MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Burton, Browning, Caughman, Dearing, DeBar, Fillingane, Kirby, McMahan, Parker, Simmons (13th), Stone, Barnett, Jackson (32nd)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING BRIGADIER GENERAL J. ROY ROBINSON (RETIRED) OF MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI, AS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL GUARD ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES (NGAUS).
WHEREAS, the association that gives voice to National Guard officers in the nation's capital will soon have a new person running its day-to-day operations. The Board of Directors of the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) has selected Brigadier General J. Roy Robinson (retired) of Meridian, Mississippi, to be the association's next President. He will succeed Retired Major General Gus Hargett, who will step down in April. Robinson will begin his transition in February 2017; and
WHEREAS, the National Guard Association of the United States includes nearly 45,000 current or former Guard Officers. It was created in 1878 to provide unified National Guard representation in Washington. In their first productive meeting after Reconstruction, militia officers from the North and South formed the association with the goal of obtaining better equipment and training by petitioning Congress for more resources. Today, 138 years later, NGAUS has the same mission; and
WHEREAS, the NGAUS President serves as the association's Chief Executive Officer. The position has daily responsibility for the 28-member NGAUS Washington staff, the NGAUS Insurance Trust and the National Guard Educational Foundation (NGEF). He is also the association's point man on Capitol Hill; and
WHEREAS, United States Senators Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran, and Representatives Bennie G. Thompson, Gregg Harper, Steven Palazzo, and Trent Kelly, have endorsed Robinson to the NGAUS Board of Directors. Robinson, a native of Meridian and decorated combat veteran, has been Executive Director of the National Guard Association of Mississippi (NGAMS) since 2008.
"Given General Robinson's track record of service and success, we are confident that he will continue the tradition of excellence in supporting the men and women currently serving in the Army and Air National Guard, their families and all Guard retirees, ensuring that the National Guard has a strong voice not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the nation," the Mississippi congressional delegation said in recommending Robinson; and
WHEREAS, a former Commander of Combat Operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Assistant Adjutant General, Robinson has been an active member of the NGAMS and NGAUS since he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in May 1985. The Mississippi Military Family Relief Fund was enacted and expanded under Robinson's leadership of the NGAMS; and
WHEREAS, prior to joining NGAMS, he served at the Mississippi Military Department in such positions as Assistant Chief of Staff, Headquarters, State Area Command and Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Joint Forces Headquarters; and
WHEREAS, Robinson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in speech communications from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Business Administration from Jackson State University. He has also completed a United States Army War College Fellowship in Logistics and Acquisition at the Center for Strategic Analysis at the University of Texas-Austin; and
WHEREAS, he and his wife, Susan, a retired teacher in the Rankin County School District, have three children and three grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, General Robinson honors Mississippi with a legacy of a strong and free America, and for this and for his selfless service, a grateful state thanks him:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend and congratulate Brigadier General (retired) J. Roy Robinson of Meridian, Mississippi, as the new President of the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS), and extend the best wishes of the Legislature to General Robinson and his family on this auspicious occasion.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to General Robinson, forwarded to the Governor and the Adjutant General of the State of Mississippi, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.