Ohio Army National Guard has new state command sergeant major

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Chad Menegay, Ohio National Guard Public Affairs

COLUMBUS, Ohio (09/30/19)

Command Sgt. Maj. Dwight S. Chambliss accepted responsibility as the Ohio Army National Guard state command sergeant major from Command Sgt. Maj. Rodger M. Jones during a change of responsibility ceremony at the Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler Armory.

Chambliss’s last assignment was as the 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade command sergeant major, and recently returned from an overseas deployment in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. In 2016, he was selected to serve as the 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade’s task force command sergeant major to support the Joint Air Defense Operations Center National Capital Region-Integrated Air Defense mission in Washington, D.C., in support of Operation Noble Eagle.

During his speech, Chambliss, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, promised the Ohio assistant adjutant general for Army, Col. Daniel Shank, that he would work on Shank’s initiatives of ensuring that the Ohio National Guard remains the No. 1 National Guard state.

“I will immediately get to work alongside your brigade sergeants major and leaders at all levels to ensure we are all well-equipped and trained and ready to ‘Fight Tonight,’” Chambliss said.

The “Fight Tonight” ambassador-at-large himself, Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., Ohio adjutant general, offered encouraging words emphasizing his trust in Chambliss’s leadership.

“It’s awfully sobering when you realize the enormity of this enterprise,” Harris said. “$670 million dollars a year, that’s the annual budget to keep this thing running, $3.2 billion worth of equipment, and that doesn’t mention the real estate or the Air Guard’s airplanes. They’re not even factored into that number. It’s just a massive enterprise.

“And you don’t realize it sometimes because you’re surrounded by people who make it seem easy,” Harris said. “(Chambliss) is one of those guys who I’m confident is going to step up to that challenge.” As state command sergeant major for the past seven years, Jones, of Galloway, Ohio, has managed that challenge as the principal enlisted advisor to the assistant adjutant general for Army. He has observed training and all matters concerning the over 10,000 enlisted members of the Ohio Army National Guard and their Families.

“Every experience I’ve had with Rodger Jones, has been him knocking it out of the park,” Harris said of the baseball enthusiast. “(Other than Jones) I have never met a Soldier who excelled at every bit of the spectrum; I’m talking about making strategic decisions that will affect the enterprise for the next 10-20 years, and at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to jumping in a foxhole and showing a Soldier the right way to do a range card — nobody does it better — and, I will tell you, everything in between.

Jones said that the ceremony was not about himself but instead about Chambliss and the great job that he’s going to do. He also took the opportunity to thank everyone who helped him along the road to be “moderately successful,” he modestly quipped.

Chambliss thanked Jones both for his personal development and for the leadership he provided to all Ohio National Guard Soldiers and their Families.