Major General Randall Simmons, Former Commander, Ga. ARNG, Retires

Story by Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia National Guard

 

Left: Major General Randall Simmons commanded the Georgia Army National Guard from September 2017 to Oct. 9, 2020. Right: Captain Randall
 Simmons, commander of the Springfield-based Battery A, 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment gives the command to fire their M109A6
Paladin for the first time at Fort Stewart, Georgia in August 2000.

Major General Randall Simmons, former commander of the Georgia Army National Guard retired during a ceremony at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. March 25, 2023. The ceremony served as a homecoming for Simmons who entered military service with the Georgia National Guard unit in Statesboro and later earned his bachelor’s degree at GSU.

 

Lieutenant Colonel Randall Simmons, commander
of the 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment hosts
a meeting of joint Afghan security forces in Nangarhar
Province January 11, 2000. Photo Sgt. Tracy J. Smith.

Enlisting in 1989 as a private in the Statesboro-based 2nd Battalion, 214th Field Artillery, Simmons subsequently earned his commission from the Georgia Military Institute’s Officer Candidate School. From 1992, to 2006, Simmons served in a variety of assignments with the Savannah-based 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, a unit whose history predates the American Revolution. Simmons deployed to Iraq in 2005 as the executive officer of the 1-118th. He commanded the Calhoun-based 1st Squadron 108th Cavalry Regiment in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010 and commanded the Macon-based 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from 2013 to 2015, during which time he served as commander of Task Force Volunteer in Kabul. Simmons served as the chief of staff for the Ga. ARNG from 2015 until his appointment as commanding general of the Ga. ARNG in 2017.

 

Simmons’ service as commander of the Georgia Army National Guard spanned three years during which the organization grew in strength and capability, adding nearly 300 personnel and activating new units such as the 1st Battalion, 54th Security Forces Assistance Brigade and 265th Chemical Battalion. Over the same period, the Georgia Army National Guard met unprecedented demand for overseas service and support to domestic operations. Nearly 3,000 Soldiers representing the Georgia Army National Guard’s five brigades were deployed to all six regional combatant commands. In addition, the Georgia Army National Guard conducted several notable overseas training missions in the country of Georgia, Romania, Germany and other locations.

 

Brigadier General Randall Simmons, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard, surveys damage from Hurricane Michael in Seminole County, Ga.
 aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter of the Marietta-based 78th Aviation Troop Command Oct. 18, 2018. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

In the first month of Simmons’ command, the Georgia Army National Guard was called to respond to Georgia counties impacted by Hurricane Irma, The following October, more than 900 Soldiers from 38 units across the state mobilized in response to Hurricane Michael.

 

Brigadier General Randall Simmons, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard, visits Georgia National Guard Soldiers stationed throughout Atlanta
 May 31, 2020 to assist police in maintaining security and safety of public places. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

The COVID-19 crisis which erupted in 2020 prompted an unprecedented domestic response by the Georgia Army National Guard. Georgia Guardsmen developed unique response capabilities including medical support teams that assisted regional hospitals and infection control teams that embarked to long term care facilities across the state to provide life-saving preventative actions for at-risk populations. While still responding to COVID-19 the Georgia National Guard was called to support law enforcement agencies in Atlanta and area communities following civil unrest. Simmons led the Georgia National Guard’s Joint Task Force for both missions through the remainder of his term as commander.

 

OISE AISNE CEMETERY, Seringes-et-Nesles, France, July 28, 2018 –Brigadier General Randall Simmons, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard
 visits the Oise Aisne Cemetery at sunrise to honor and remember the fallen Soldiers of the Georgia National Guard’s 151st Machine Gun Battalion
during ceremonies observing the centennial of the end of World War I. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

In the final months of Simmons’ command, Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, Director of the Army National Guard presented Georgia with the 2020 Director’s Award for Excellence. The award recognized the quality of service rendered by more than 11,000 Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers for their efforts in the previous year.

