The Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at Southeast Missouri State University has a new leader in the program who brings with him almost 20 years of active Air Force experience as well as a multitude of accomplishments.

His name is Captain Michael Holtz, and while still an active Security Forces Officer in the Air Force, he will serve as the Education Flight Commander, or the instructor, for the 18 cadets in Southeast's ROTC program.

Holtz has gone to school in Florida and California and worked in Montana, Korea, and on a few other bases.

After his stint in Korea, Holtz earned his degree in criminal justice in November 2003.

"Basically I had been working on my degree in criminal justice one or two classes at a time, chipping away at it," Holtz said.

After Holtz received his degree, and after moving from base to base, he was about to complete his 10th year as an officer and important decisions were to be made about his future.

"I was going to hit my 10-year mark and I was like, 'OK, I need to decide if I'm going to do this and keep going,' because basically once you hit 10 years you might as well stay in," Holtz said.

After applying for various jobs, including the FBI, an opportunity came about that Holtz described as "perfect timing."

"It was right after 9/11, so the military as a whole was plussing up and of course they needed more officers," Holtz said.

Holtz went to Officer Training School in Grand Forks, N.D., where they were looking for Security Forces Officers.

"I put in a package to attend [Officer Training School], got picked up and then my first assignment out of OTS was based in Arizona, then I actually went back to Malmstrom, Mont., where I was a flight commander," Holtz said.

Holtz's journey did not stop as a flight commander in Montana, however. He then went on to serve at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois where he oversaw the day-to-day law enforcement and security force. He was then deployed to Iraq and mostly recently had multiple deployments in the Middle East.

Eventually, he ended up at Southeast.

"I took an assignment to the Middle East for a year as the Anti-Terrorism Officer," Holtz said. "Basically, when you do a one-year tour, you volunteer for it. Afterwards, you basically get your preference on where you're assigned."

Holtz married in June 2013, so after his tour in the Middle East, he wanted to take a job that was suitable for his new family.

"My wife was previously married and I have an 8-year-old stepson who is a double lung transplant, and so his primary physician is out of St. Louis Children's Hospital," Holtz said. "So in order for us to stay close to St. Louis, I had to find an assignment around the area. ROTC as a whole came open, and there were assignments that came up."

That is when the opportunity to teach at Southeast presented itself. Holtz's first day on campus was Jan. 13 and he said he is still getting acclimated with his new surroundings.

"The state of the program was actually pretty good considering it didn't have a primary instructor," Holtz said of the ROTC program upon first arriving. "It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. They said they haven't had an instructor for the past seven years."

Holtz is looking forward to moving the program forward during his term.

"My goals are to help transition the program from where we're at now to an actual classroom," Holtz said. "Right now the plan is to have a consolidated Missouri Gold Veterans and Air Force section down in Brandt Hall's first floor, eventually. It's going to become the Show Me Military and Veteran's Affairs area and basically if it's military or veterans related, that is where we're going to be, a one-stop shop for anything related to the military."

Following his time at Southeast, Holtz wants to continue to further his career in the Air Force.

"I will be meeting with my majors board in December and depending on how that falls out, I could be picked up to command my own Security Forces Quadrant, but that wouldn't be for another year or year and a half. But I'm guaranteed at least two years here, no more than three years," Holtz said.

As far as Holtz's past, he has a lot to reminisce on. Holtz has worked with both the Army and Air Force in the past.

"The biggest thing that the Air Force has taught me is it's all about leadership," Holtz said. "There's a lot to be said about sympathy and empathy, but at the same time, making hard decisions, doing things out of your comfort zone, never knowing where you're going to be from one year to the next, you never really get comfortable. You're constantly challenged to do bigger and better things."