Johnston's Altman is Newest General in Iowa National Guard

Steven W. Altman of Johnston has been named the Iowa National Guard’s newest brigadier general after a ceremony on July 13 at Camp Dodge, the Des Moines Register reports.

Altman has served in the military for 33 years, according to a press release. From 2008-09 Altman served as a commander in Afghanistan.

The newspaper said Altman began serving as one of three deputy commanding generals at Camp Dodge in September 2011. He’s the commanding general in charge of maneuvers, ensuring that Iowa guard members are consistently improving in their ability to react to emergency situations in Iowa, the newspaper said.

Altman joined the Iowa Army National Guard in 1979 after graduating from high school. He was a member of Creighton University’s Reserve Officer Training Corps, and earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the university in 1983, the Register said. He earned his master’s degree in business administration from Drake University in 1998.

Altman and his wife, Jidjii have a daughter, Amanda, and a son, Andrew.