Speakers

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan R. Sankey is the Director of Operations of the 170th Operations Support Squadron (OSS), 170th Group, at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.  The 170 OSS is a Total Force Integrated Air National Guard unit partnered with the 55th Operations Support Squadron and the 55th Intelligence Support Squadron.  36 ANG members seamlessly provide first class intelligence, weather, aviation resource, flight equipment, and airfield management capabilities to 55^th Wing Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance missions and serve as a ready reserve for Nebraska domestic operations.

Lieutenant Colonel Sankey received his commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Iowa State University in 2008.  He then attended Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for Joint Combat Systems Officer Training, and specialized as an Electronic Warfare Officer, graduating in 2010.  He received his number one choice in aircraft, and his first assignment was to the 338^th Combat Training Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska to begin his qualification at the formal training unit on the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft.  In 2016, he received his Master of Arts in Administrative Leadership from the University of Oklahoma.  Lieutenant Colonel Sankey’s professional military education includes Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and is a current student in Air War College.

After receiving his qualification as an Electronic Warfare Officer on the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint, Lieutenant Colonel Sankey’s first operational assignment was to the 343d Reconnaissance Squadron, Offutt AFB, Nebraska where he served as an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO).  In 2012, he qualified as an Instructor EWO and subsequently upgraded to the Tactical Coordinator/Mission Crew Commander position on the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint.  After becoming an Evaluator, he culminated his tour at the 343d Reconnaissance Squadron as the Chief of Standards and Evaluations.  He then became a full-time instructor at the 338^th Combat Training Squadron, Air Combat Command’s largest Formal Training Unit and served as the Executive Officer to the Commander. In 2017, Lt Col Sankey joined the Nebraska Air National Guard as a Drill Status Guardsman serving in the 238^th Combat Training Squadron.  After serving 2.5 years as a DSG, he accepted a full-time position in the Air National Guard in 2020.  Over the course of his career, he served as a Flight Commander three times, Executive Officer at the Squadron and Group level three times, Assistant Director of Operations and Director of Operations.  He has eight deployments for contingency operations including Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM, INHERANT RESOLVE, AND PROSPERITY GUARDIAN, as well as to the INDOPACIFIC and EUROPEAN theaters.  He is a Master Combat Systems Officer with over 4,200 flight hours, including 1,300 combat hours.

Lt Col Sankey resides in Council Bluffs, Iowa with his wife, Rachel and their children, Jacob, Maximus, Avery and Charlotte.   

 Following his passion for community betterment, Vic founded Vic Gutman & Associates Consulting in 1978. Since that time, he has provided communications, organizational development, event management, and fundraising services for hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Nebraska, Iowa, and Michigan. Vic spearheaded and managed the revival of the Omaha Farmers Market in the Old Market in 1994 and in Aksarben in 2010 and first attempted to establish an indoor market on South 10th Street from 2013-2017. He currently serves on the Heritage Omaha-convened committee guiding development of The Riverfront Market, a year-round public market in Downtown Omaha, a decades-long dream of Vic’s that is projected to open in May 2028.

Vic has provided fundraising and organizational development services for nonprofit organizations including the Omaha Theater Company, in COMMON, Immigrant Legal Center, Latino Center of the Midlands, MENTOR Nebraska, The Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha, Girls Inc. and Nebraska Journalism Trust. He has consulted to numerous urban districts in Detroit, Omaha, and Lincoln (NE), working on more than 100 events including the 300th anniversary celebration for the City of Detroit, Nebraska’s Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration, Lincoln’s Flatwater Festival, and Omaha’s 150th birthday celebration. He led the effort to establish the Omaha Summer Arts Festival in 1975, managing the Festivalthrough its 50th anniversary in 2024. Vic also helped shape Omaha’s Millennium Lights Festival in 1999.  

Lawrence A.  Dwyer holds a B.A. Degree in American and British History from the University of Nebraska Omaha (1971), and a Law Degree from the Creighton University School of Law (1974). He is a member of the Omaha Bar Association and the Nebraska Bar Association, and has been a practicing attorney in Omaha for 51 years.