 

Brigadier General Randall Simmons, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard fields questions from cadets of Georgia Southern University’s
Reserve Officer Training Corps Dec. 13, 2018 at Fort Stewart, Ga. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

Relinquishing command of the Georgia Army National Guard in October 2020, Simmons assumed command of Joint Task Force North based at Fort Bliss, Texas. Comprised of active, Reserve and Guard Soldiers, Joint Task Force North renders support to law enforcement agencies in identifying and eliminating threats from transnational criminal organizations. In December 2022, Simmons relinquished command of the joint task force to Maj. Gen. Matthew Smith who, like Simmons, was a previous commander of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

 

Brigadier General Randall Simmons, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard thanks Ga. ARNG Soldiers of Task Force Volunteer
for their efforts in support of the multi-agency operations along the southwest border November 20, 2019. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

During the ceremony, Major General Thomas Carden, Adjutant General of the Georgia National Guard presented Simmons with the Oglethorpe Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of his 33 years of military service. Simmons wife Yetive Simmons was presented with the Georgia Commendation Medal for her exceptional support to the Georgia National Guard and U.S. Army. The Simmons’ Children, Callie and Luke were also recognized during the ceremony for their dedication and support.

 

Major General Tom Carden, Adjutant General of the Georgia National Guard, presents awards to Yetive, Callie, Luke, and Maj. Gen Randall Simmons
during a ceremony at Georgia Southern University March 25, 2023. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

In his farewell remarks, Simmons expressed appreciation to his family, Maj. Gen. Carden, and the service members of the Ga. ARNG and Joint Task Force North with whom he had served for more than three decades.

 

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this Army of ours, this great military of ours and to serve this country,” said Simmons. “It has indeed been the greatest professional honor and privilege of my life.”

 

March 1950: Georgia Air National Guard Conducts Rapid Deployment Alert

 By Major William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Left: Brigadier General James L. Riley (seen in 1949 as a colonel) commanded the 54th Fighter Wing. Right: An F-47 Thunderbolt of the Georgia
Air National Guard’s 54th Fighter Wing, 128th Fighter Squadron at Marietta Air Force Base in May 1946. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The 54^th Fighter Wing representing Air National Guard units in Georgia and South Carolina staged a mock alert March 19, 1950 in order to test the capability of the Air National Guard to react to a surprise enemy attack. Brigadier General J. L. Riley, commander of the Marietta-based 54^th Fighter Wing, ordered the alert which went out over all Atlanta radio stations. Within 30 minutes, all fourteen units based at Marietta Air Force Base had responded and four F-47 Fighters were in the air. Within another 15 minutes, 20 F-47s were aloft. [1]

Lt. Col. Aldo Garoni in 1949.
Georgia National Guard Archives

The project officer for the alert exercise was Lt. Col. Aldo Garoni, personnel officer of the 54^th Fighter Wing. Garoni enlisted in the 128^th Observation Squadron in 1941 at Candler Field in Atlanta and served with the unit until 1942 when he entered officer candidate school. Commissioned a 2^nd lieutenant, Garoni served in Africa and participated in the Allied landing at Sicily. Returning from the war as a major, he was part of the effort to reorganize the Georgia National Guard. In 1950, as the assistant manager of radio station WFOM Garoni facilitated the radio alert that called the Citizen-Airmen of the Georgia Air National Guard to action.[2]

As part of the alert exercise, the Georgia National Guard’s 128^th Fighter Squadron provided air support for Third Army troops in the Atlanta area from their base in Marietta while F-80 jets of the Savannah-based 158^th Fighter Squadron scrambled to intercept simulated enemy aircraft. "Enemy" fighters of the South Carolina Air National Guard were intercepted in the skies over Congaree, S.C. where the Airmen of Georgia and South Carolina engaged in mock air combat.

Nearly 75 percent of the personnel assigned to the 14 Georgia Air National Guard units at Marietta Air Force Base participated in the alert with some continuing to respond as late as 10:00 p.m. Major General Ernest Vandiver, Georgia’s Adjutant General observed the alert and response of the Georgia Air National Guard.

