Distinguished Seminole Battalion Graduates
Brigadier General John G. Meyer Jr.
General Meyer, a native of Lexington, Kentucky received his commission as a Military Police officer through Army ROTC following graduation from Florida State University in 1967. During his 30-year career, General Meyer has served more than seven years overseas, with tour in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Vietnam. Command assignments have included military police companies at Fort Hood, Fort Gordon and in the Republic of Vietnam, 385th Military Police Battalion and 14th Military Police Brigade in Stuttgart, Germany, and the Community & Family Support Center. He also served as a battalion operations officer, aide-de-camp to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Europe, Military Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army, Director of the Department of Defense Base Transition Office and Chief of Public Affairs, United States Army.
Brigadier General William H. Roche
General Roche, a native of Vernon, Florida, received his commission as an Armor officer through Army ROTC following graduation from Florida State University in 1958. While at FSU, he was vice-president of his junior and senior class and a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. During his 30-year career, General Roche served more than seven years overseas, with tours in the Federal Republic of Germany, Korea, and the Republic of Vietnam. Command assignments included tank companies at Fort Knox and Germany, a tank battalion with 2nd Infantry Division, a brigade in 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, and Assistant Division Commander of 3rd Armored Division. He also served as an Assistant Professor of Military Science at Florida State University, Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Army, and Deputy Chief of Legislative Liaison at Headquarters, Department of the Army.
Brigadier General Frederick H. Essig
General Essig, a native of Chicago, Illinois, received his commission as a Signal officer through Army ROTC following graduation from Florida State University in 1965.During his 30-year career, General Essig has served more than twelve years overseas, with tour in the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, and the Republic of Vietnam. Command assignments have included a signal company in South Vietnam, 34th Signal Battalion and the 7th Signal Brigade (US Army Europe), 7th Signal Command, and the Defense Information Systems Agency – Western Hemisphere. He also served as the Signal Office, 82nd Airborne Division Artillery, Operations and Plans Officer, 82nd Signal Battalion, Deputy Command, 93rd Signal Brigade, Deputy Controller for Central Operating Authority (SHAPE), and Director Army and Joint Information Services Organization.
Brigadier General Robert L. Floyd II
General Floyd, a native of Miami, Florida, received his commission as an Infantry officer through Army ROTC following graduation from Florida State University in 1969. During his 28-year career, General Floyd has served three tours of duty overseas; twice in the Federal Republic of Germany and once in the Republic of Vietnam where he was assigned as an advisor to the 21st Ranger Battalion, 1st Ranger Group. Command assignments have included a headquarters detachment, maintenance company, 708th Support Battalion in the 8th Infantry Division and Division Support Command of the 24th Infantry Division. He has also served as a Division Ammunition Officer; Assistant Chief of Staff, Deputy G-4 and Executive Officer, Division Support Command, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault); Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff; and Director of Logistics (J-4), United States Atlantic Command.
Lieutenant General Jay M. Garner
General Garner, a native of Arcadia, Florida, began his military career with the Florida Army National Guard. He received his commission through Army ROTC following graduation from Florida State University in 1962. During his 35-year career, General Garner has served more than eight years overseas, including tours in the Federal Republic of Germany, Iraq, and the Republic of Vietnam. Command assignments have included 2nd Battalion 59th Air Defense Artillery, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Air Defense Command (Europe), Joint Task Force Bravo in Iraq, and U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command. He has also served as Deputy Commanding General, V Corps, Federal Republic of Germany, Deputy Commanding General and Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Army Air Defense School at Fort Bliss, Texas, and Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, Army.
Major General Ronaldo O. Harrison
General Harrison, a native of Bartow, Florida, received his commission as an Infantry officer through Army ROTC following graduation from Florida State University in 1960. While at FSU, he starred as a sprinter on the track team and was recognized as Athlete of the Year. During his service on active duty, General Harrison served as a rifle platoon leader and company executive officer with the 29th, 30th and 38th Infantry, and 53rd Separate Infantry Brigade. His staff assignments have included battalion S-1, S-2, and S-3 Air, brigade S-2 and S-3, state Civil Affairs Officer, and Secretary to the General Staff. On March 1, 1992 he was appointed Adjutant General of Florida by Governor Lawton Chiles.
Congressman F. Allen Boyd Jr.
Congressman Boy, a native of Monticello, Florida, received his commission as an Infantry officer through Army ROTC following graduation from Florida State University in 1969. He was assigned as a training officer and company commander at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri before serving a combat tour in the Republic of Vietnam as a rifle platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). In 1988, Congressman Boyd began his political career when he successfully ran for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. During the next seven years, he served in several important leadership positions, including Majority Whip, Chair of the Governmental Operations Committee and Chair of the House Rules and Calendar Committee. In 1996, he was elected to the 105th Congress of the United States representing Florida’s Second Congressional District.
Major General John L. Scott
BIO Pending
Brigadier General Spessard Boatwright
BIO Pending
Honorable Charles Williams
BIO Pending
major General Patrick Sargent (1985)
Pat Sargent was born and raised in Panama City, Florida. He enjoys reading, golfing, playing the saxophone and cheering on the Florida State Seminoles. He recently retired from the U.S. Army after 35 years of service at the rank of Major General.
For Sargent, the word "service" beguiles him because it means different things to different people. Like liberty, freedom and justice, he thinks the word "service" needs to be felt, not just heard, in order to be truly understood.
Sargent felt service first-hand through his grandmother. Though small in stature and poor in material wealth, she was the epitome of a servant leader. His mother, a single parent who worked as a maid to care for him and his siblings, was also a servant leader. The two women instilled in Sargent the meaning of service in the context of Martin Luther King Jr. He said, “Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve… You only need a heart full of grace.”
As a military community, Panama City also contributed to the meaning of the word "service" for Sargent. Family and community instilled in him that freedom is anything but free, and with rights come responsibilities. “Service is responsibility in motion,” he said. “It’s an action and not a concept — a verb, not a noun. I serve because I owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have gone before me in defense of our freedoms. I serve for the love of my daughter and future generations. I serve for the love of this incredible nation, where service is uniquely not a matter of coercion but a matter of conscience.”
MAJOR GENERAL TRACY R. NORRIS (1986)
ADJUTANT GENERAL, Texas, since January 2019
Major General Tracy R. Norris was the Adjutant General of the Texas National Guard from 2019 to 2022. Norris was the first female commander of the Texas Military Department, an organization composed of the Texas Air National Guard, Texas Army National Guard, and the Texas State National Guard.
Norris attended Florida State University on a ROTC scholarship and began her career in the military upon graduation. While in the military, she attended the United States Army War College and earned her master's in Strategic Studies.
Norris twice been deployed to Iraq. From January to July 2007, Norris was an officer with the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade in Balad, Iraq. From December 2010 to September 2011, Norris was the Chief of Staff 36th Infantry Division in Basra, Iraq. While serving in that capacity, she oversaw command and control of nine provinces in southern Iraq.
Prior to accepting the position of adjutant general of the Texas Guard, Norris had previous command experience. In addition to serving in the Texas National Guard, she has served in other states’ Guard units, specifically Georgia, Florida, Virginia, and Massachusetts