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Col Dennis D. Barron joined the Civil Air Patrol in January 1965, as a cadet member of the Martinsburg Composite Squadron. As a cadet, he earned the Mitchell, Earhart, and Ira E. Eaker Awards and attended five summer encampments, serving as Cadet Commander at two of them. He also attended several national special activities, including the International Air Cadet Exchange and the Jet Orientation Course. After earning the Eaker Award, Col Barron transferred to senior member status, in 1972, and immediately began overseeing both the squadron's cadet program and the West Virginia Wing's Summer Encampment program.

In September 1974, Col Barron assumed command of the Martinsburg Composite Squadron and continued in that post until September 1994. During his twenty years as Commander of the Martinsburg Squadron, the unit earned numerous awards, including a Unit Citation, Squadron of Merit, and Outstanding Squadron of the Wing.

After stepping down as Commander of the Martinsburg Squadron, Col Barron continued to assist the local unit by serving as finance officer and cadet leadership officer. In October 1996, he was appointed to serve as the Inspector General for the West Virginia Wing, a position he held until October 2005. Col Barron was named the Outstanding I.G. for the Middle East Region on numerous occasions and is a graduate of the Air Force I.G. Training Course, taught at Andrews AFB, Maryland, and the Civil Air Patrol National I.G. College, held at Kirkland AFB, NM, in June 2000.

In 1998, Col Barron accepted an additional assignment as the Wing's Drug Demand Reduction Administrator, all while still commanding the cadet summer encampment program each year. He has been a leader in the DDR program, both in the MER and on the national level. Col Barron attended the first National Drug Demand Reduction Conference, held in Atlanta, Georgia, in June 2001. He established working relationships with his counterparts in the FBI, DEA, and National Guard Bureau on both the state and national levels. This relationship has resulted not only in numerous joint DDR presentations to CAP cadets, but also co-sponsorship of several cadet encampments by the WV National Guard. In 2004, Col Barron was named Civil Air Patrol's National DDR Administrator of the Year.

In October 2005, he was appointed as the Chief of Staff for the West Virginia Wing, and served in that capacity until his recent appointment as the new Wing Commander.

Included among the many awards that he has earned over the years are three Exceptional Service Awards (1982, 1992, & 2004), eight Meritorious Service Awards, over 25 Commander's Commendation Awards, the West Virginia Wing Commander's Special Commendation Award (1997), the Gill Robb Wilson Award (1985), the Search and Rescue "Find" Ribbon (1979), and two Air Force Liaison Office Torch Awards (1996 & 2002) for mentoring cadets. Col Barron was named the Outstanding Senior Member of the West Virginia Wing in 1983 and 2001. He has served as a senior escort for the International Air Cadet Exchange in 1979 & 1995, visiting The Netherlands and Great Britain respectively. He still commands the Wing's outstanding summer encampment program and, to date, has attended over 45 summer encampments.

In 2004, Col Barron developed the curriculum and organized the first West Virginia Wing Cadet Leadership Training Course. This weekend course has become an annual training event for the Wing's cadets and is in high demand by cadets seeking to enhance their leadership skills. He continues to direct this course each year and serves as the primary instructor.

Col Barron is a licensed pilot and a trained Incident Commander/Mission Coordinator. He is active in search and rescue and other emergency services missions. He has served on both air and ground teams and earned a "Find" ribbon for leading a ground team in the discovery of a downed aircraft that had been missing for a week.

Col Barron has master ratings in several senior member training tracks and is a graduate of the National Staff College (1976), as well as numerous other leadership training courses. In addition, to date, he has attended over 55 wing, region, and national CAP conferences, many times serving as a seminar leader or instructor for those conferences.

Col Barron lives in Martinsburg, WV.