Photo By Maj. Charles Emmons | Georgia's Adjutant General, Major General Joseph Jarrard leads the crowd in applause...... read more read more
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“Find the right place, the right assignment, or the right boss.”
That is one of the pieces of advice offered by retiring Georgia Army National Guard Inspector General, Colonel Anthony Dill. As he departs after more than 30-years of military service in both the active Army and National Guard, Col. Dill can claim that he’s found all three throughout his illustrious career.
“Sometimes you get two of the three,” said Dill. “Rarely will you get three of the three. But you gotta find the one thing that makes you happy.”
Dill’s Army resume reads like an action-packed feature film series, and includes multiple operations in Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He conducted mass-tactical airborne operations with the 82nd Airborne Division, negotiated U.S. foreign policy objectives with the president of Albania, and borrowed the service of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on the Arabian Sea to launch and recover Army aircraft. Last year, he was recognized as a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Hall of Fame recipient.
By choosing the most challenging jobs throughout his career, he’s found opportunities throughout the world. Dill admits that his military life has truly been an adventure.
“It’s been a really awesome career and I’ve gotten to do some pretty cool things,” said Dill.
Dill commissioned in the Florida National Guard in 1988, as a graduate of University of West Florida. Before he joined the National Guard he had an extensive exposure to military life. His father served two tours in Vietnam as an aviator with 1st Cavalry Division and later flew for 5th Special Forces Group - Project Delta.
Colonel Dill’s Army life has directed him into leadership roles during significant milestones to include the 50th Anniversaries of the 5th Special Forces Group and the Golden Knights, the U.S. Army’s official parachute demonstration team. Dill was deputy commander of the 5th SFG and commander of the Golden Knights.
Dill’s parachute team statistics include more than 3,500 free fall jumps, 100 static line jumps, and 60 jumps as a tandem instructor. This doesn’t include the untold number of jumps he accomplished while conducting missions as a Green Beret Alpha team leader, a job he considers his most rewarding.
As one of six 10th SFG teams competing for a handful of missions, Dill’s team was often picked by briefing the most effective plan to the battalion commander. His team worked with other elite units such as the British Special Air Service (SAS), and Belgian Commandos.
The experiences and autonomy he received as a team leader and 3rd SFG company commander shaped his career going forward.
“I continued to take that forward into operations and all the way into the [strategic] level jobs I had before I got here.”
Throughout his career, he’s worn seven different variations of the Army uniform. Dill has experienced the rise in technological advancements that didn’t exist during the days that he wore the same style boots to Desert Storm that his father wore a few decades before in Vietnam. But despite all of the new gadgets available, he still advises that leaders stress the importance of unplugging and training with simple resources.
“Don’t get enamored with the technology,” said Dill. You always gotta keep the basics. As people become more savvy on jamming GPS, you’ve got to be able to go back to lensatic compass to maneuver around wherever you’re at. You’ve got to know how to read a map.”
While many things changed, Dill sees consistent values have remained in the Army throughout the years.
“What I’ve seen, the quality the heart, the dedication…I would say that those attributes remain constant.”
Colonel Dill is retiring to North Georgia with his wife and two young children. He hopes to find a job that allows him to continue serving the veteran community. But more importantly, he looks forward to making up for lost time. That includes 81 months spent in hostile fire zones on short notice.
“After a decade or so of my family coming second to various deployments, now they are the priority.”
| Date Taken: | 06.30.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.03.2017 14:12 |
| Story ID: | 239962 |
| Location: | MARIETTA, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 544 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Georgia Guard IG retires after exceptional career, by MAJ Charles Emmons, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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