Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry, who has served as Nevada’s 30th Adjutant General since 2019, announced Wednesday that he will retire from military service in October.

An announcement on Berry’s successor will be released by the end of summer.

Berry will turn 66 on Oct. 3, which meets the mandatory retirement age for military general officers, per federal law and Nevada Revised Statute.

“It’s been my great honor and privilege to serve as Nevada’s Adjutant General,” said Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry, who was the first African American to serve as Nevada’s Adjutant General. “The future is very bright for our visible and growing state thanks in large part to the great efforts and service of our Soldiers and Airmen in the Nevada National Guard.”

"General Berry's leadership has been a tremendous asset to the Nevada National Guard and our state,” said Governor Joe Lombardo. “As he retires, we honor his decades of service and many contributions to Nevada. I extend my sincerest gratitude and best wishes for his well-deserved retirement."

During his time as Adjutant General, Berry oversaw the largest and lengthiest Nevada National Guard state activation in history for the COVID-19 pandemic. At the height of the pandemic, more than 1,400 Nevada National Guard Soldiers and Airmen were on orders supporting test and vaccination sites around the state.

Berry also served as the Adjutant General during the establishment of two National Guard programs in the state and oversaw the growth of the Nevada National Guard’s State Partnership Program with Nevada becoming one of five states with three nation partners with the addition of Samoa (the other partners are Fiji and Tonga).

“When I took this job, I had many goals, and I pretty much have hit all my goals," Berry said.

The majority of his military career, Berry worked as a dual status Guardsman with full-time employment in the Reno Police Department. Berry retired from RPD in 2005 after rising to the rank of assistant police chief following 25 years in law enforcement.

In 2008, he began work at the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., spearheading leadership, culture and diversity initiatives for both Gen. Craig McKinley and Gen. Frank Grass. Berry reached the rank of brigadier general in 2013.

He was named Nevada’s adjutant general — the senior ranking officer in the Nevada National Guard — during a ceremony at the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno on Sept. 7, 2019. He was promoted to major general in 2020.

(Nevada National Guard contributed to this report.)