He has presented over 200 seminars on estate planning, probate, trusts, and elder law for professional, civic and charitable organizations; written seven legal manuals; and has received numerous awards for service to the community including the 2013 Nebraska Philanthropy Society’s Sower Award for 35 years of pro-bono legal work for charitable organizations.

Larry served on the Board of Directors of the Douglas County Historical Society (2006-2011), and was the Founder and First President of its Foundation. He was the keynote speaker at the Historical Society’s 130^th and 140^th Anniversary celebrations of the Trial of Chief Standing Bear.

Larry is a co-founder and Director of The Chief Standing Bear Project, Inc. a national non-profit corporation promoting the life and legacy of Standing Bear. In May 2025, Larry and his wife Karen donated to the Douglas County Historical Society for permanent display in the Crook House, a three-foot replica of the statue of Chief Standing Bear created by Benjamin Victor located in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

Since 2009, he has given over 100 presentations on Standing Bear and was the featured speaker for the Midwest Law Librarians Convention (2024); the Nebraska/Iowa Office of the FBI (2023); Coastal Carolina University’s Lifelong Learning Institute (2023 & 2024); the Omaha Bar Association’s 150^th Anniversary (2025 & 2026); the Eighth Circuit Federal Judiciary Conference (2026); and various regional historical societies and civic groups.

Larry is the author of Standing Bear’s Quest for Freedom: The First Civil Rights Victory for Native Americans (2022), which was awarded the Nebraska Best History Book for 2023.

He is here with us today to speak about his recently published book - Andrew J. Poppleton: Fighter for Omaha City, the Union Pacific Railroad and Chief Standing Bear.

Maj Gen.(Ret) James R.("Bob") Stevenson Jr. retired from the Nebraska Air National Guard and the United States Air Force in Sept of 2022 after a 34 year military career.

His last assignment was as the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander, United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM)at Offutt Air Force Base, NE, where he was the principal advisor on reserve component matters related to the command's diverse mission sets, including strategic deterrence, cyberspace operations, integrated missile defense, intelligence, surveillance/reconnaissance and global strike.  

As a Brig Gen, he also served dual roles as the Deputy Director of Operations for Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations and as the Mobilization Assistant to the Director of Operations, U.S. Strategic Command.  During this entire time, he served as an Airborne Emergency Action Officer aboard the Looking Glass Airborne Command Post leading an Alert Battle Staff.

Prior to his roles at USSTRATCOM, General Stevenson served as the Assistant Adjutant General for the Nebraska Air National Guard. He oversaw and was the principal advisor to the Adjutant General on complex and sensitive issues in the areas of logistics, command and control, communications, manpower and personnel, and other support functions related to Federal and State mission operations.  Prior to promotion to General Officer, Gen Stevenson was the Wing Commander of the 155th Air Refueling Wing, Lincoln ANGB, NE.

General Stevenson received his commission through Officer Training School in 1989 after graduating from the University of Nebraska, Omaha. General Stevenson joined the Nebraska ANG in 1997 after nine years on Active Duty and subsequently attended the KC-135R Tanker Qualification Course.

He has held positions in the NEANG as 155th ARW commander, 155th ARW Vice Commander, 170th Group Commander at Offutt AFB, 155th Operations Group Commander, and 173rd Air Refueling Squadron Commander, Director of Operation, Flight Commander, Chief of Training, and Chief of Tactics.   

General Stevenson is a command pilot with over 5,500 hours of flying time in T-37B, C-130E, RC-135, OC-135, E-6B and KC-135R aircraft and has combat flight time in contingency operations Allied Force, Southern Watch, Northern Watch, Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. 

As a civilian, he is a former airline pilot with the now defunct Midwest Airlines and has flown as a charter pilot, as well as privately for fun for the last 40 years.  He is married to the former Sherry Steinke of Norfolk NE and they have four grown children and ten growing grandchildren. They reside in Lincoln, NE.