Battalion Senior Army Instructor (SAI): LTC (R) Noland I. Flores

LTC Noland Flores served for over 30 years in the Puerto Rico, Florida, and California Army National Guard. He served in the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) program for over 21 years of active federal service. LTC Flores served as a Forward Observer while enlisted and a Field Artillery, Human Resources, and Logistics Officer in many capacities.
LTC Flores served two tours in Iraq: one during the surge in Operation Iraqi Freedom and another during the drawdown in Operation New Dawn. During Operation Freedom Sentinel, he served as advisor to the Afghan National Army and Senior U.S. Army advisor to NATO forces in Northern Afghanistan. He also served in several state emergency activations to include natural disaster and civil disturbance response.
LTC Flores is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College (Master of Strategic Studies), Command and General Staff College (Masters of Military Arts and Science), and American Intercontinental University (Masters of Business Administration) with a concentration in Healthcare Management. His undergraduate degree is in General Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico where he also commissioned from the ROTC program as a Distinguished Military Graduate.
LTC Flores’ awards include the Combat Action Badge, Bronze Star (3rd award), and Meritorious Service Medal (3rd award).

Battalion Army Instructor (AI): CSM (R) Michael E. Baker

CSM Michael Baker has over 42 years of service in the California Army National Guard. He has a bachelor’s degree in general studies from Columbia College and an associate degree in industrial relations from Long Beach City College.
He has multiple Military Occupational Specialties in the Army. He has held multiple CSM assignments while deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with duty at the Regional Training Institute in SLO, CA.
He also was mobilized for many state call ups such as the L.A. Riots and the Northridge earthquake. He is a retired U.S. Postal service employee with over 35 years of service.
CSM Baker resides in Long Beach, California with his wife Julie and has two daughters Christina and Melissa and one grandson Ricardo attending Cal State Long Beach.
His awards include the Combat action badge, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (2nd award), Meritorious Service Medal (2nd award).