Army Reserve leader inducted into N.J. high school hall of fame

Photo By Staff Sgt. Shawn Morris | Maj. Gen. Troy D. Kok, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 99th Regional Support Command, left, engages with students following his induction into the Allentown High School Hall of Fame Feb. 17 during a ceremony at the school. Kok’s command is headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and his area of responsibility includes 44,000 Army Reserve Soldiers throughout the 13 northeastern states.  

ALLENTOWN, NJ, UNITED STATES

02.17.2017

Story by Staff Sgt. Shawn Morris 

99th Readiness Division

ALLENTOWN, N.J. – Maj. Gen. Troy D. Kok, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 99th Regional Support Command, was inducted into the Allentown High School Hall of Fame Feb. 17 during a ceremony at the school.

“I think the most important thing is what I learned here, and what I learned from all my teachers was to always do your best, no matter what that is,” said Kok, whose command is headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. “It’s not a matter of doing 100 percent, it’s about doing your best, and the only person who can ever tell you whether you’re doing your best is yourself when you look in the mirror.

“That’s an important lesson – I learned that here, I learned that from my parents, and I share that with my Soldiers,” said Kok, whose area of responsibility includes 44,000 Army Reserve Soldiers throughout the 13 northeastern states. “At the end of the day, it’s about being the best people we can be, wherever we are and whatever we do.”

Kok was nominated for the school’s hall of fame by his former football and cross-country coach, Doug Hunt, who taught at Allentown High School for 39 years.

“I loved that mental toughness,” said Hunt of his former student and athlete. “He’s not the yell-and-scream, get-in-your-face guy; it’s, ‘We need to do the job right, here’s how we need to do it,’ and that’s what I saw in him so many years earlier here at Allentown High School.”

That can-do attitude has helped Kok throughout his Army Reserve career. He graduated high school in 1982 only two days before shipping off to basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He earned his Army commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Central Missouri State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in aviation.

After deployments in 2003 and 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Kok’s assignments included professor of military science at Bucknell University, commanding general of the Army Reserve’s 11th Theater Aviation Command, and deputy commanding general for support at U.S. Army Recruiting Command.

“Allentown High School gave me the opportunity to grow into the person I am today,” he said. “It taught me how to never give up.”

For more information on the 99th RSC, visit www.usar.army.mil/Commands/Support/99th-RSC/.

• Date Taken: 02.17.2017
• Date Posted: 02.17.2017 15:07
• Story ID: 223999
• Location: ALLENTOWN, NJ, US