National Guard sergeant retiring from his civilian job
By LESTER R. DAILEY
Article published on Wednesday, March 26, 2008  |
LARGO – Ron Pitts, son of Midge and Jack Pitts of Largo, is retiring from his state civilian job after 36 years.
But he will continue in the Maryland National Guard, where he is a master sergeant at the Joint Force Headquarters in Baltimore.
At 57, he is three years away from the usual mandatory retirement age for National Guardsmen.
During his tenure at the Maryland Department of Economic & Employment Development, he developed and implemented programs that attracted businesses to Maryland by providing free or subsidized services to recruit and train qualified employees. In one case, he saved Sam’s Club $25,000 in recruitment and hiring expenses.
As a teenager in 1968, he joined the Army as a Military Intelligence operative. In the two years he spent stateside, he wore civilian clothing to hide his military identity.
During his year in Vietnam he lived and worked in an old French villa, guarded by Chinese mercenaries, keeping track of Viet Cong activities in the Mekong Delta.
“It gave me a real insight into people,” he said in a recent telephone interview from his National Guard armory. “The military was a growing experience for me. You take on responsibilities that an 18- or 19-year-old wouldn’t normally have. The military teaches you how to think clearly.”
The Pitts family has a long tradition of military service. Ron’s grandfather was a British soldier in World War I. His father, Jack, was a career U.S. Navy petty officer who served from 1943 to 1963. His older brother, Fred, who is now retired from AT & T and living in Keystone, Fla., served with the Army in Vietnam.
The younger of his two sons, John, served a year in Iraq with the St. Petersburg-based 320th Military Police Company of the Army Reserve and, upon his recent graduation from Eckerd College, transferred to the Army, which he plans to make his career.
Ron’s National Guard duties have taken him to Germany, Estonia, the Netherlands, Japan and Panama. He also went to Bosnia to review the National Guard troops under Gen. H. Steven Blum that were taking over peacekeeping duties from Regular Army units.
His duties at Joint Force Headquarters include working with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. He was assigned to fill in for his supervisor, who was going away for a few days in September 2001. Three days later, Islamic terrorists struck the U.S. and he spent three weeks doing public affairs duties for MEMA.
Recently, he had just returned from a conference in Alaska when his phone rang, ordering him to go to California, where wildfires were raging. He spent 10 days answering reporters’ questions and embedding journalists with National Guard units fighting the fires.
For three years in his teens, he lived on the naval base at Mayport, while his father was mostly at sea. When asked if he plans to move back to Florida to be near his parents when he retires from the National Guard, he said he has no imminent plans. But he kept his options open.
“They say that once you get Florida sand in your shoes, you’ll always return,” he said. “We’ll see in the future.”
In the meantime, he and his wife Elaine plan to visit his parents as frequently as their schedule allows.
“We like visiting Largo in the coldest part of the winter and enjoying the Florida sunshine,” he said. “The people are extremely friendly and nice. It’s the kind of place I’m glad my parents chose,” he said.
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Article published on Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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