In a ceremony steeped in rich military tradition, Lt. Col. Garrett Dean, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, relinquished command of the Illinois Army National Guard’s 766th Brigade Engineer Battalion to Maj. Timothy Heagney, of Huntley, Illinois, during a change of command ceremony March 16 at the Marseilles Training Center, Marseilles.
Under Dean’s leadership, the battalion was recognized as having the highest personnel readiness as a battalion, successfully mobilized a unit to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility and led the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team with the highest overall individual weapons qualification at the company level during training year 2023. Dean is assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, and resides in Vicksburg with his wife Katie, and daughter, Charlie.
Heagney commissioned as a field artillery officer in December 2010 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Illinois at Chicago while attending Loyola University Chicago.
While attending ROTC, he participated in the Simultaneous Membership Program and was assigned to the 933rd Military Police Company from February 2008 to December 2010.
Heagney has served in a variety of assignments including Engineer Officer for the 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Operations Officer for the 123rd Engineer Battalion, Engineer Officer in the 1886th Engineer Facilities Detachment, Battalion Fire Direction Officer for 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Artillery Regiment, Commander of the 616th Engineer Utilities Detachment, Commander of Battery A, 2-123rd Field Artillery Regiment, Platoon Leader of Batteries A and C, 2-123rd Field Artillery Regiment, Fire Direction Officer of Battery C, 2-123rd Field Artillery Regiment, and Fire Support Officer of the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment.
Heagney deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait in 2020 with the 1886th Engineer Facilities Detachment in support of Operation Enduring, where he served as the lead project officer for the Department of Public works.
He trained in Poland in 2018 as part of Resolute Castle with the 123rd Engineer Battalion and was activated for State Active Duty for flood response operations in 2019 and in support of the Democratic National Convention in 2024.
In his civilian career, Heagney is a Sergeant with the Huntley Police Department and is assigned as a patrol supervisor. He resides in Huntley with his wife, Samantha.