and was previously assigned as the Logistics Supply System Analyst.