Chief Master Sgt. Michael Alvarez is the command chief at the 115th Fighter Wing, Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin. As command chief, Alvarez maintains a liaison between the wing commander and those who execute the mission, primarily focusing on the enlisted force. He advises the commander and senior leadership on mission effectiveness, professional development, military readiness, training, health, morale, and welfare of the enlisted force and takes action to address challenges.
Alvarez entered the Air National Guard in January 2003. He attended the Security Forces Apprentice School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, graduating in August 2004. Aside from his initial six months in the Washington ANG, Alvarez served his entire 20-year career with the Wisconsin ANG in Madison as a traditional guardsman. Nineteen of those years he spent assigned to the 115th FW Security Forces Squadron. As a security forces member his duties included fire team member, fire team leader, squad leader, Stan-Eval noncommissioned officer in charge, operations superintendent, and security forces chief. During his time in Madison, Alvarez participated in several temporary duty assignments and deployed three times, once to Ali Al Salem AFB, Kuwait, where he served on the viper flight, the security escort team and on fly-away missions; once to Manas AFB, Kyrgyzstan, where he served on the personal security team and as NCOIC of the flight training program; and once to Poland as the security lead. He also participated in several domestic operations missions. Prior to his current position, Alvarez was the chief of the 115th FW Mission Support Group, Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin.
In his civilian work, Alvarez spent nine years as an English secondary education teacher, having taught in both Washington and in Wisconsin. He then became a police officer in the City of Madison Police Department where he spent five years as an officer before becoming a sergeant of police, the rank he currently holds. His duties have included patrol officer, neighborhood police officer, supervision of patrol, supervision of the K9 team, supervision of community policing teams, supervision of a special events team platoon, and SWAT sniper team lead. His significant deployments include support of OPERATIONS ENDURING FREEDOM and OPERATION ATLANTIC RESOLVE.