Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Foster to speak at Memorial Day program

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Foster will be this year’s Lake Mills American Legion Memorial Day speaker May 27 at Commons Park at 10 a.m.

In the case of inclement weather, the program will be in the gym at the middle school, 318 College Street.

Foster served for 21 years in the U.S. Marines in communication and network planning. He retired from active service in 2005 after serving throughout the world with his teams in the Marine Corps and the Joint Forces.

Foster started his career as a private after boot camp in San Diego, California. After three years, he became a sergeant and had command of his own team of satellite communicators capable of connecting any combat element into the voice and data network of the Department of Defense.

Eventually, Foster became a gunnery sergeant and eventually became one of 20 network management officers, which are warrant officers that plan, create, manage and maintain Joint Task Force Communication networks with the duties of tactical communications planning and engineering.

Of his time serving the country, Foster served two tours of duty in the 8th Communication Battalion at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina; two tours of duty with the 7th Communications Battalion in Okinawa, Japan; and two tours in the 6th Communications Battalion Force Headquarters Group in Amityville and Brooklyn on Long Island, New York as an inspector and instructor for the Marine Reserve Forces. He also served one tour of duty with the 9th Communications Battalion during Desert Shield Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait; one tour of duty with the Marine Wing Communication Squadron 28 in Cherry Point, North Carolina as the network management officer and one tour of duty with the G-6 staff for the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing as the network planner for the entire air wing.

Foster earned the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal with gold star, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Navy Unit Citation Ribbon with two bronze stars, the Meritorious Unit Citation Ribbon with one bronze star, the U.S. Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal with four bronze stars, the National Defense Medal with one bronze star, the Southwest Asia Service with one bronze star, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with one silver star, the Navy Arctic Service Ribbon, the Kuwait Liberation Medal from Saudi Arabia with palm and crossed swords and the Kuwait Liberation Medal from Kuwait.

Of his community involvement, Foster is a member of American Legion Post 67 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7591 in Madison.

Foster lives in Lake Mills with his wife, Carol, with whom he has been married for 37 years. They have two children, Erin and Zachary.

At the ceremony, there will also be music and a placing of the wreath.