January 17, 2019 – The Charlotte Hornets and Bank of America tonight will honor Lieutenant Colonel Michael Krueger, USAF, Ret., as this season’s second recipient of the season-long Yellow Ribbon Program. In partnership with Bank of America, the Hornets honor military service members and veterans for their unwavering service to our country and their impact in the community. The Yellow Ribbon Program recognizes one of these heroes during Hornets home games throughout the season. Recipients are recognized prior to the national anthem and during an on-court presentation at halftime and given six tickets to the game. In addition, the Hornets make a $1,000 donation to his or her charity of choice. Lieutenant Colonel Krueger has selected Veterans Bridge Home as his charity.
“Lieutenant Colonel Krueger devoted 21 years of his life to protecting our country, and since then, he has given even more time to assisting his fellow veterans,” said Hornets Sports & Entertainment President & Vice Chairman Fred Whitfield. “It is our honor to recognize him for his service both during his Air Force career and now in the Charlotte community.”
After enlisting in the Air Force in 1991, Lieutenant Colonel Krueger spent two years at Osan Air Base in Korea and four years at Aviano Air Base in Italy before returning stateside in 1999 as Chief of Weapons and Tactics at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, where he managed the weapons and tactics program for Air Battle Manager School to ensure instructor and student proficiency. In 2001, he returned to Aviano Air Base as Director of Operations, overseeing the readiness and mission effectiveness of a 65-person Operations Directorate.
From 2008-2010, Lieutenant Colonel Krueger was assigned to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma as Squadron Commander, where he led a 36-person squadron comprised of 12 different specialties and was responsible for operations, maintenance and logistics support for four geographically separated, mobile command and control squadrons. During his final two years on active duty before retiring in 2012, he served as Requirements Bureau Chief at Langley Air Force Base. In that role he led a team of military, government civilians and contractors to integrate technology, including Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) infrastructure and virtualization, into the $1.4B Air Operations Center.
For his distinguished service, Lieutenant Colonel Krueger has received the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (4th Award), Air Force Commendation Medal (3rd Award), Air Force Meritorious Unit Award (2nd Award), Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (5th Award), Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, Combat Readiness Medal (2nd Award), Korean Defense Service Medal and Iraqi Campaign Medal.
A native of Charlotte, Lieutenant Colonel Krueger returned to his hometown and currently works as real estate agent. He is a board member at the Harris YMCA and is very active with their events, including the Krueger Reindeer Romp 5K, which is named after his late father. He is also a Boy Scouts of America Den Lead and committee member. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Krueger supports a number of causes related to veterans. In addition to personally helping transitioning service members and their families, he has started employment and networking groups for veterans both in Ballantyne and Uptown Charlotte. He also volunteers for several nonprofits, including Veterans Bridge Home and Suit Up Charlotte
This season’s previous Yellow Ribbon honoree was Colonel Cristina Moore, North Carolina Army National Guard. To nominate a military service member or veteran for the Yellow Ribbon Program, please visit hornets.com/community/military.