201212_UTMinuteman_W.. - Keep Trees

Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton addresses those assembled
at the State Capitol as the newly selected adjutant
general who began service Oct. 1, 2012.
Major General
Jeff Burton
Takes the Reins of
the Utah Guard
Story by Lt. Col. Hank McIntire
30 Winter 2012
Photos by Ileen Kennedy
DRAPER, Utah — Being a Soldier was never a question
for new Utah National Guard adjutant general Maj. Gen. Jeff
Burton, a 30-year veteran of the Utah Guard and the U.S. Army.
“I always wanted to serve,” said Burton of his decision to
join the Guard as an artilleryman in 1982. He signed the papers,
took the oath and then came home to tell his wife Charn.
And the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Burton joined
Charlie Battery, 140th Field Artillery, in Spanish Fork, the
same outfit where his father, a high school history teacher—
and four of his uncles—served during World War II and Korea.
Burton completed ROTC at Brigham Young University a few
years later, receiving a Regular Army commission and an
assignment as a Military Police officer.
A native of Southern California who grew up in Utah,
Burton described a military career punctuated by some
memorable, defining moments.
His first platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Donald Murphy,
a Silver Star recipient and Vietnam veteran, had a profound
influence on Burton, then a brand-new second lieutenant on his
first active-duty assignment in Europe with the 14th Military
Police Brigade.
“A phenomenal NCO (noncommissioned officer), he
taught me the ropes,” recalled Burton of Murphy. “He showed
me how to treat Soldiers. He shaped and molded me.”
Burton’s first battalion commander was Medal of Honor
recipient Lt. Col. Robert Howard.
“Bob Howard was one of the toughest—and at the same
time one of the most compassionate—men I have ever known,”
said Burton. “He taught me how to love
my Soldiers and to respect everyone’s
contribution to the mission.”
Burton was there in Germany when
the Berlin Wall came down, signaling the
end of the Cold War. He described riding
the train into West Berlin, being frisked
by the Russian security team and getting
off at the last stop for Westerners.
“I remember that everyone who
was getting off was colorful,” he said,
picturing the brightly dressed passengers
from the West, “and the people staying on
the train were just grays and browns. It
was a stark contrast.”
The long, lonely hours of Army
soldiering and the fact that his young son
had to change schools four times in the
same year—from constantly relocating—
Governor Gary Herbert, center, poses
with family and friends of the new
adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton at
the governor’s mansion May 24, 2012.