Chief Warrant Officer Five (CW5) (Retired) Douglas M. Englen was born in Colorado and grew up outside of Denver. After graduating from high school, he decided to join the Army. Influenced by his grandfather, who served in the Navy in World War II, and his father, who served in the US Air Force in the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the Army in July 1986 as a UH-1 Huey Crew Chief and was assigned to Finthen, Germany, with the 8th Infantry Division. During his time as a Crew Chief, CW5 Englen was exposed to combat for the first time while serving as the door gunner of the UH-1 during Operation Provide Comfort, earning an Air Medal for returning fire to suppress the enemy. After additional deployments in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, CW5 Englen left active duty to join the Colorado National Guard to work as a maintenance supervisor and crewmember training at the High Altitude Training Site in Eagle, Colorado. He rejoined active duty and was selected to attend the Warrant Officer Basic Course and Flight School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, graduating in May 1993. Assigned to fly the CH-47 Chinook, CW5 Englen was stationed at Camp Humphries, Korea, and then Giebelstadt, Germany. During his time in Germany, CW5 Englen flew combat support missions as part of NATO’s Operation Allied Force. In 1998, CW5 Englen was selected to join the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) as an MH-47 pilot. During his time with the 160th SOAR, CW5 Englen served as a fully mission qualified pilot, standardization instructor pilot, and flight lead. In these roles, CW5 Englen flew as the fully mission qualified pilot in the lead aircraft for Objective Gecko, the longest helicopter air assault in military history, and was the lead Air Mission Planner for Operation Neptune Spear, the Special Operations raid against Osama bin Laden. In September 2011, he was selected to serve as the regiment’s overall standardization officer, leading, coaching, and mentoring more than 340 Special Operations Aviators. He was then selected as the 3rd Command Chief Warrant Officer for the United States Army Special Operations Aviation Command. CW5 Englen culminated his military career as the Senior Warrant Officer Advisor to the Secretary of the Army for Talent Management. In his career, he has logged over 7,000 hours of fixed- and rotary-wing flight time, including 34 combat deployments and over 2,500 missions. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, two Silver Star medals, Legion of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Cross medals, two Bronze Star Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, nine Air Medal with Valor Device (Numeral 8), four Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal (1 Bronze Service Star), Southwest Asia Service Medal (3 Bronze Service Stars), Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Medal, NCO Professional Development ribbon (Numeral 2), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (Numeral 5), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), NATO Medal (1 Bronze Star), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Government of Kuwait), Combat Action Badge, Master Army Aviator Badge, Air Assault Badge, and the Parachutist Badge. CW5 Englen and his wife, Christina, have 4 children, Christopher, Alexandria, Catheryn, and Elizabeth.
