FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. –
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Darren Dreher has accepted appointment as the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s new command chief warrant officer, taking over for Chief Warrant Officer 5 James Fontini, who had served in that position since April 2021.
Dreher, whose military career has spanned 37 years, most recently served as the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s state standardization officer, as well as the commander of the Warrant Officer Candidate School at the 166th Regiment Regional Training Institute.
“I am most excited about this new beginning, a chance not only to impart experience from the past but also to help shape a challenging future,” said Dreher. “It’s the challenge that keeps me engaged and looking forward to what comes next.”
Dreher comes from a military family, where his father and all his uncles served. That provided some motivation for him to join the Army, along with educational and economic benefits of joining the Army and the opportunity to fly.
Dreher has served on multiple deployments, including tours in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Jordan as part of the 28th Infantry Division. He has also participated in overseas multinational exercises like Operation Saber Strike in Lithuania and Estonia.
Within the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Dreher has taken on significant staff roles where he advised division leadership on mission planning, aircraft survivability, and airspace usage. He also provided expertise on personnel recovery to support isolated personnel. His contributions extended to the role of assistant tactical operations officer for the 28th ID, where he fulfilled similar responsibilities and shared his expertise with subordinate units.
Dreher has also served as a facility standardization instructor pilot at Army Aviation Support Facility #1, where he conducted training and evaluation in UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and developed training materials. He also served as the assistant flight operations officer, overseeing all flight operations, mission planning, and aviator records.
Beyond his military service, Dreher holds a doctorate in chiropractic medicine with certifications in physical therapeutics and radiology. Before his career was interrupted by a call to duty and an extensive deployment, during which he decided to focus on his military career full-time, he managed a healthcare facility and developed a thriving practice.
He has served in the military for an extended period and chose to make it his full-time commitment primarily because of the strong bonds he forms. His most memorable career moments have been created by some of the strong bonds he shares with his family.
“Even in the worst situation, the people get you through it. Your friends get you through it,” said Dreher. “[But my most memorable moment] is coming home from deployment and seeing my wife and daughters. Nothing, I mean nothing, hits you as hard as being away for over a year and then finally seeing your family.”
As he takes on this new role as the Pennsylvania CCWO, Dreher plans on applying the leadership lessons and principles he’s learned throughout his long career.
“Be prepared, educate for certainty, but train for uncertainty,” said Dreher. “Always continue to learn, not just academics, but also about your people, who they are, what is important to them, and how they see and understand challenges before them.”