History was made when a Palmerton native was sworn in as the 15th sergeant major of the Army.

Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel A. Dailey was sworn in to the position by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno at a ceremony held in the Pentagon Auditorium on Jan. 30.A 1990 graduate of Palmerton Area High School, Dailey succeeded Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III, who served in this position for four years.Dailey serves as the personal adviser to the Army chief of staff on matters affecting the enlisted force. The sergeant major of the Army visits with soldiers and families stationed around the globe and advises Army senior leadership on quality-of-life improvements, and also routinely testifies before Congress on these issues.Dailey had been the command sergeant major for U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.He is a combat veteran with four deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom and one in support of Operation Desert Storm.He was a command sergeant major for most of those tours, responsible for training, leading, mentoring and developing soldiers into leaders.Honored for service to the countryThe Palmerton community also honored one of its own, retired Lt. Gen. Rhett Hernandez, just before Veterans Day.Members of the community gathered at the Blue Shamrock Country Club in Palmerton for a retirement dinner. Hernandez grew up in Palmerton, graduated from its high school in 1971, and went on to graduate from United States Military Academy, West Point in 1976. He married his high school sweetheart, Pat, also from the Class of 1971, and was commissioned a field artillery officer.In time, he earned a master of science degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia and a masters of national security strategy from the National War College, where he was named a distinguished graduate. His career has been filled with many awards and medals."Rhett is extremely proud of his hometown," said Palmerton Borough Council member Richard Nothstein. "All those that have worked with him know he comes from Palmerton."