Fort Bragg Police Chief Neil Cervenka is retiring in September, the city of Fort Bragg announced this week.
Cervenka joined the Fort Bragg Police Department in 2022 after working for the Turlock Police Department for over 20 years.
According to the city, Cervenka was born and raised in Wisconsin. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating high school. He was assigned to the Air Force Security Forces and provided security for nuclear missiles at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and in Osan Air Base in South Korea before moving to Travis Air Force Base in Solano County.
While at Travis AFB, he was deployed in Turkey for Operation Northern Watch. After five years of active duty, he moved to the Air Force Reserves. He was deployed to Egypt and Germany. In October 2001, he supported Operation Noble Eagle in the wake of 9/11. He left the reserves in November 2002 with the rank of technical sergeant.
During his tenure as police chief, Cervenka started to transition the Police Department’s patrol vehicles to all-electric.
Cervenka led the department’s effort to address homelessness in Fort Bragg. During his tenure, he helped the Police Department secure millions in grant funding to launch a care response unit to provide direct outreach to homeless people living along the Mendocino Coast and support to police officers responding to mental and behavioral health-related emergency calls.
The city noted that Cervenka also overhauled the department’s policies, procedures and training programs and invested in employee wellness and leadership development.
Cervenka will retire on Sept. 30. He plans to remain in Fort Bragg after retirement, the city said.