Join us as we salute our Veterans at the SD State Fair! 
Keynote Speaker: Colonel Stacy Kooistra

Colonel Stacy Kooistra has over 26 years of military service within the active-duty U.S. Army, South Dakota Army National Guard, and South Dakota Air National Guard.  Stacy enlisted in the Army in 1996 and served a tour in Baumholder, Germany, after which he was commissioned as a Military Intelligence Officer at Ft Benning, GA and served with the U.S. Army’s First Infantry Division.  Upon leaving active duty and entering law school, Stacy served with the 147^th Field Artillery Regiment, South Dakota Army National Guard and, since 2007, has served as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) Officer with the 114^th Fighter Wing and Headquarters, South Dakota Air National Guard.  Stacy’s is currently the State Staff Judge Advocate for Air. In his civilian capacity, Stacy serves as the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for the Dakota State University Applied Research Corporation (DARC), South Dakota’s public/private partnership focused on bringing the cyber industry to our state. Stacy was in the private practice of law for over thirteen years and, from 2018 to 2023, served as the Sioux Falls City Attorney. Stacy is also the Founder and Chairman of the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance, a non-profit corporation that has raised over $12 million toward unifying and supporting veteran organizations, active military servicemembers, their families, and South Dakota’s patriotic community at-large. Stacy and his wife of twenty-six years, Anna, have four children: Isabel, Oscar, Owen, and Emmett.