Tribal and Community Liaison
Michael Haller is the tribal and community liaison for BOEM’s Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region. On behalf of the bureau, he develops and maintains active relationships with tribes, Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act corporations, and communities. He began this assignment in September 2010.
Before joining BOEM, he served as senior mentor to the Ministry of the Interior, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. In that capacity, he worked with, mentored and trained senior leaders and selected staff to interact successfully with the media and members of the Afghanistan National Assembly.
A Vietnam veteran, Haller was raised in Alaska and served 35 years in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard. He was chief of public affairs for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs during the Cold War years and beyond—an assignment that took him to communities across Alaska. He played leading roles in 25 federally declared disasters, dozens of search-and-rescue events, and numerous deployments. His overseas missions include Afghanistan, Mongolia, Guam, Canada, Thailand, the Philippines and Japan.
Haller was also a part-time adjunct professor of communications with the University of Alaska Anchorage’s military program for 23 years, teaching interpersonal communication and public speaking. He holds degrees in social sciences and communications from the University of Maryland, the University of Alaska, and the Community College of the Air Force. He is a graduate of the Canadian Forces College Command and Staff Course (Reserves), the Defense Information School’s Public Affairs Officer Qualification Course, the Logistics Plans Officer Course at Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and numerous other programs.
He has also been active in local and statewide volunteer efforts supporting rural Alaska youth, and veterans and their families. He and his wife, Kim, live in Anchorage.