May 4, 2022

Purdue CIO Hyatt recognized for his 37-year U.S. military career

When Ian Hyatt is not guiding Purdue University’s systemwide information technology as head of Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), he serves as the State Command Chief for the Rhode Island Air National Guard. Now, Hyatt is putting a cap on the military-side of his life, retiring after a distinguished 37-year career, including the last three decades as a national guardsman and senior non-commissioned officer with the Rhode Island Air National Guard.

“Departing after 37 years turns out to be tough,” Hyatt says. “While there is a little relief from duties and responsibilities, I also feel some sadness at the lost connections, and worry about the folks that still serve that I can’t be there for going forward.”

A retirement ceremony was held in Hyatt’s honor on April 2 at the Quonset Air National Guard Base in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Brig. Gen. Kimberly A. Baumann, Assistant Adjutant General for the Rhode Island Air National Guard, was the presiding officer for the event.

Ian Hyatt at retirement ceremony Ian Hyatt, Purdue’s chief information officer and head of Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), was honored for his 37-year military career during a retirement ceremony in April at the Quonset Air National Guard Base in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. (Photo provided) Download image

“Chief Master Sergeant Ian Hyatt has directly and indirectly guided the almost 1,100 Airmen of the Rhode Island Air National Guard to successfully prepare for and excel in mission and life challenges,” Baumann says.

“As a senior leader, I have relied on Ian for honest feedback and perspectives from the workforce to enable better decision-making. With his leadership, strategic thinking and understanding of every mission, he has managed to ensure smooth operations and positive morale. In addition, the relationships and trust he has built with his army peers have been a joint force multiplier in protecting life and property in the state,” she says.

As the State Command Chief for the Rhode Island Air National Guard since January 2019, Hyatt represented the highest level of enlisted leadership directly responsible for the management, training and discipline of all enlistees. He also advised the Adjutant General and the Assistant Adjutant General on quality-of-life issues and concerns of the enlistees.

“I’ve spent 69% of my life on Earth serving our country ­– all my adult life since I signed on the dotted line at age 17,” Hyatt says. “The U.S. Air Force came into existence September 18, 1947, so I’ve had the honor of being an airman for 50% of the existence of the Air Force.”

Highlights of his nearly four decades in the military are many, but Hyatt notes a few special moments of his career that stand out. Those include:

  • His deployment to the Iraq War in 2010 where he served as the First Sergeant for Security Forces at Sather Air Base. The U.S. secured its military air terminal operations for the war at Sather, which was located at Baghdad International Airport.
  • Deployment to Honduras in the 1990s with the Army/Air Force Joint Task Force 105, known as JTF Bravo, to build a road through the mountains to help residents and the economy. 
  • Working in the 1980s for the Air Force Space Command at the Satellite Test Center, originally called Sunnyvale Air Force Station and later renamed Onizuka Air Force Station for Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka, who died in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger mission.
  • Being recognized in 2009 as First Sergeant of the Year for Rhode Island for contributing to impeccable inspections for over 10 years.

Change, he says, has been a way of life since the start of his military career in 1985. After the U.S. and Russia found common ground during the 1980s, Hyatt says he was forced to change his plans of becoming a security forces defender on a Ground Launched Cruise Missiles team in Europe.

Enter his new role as a computer and communications systems operator, assigned to the 1999th Communications Squadron at the Sunnyvale Air Force Station in California, earning a badge as part of Space Command. 

Hyatt left active duty in October 1989 but decided he wanted to remain serving and joined the Rhode Island Air National Guard in December 1991.

And now, as he heads into retirement from the military, Hyatt reminds the Airmen and soldiers of the Rhode Island National Guard and other units to be ready for change as the one constant that remains.

“Don’t ever let failure deter you or define you,” he says. “Through all of this and over all the years, I’ve always known that I could count on my brothers and sisters to my left and to my right, in all places, times and conditions to watch out for me, and I wouldn’t give up a minute of any of it, the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between.”


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