Friday Forum

Description

We will be joined by General Jefferson Burton from the National Guard.

Major General Jefferson S. Burton was appointed Adjutant General of the Utah National Guard in October 2012. Burton is responsible for the readiness and training of 7,300 Soldiers and Airmen. The Utah Guard provides the State of Utah with trained and disciplined forces for domestic emergencies to including: firefighting, flood, civil support and physical-security operations. The Utah Army Guard has personnel and equipment in over 20 community armories throughout Utah, where Soldiers train for combat and state-support missions. The Airmen of the Utah Air Guard, based at Salt Lake International Airport, provide air refueling, communications, intelligence, air-battle management and security support.

Burton has served as a company commander, battalion executive officer and assistant professor of Military Science at both Brigham Young and Utah Valley Universities. He commanded the 1457th Engineer Combat Battalion from 2002 to 2005, during which time his unit served in Iraq and participated in the initial ground war, conducting IED-defeat and route-clearance missions. After deployment he was assigned as deputy chief of staff for Personnel, managing the full-time workforce and personnel actions of the Utah Guard. In 2007, Burton was assigned as assistant adjutant general-Army and commander of the Utah Army National Guard, where he was serving when appointed to his current position.

Burton attended Brigham Young University's Reserve Officer Training Corps, where he commissioned in 1984 as the distinguished military graduate. In 1986, he earned a bachelor's degree in Sociology from the State University of New York. He has since earned two master's degrees: one in Educational Counseling from the University of Phoenix and the other in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.

Burton is a fifth-generation Utahn. His great-great grandfather, Sidney Burton, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley at the age of 10 in 1848. His family settled in Iron County and communities across Northern Utah. The town of Clarkston in Cache Valley is named for his maternal great-great grandfather, Israel Clark. Burton lettered in three sports at Payson High, graduating in 1977. He and his wife are the parents of three children. In his free time, he enjoys sports and outdoor activities with his wife and children including: camping, mountain biking and tinkering with his 1965 Ford Mustang GT.