Major Aaron Baugher was a 1991 graduate of Ankeny High School and earned a B.S. degree in Education from Minnesota State College in Mankato in 1996. While at Ankeny he was a successful all-around athlete including a state runner-up performance at 160 lbs. as a senior. At Minnesota State he was active in the ROTC program and graduated in June 1996 as a commissioned Second lieutenant. He became a First lieutenant in May 1998 and two years later became a captain. In 2006, he earned his current rank of Major. His profile of service training and assignments includes Airborne School, Ranger School, Unit Armor School, and Combat Infantryman training. His active mobilized service is punctuated with being a rifle platoon leader assigned to the Multi-National Force and Observers in the Sinai in 1998, and a platoon leader with the 82nd Airborne Division serving the Haiti Freedom United Nations Mission in 1999. With the Army National Guard mobilized he served for 15 months in Mosul, Iraq in 2004-05 as Commander, 194th Long Range Surveillance Detachment that worked with other units countering improvised explosive devises and ambushes of IED emplacers, and a 10 months assignment in 2010-11 with the Infantry Battalion in Laghman and Nuristan Province in Afghanistan engaging in helping Afghan villages to be free of Taliban control. His active duty with the Army National Guard has involved leadership and commander assignments at bases in Boone, Council Bluffs, and Johnston. He is currently the Training Branch Manager, Joint Forces Headquarters of Iowa Operations &Training in Johnston. A highly decorated American servant he has won numerous citations and medals including two Bronze Stars, five Army Commendation Medals, six Army Achievement Medals, two National Defense Service Medals, a Campaign Medal with two campaign stars in each Afghanistan and Iraq, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and a Humanitarian Service Medal. Major Baugher and his wife, Jennifer, are the parents of Brienna, 15, and Colby, 13. They reside in Ankeny.