F-47 Thunderbolts of the Georgia Air National Guard’s 128th Fighter Squadron conduct a rapid deployment alert in March 1950. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Less than five months after the alert exercise, pilots of the 128th Fighter Squadron were activated for service during the Korean War.

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[1] “Wing Alert Gets 20 Fighters in Air Within One Hour, Four in 30 Minutes. The Georgia Guardsman. May 1950, 11.

[2] “Colonel Aldo Garoni.” The Georgia Guardsman, March April 1956, 3.

30 Years Ago: The Georgia National Guard Responds to the “Blizzard of the Century”

 By Major William Carraway, Historian, Georgia National Guard

 

Left: The Georgia National Guard Medal of Valor. Right: A U-H1 helicopter of the Georgia Army National Guard takes off from a landing
strip in the North Georgia Mountains bound for a relief mission following a winter storm that blanketed the region March 13, 1993.

On the morning of March 13, 1993, Georgia were struck by the “blizzard of the century.” The snow fell as far south as Albany and Savannah. Accumulation ranged from four inches of snow in Atlanta to nearly three feet in Union County.[1] The rapid snowfall and high winds that accompanied the storm felled trees and powerlines across North Georgia leaving more than 450,000 without power.[2]

On March 14, Governor Zell Miller declared a state of emergency and the Georgia National Guard responded within hours dispatching more than 600 Soldiers and Airmen on state active duty to areas ravaged by the storm.[3] The Guardsmen patrolled the interstates rescuing motorists from Atlanta to the Tennessee border. Operating out of armories that also served as warming shelters, more than 100 Guard vehicles navigated the treacherous roadways, impassable to ambulances, to respond to medical emergencies.[4] Aviators of the Georgia Army National Guard patrolled the skies to scout ahead of ground vehicles. Helicopters were also dispatched to search for stranded hikers and campers in the North Georgia mountains.

A jack-knifed tractor trailer provides mute witness to the treacherous driving conditions on Interstate 75 north of Atlanta following a winter storm
March 13, 1993. Photo by 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

Logisticians of the Georgia National Guard contributed the effort delivering relief supplies such as food, blankets and medical supplies to remote Georgia communities. Engineers labored to clear downed trees from roadways and erected utility poles to replace those shattered by the storm.[5]

Rescued motorists take shelter at Georgia National Guard
Armories. Photo by 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

Across the state, Guardsmen, operating in small teams, scoured the roadways rendering aid. Soldiers of the Cartersville-based Company H, 122nd Long Range Surveillance Unit rescued a family trapped on Highway 41.

“We were taken back to the armory and treated very, very well and ended up helping out by manning the phones and dispatching the National Guard as they went to rescue more people,” wrote Chuck Harris of Rossville in a letter to the Atlanta Constitution.[6]

The Georgia National Guardsmen who took to the roads were equipped with high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles. The HMMWV was a relatively new addition to the Georgia National Guard having been first fielded by the 122nd TOW Light Anti-Tank Unit in 1986. Guardsmen of the Rome-based Company A, 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment busily employed their new vehicles rescuing a mother and her day-old infant that had been born at home. Another vehicle crew of Company A reached a woman who was going into labor and made a six-hour drive to get her to a hospital for delivery.

Staff Sergeants Ken Carter and Austin Harper reported to the Atlanta armory of the 190th Military Police Battalion and mobilized to Dalton. It took the Soldiers 16 hours to reach the city during which time the pair rendered aid to motorists stranded in more than 40 vehicles. Finding an injured man in one of the vehicles, the Soldiers delivered him to the hospital. Reaching Dalton, Carter and Harper received the mission to deliver power company employees to the top of Dug Gap Mountain overlooking Dalton to repair powerlines toppled by snow and fallen trees.[7]  

Major General William Bland, Georgia’s Adjutant General observes as a Georgia National Guard CH-47 helicopter prepares to deliver a utility pole
to restore power after a winter storm downed powerlines across north Georgia March 13, 1993. Photo by 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

Jeff and Marie Withrow, an elderly couple from Kentucky were travelling home from a Florida vacation when they were stranded on I-75 north of Atlanta. The couple spent two days trapped in their car with only a blanket for warmth. They were discovered by Pfc. Roy Green and Spc. Frank Aaron of the Marietta-based 265th Engineer Group who were on their tenth hour of patrolling Interstate 75. The Soldiers transported the Withrows to the Calhoun armory of the 108th Armor Regiment where they received food and took shelter in the armory with other stranded motorists.

