Illinois Army National Guard Col. Shawn Nokes of Springfield assumed command of the 129th Regiment (Regional Training Institute) at the unit's headquarters in the Illinois Military Academy on Camp Lincoln in Springfield on June 10.
Maj. Gen. Rodney Boyd, the Assistant Adjutant General - Army of the Illinois National Guard and Commander of the Illinois Army National Guard, was the presiding officer for the assumption of command ceremony.
Nokes was previously the Director of Domestic Operations for the Illinois National Guard. He enlisted in the Illinois Army National Guard in 1998 and received his commission through the 129th Regiment's accelerated Officer Candidate School in March 2004. Nokes also serves as a Title 32 federal technician as the Deputy Logistics Management Officer for the Illinois National Guard.
Nokes has served as the officer-in-charge of the COVID-19 test site operations, liaison officer to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s office of preparedness and response supporting COVID-19 response operations. He led the capitol response mission in Washington, D.C., and served as the battalion commander of the 198th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, based in Chicago.
Nokes also served as the 108th Sustainment Brigade’s Support Operations Officer and participated in a warfighter exercise and upon return, led a mission to train the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade in Poland.
Nokes has deployed multiple times with the last deployment to Kuwait in 2014 with the 108th Sustainment Brigade.