Sidney native Heaton retires from U.S. Army Reserve

Sidney native James M. Heaton retired from the U.S. Army Reserve on Aug. 2, 2014, with the rank of Colonel, after 30 years of active duty and reserve service in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps.

Col. Heaton performed a wide variety of legal duties, completed advanced military education courses and held several leadership positions in assignments at: Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Leavenworth, Kan; Charlottesville, Va.; Carlisle, Pa.; Fort Belvoir, Va.; the Pentagon; Camp Casey, Republic of Korea; Bad Kreuznach, Darmstadt, and Heidelberg, Germany; Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Baghdad, Iraq; and Washington, D.C..

Heaton is the son of the late Pat Heaton Jr. and Bertha Heaton of Sidney, and is married to the former Kelly Lopez, daughter of Judy Pohl of Sidney and Gary Lopez of Laramie, Wyo.

The Heatons live in Bristow, Va., with their two daughters, Julia and Jennifer. A third daughter, Johanna and husband Sgt. Barrett Hood of the U.S. Army, and the Heatons' two grandchildren live near Fort Stewart, Ga..

Heaton's civilian employment is as an associate general counsel with the Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency, at Fort Belvoir, Va.