“They were a Godsend,” said Marie Withrow. “They saw how weak and sick I was. They picked me up and carried me inside and gave me a bowl of hot soup. Those boys were wonderful.”[8]

As they had in previous winter storm responses, Georgia Air National Guardsmen delivered emergency power generators. Transported from units in southeast Georgia, the generators provided power for hospitals and nursing homes.[9]

Georgia National Guard Soldiers and Red Cross volunteers unload relief supplies from a UH-1 helicopter following a winter storm that struck
Georgia March 13, 1993. Photo by 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

For their actions during the winter storm response, three Georgia National Guard Soldiers were awarded the Medal of Valor by Governor Zell Miller. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rafael Caraballo and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jerry Perry of the Dobbins-based Rapid Air Interdiction Detachment were cited for rescuing 27 stranded people and delivering them to medical facilities. In the course of these rescues, the Soldiers were compelled to land their helicopter on snow-swept mountains and hike through waste deep snow to rescue hikers, with Perry walking over two miles to reach two victims at a hiking shelter. Additionally, Sgt. Myron McElrath of the 265th Engineer Group was recognized for rendering first aid to a stranded motorist who was undergoing a seizure, stabilizing him, and transporting the victim to a medical facility.[10]

Major General William Bland, Georgia’s Adjutant General (right) is briefed on emergency response operations at the Calhoun armory of the
108th Armor Regiment March 14, 1993. Photo by 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

 

Looking back at the tireless effort of nearly 20 Georgia National Guard units across the state, Maj. Gen. William Bland, Georgia’s Adjutant General credited the training and dedication of Georgia’s Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen and lauded the capability of the HMMWV which had demonstrated its capability in its first large-scale emergency response operation.

“We had a built-in fleet of vehicles that could go literally anywhere,” said Bland. “There’s no telling how many lives were saved.”[11]

 

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[1] Mike Morris, “21 years ago, Atlanta slammed by rare blizzard,” The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, March 13, 2013, https://www.ajc.com/news/local/years-ago-atlanta-slammed-rare-blizzard/o73EFo56ljUslA8zfawsbL/

 

[2] Associated Press, “Blizzard cripples north, central Ga., The Macon Telegraph, March 14, 1993, 10.

 

[3] Georgia Department of Defense, Department of Defense Annual Report Fiscal Year 1993, (Atlanta: Georgia National Guard, 1994), 14.

 

[4] Scott Marshall, “Blizzard leaves 6 dead in Georgia,” Atlanta Constitution, March 15, 1993, 1.

 

[5] Georgia Department of Defense, Department of Defense Annual Report Fiscal Year 1993, (Atlanta: Georgia National Guard, 1994), 15.

[6] Chuck Rossville, letter, Atlanta Journal Constitution, March 20, 1993, E11.

 

[7] “The Hummer: Vehicle proves its worth; saves lives in storm.” Georgia Guardsman, June 1993, 7.

[8] “Guardsmen save stranded motorists,” Georgia Guardsman, June 1993, 7.

 

[9] “Georgia guard ready for blizzard,” The Georgia Guardsman, June 1993, 7.

 

[10] “Governor awards Guardsmen with Medal of Valor,” Georgia Guardsman, September 1993, 7.

 

[11] “The Hummer: Vehicle proves its worth; saves lives in storm.” Georgia Guardsman, June 1993, 7.

Georgia National Guard's Georgia Military Institute Explores Military History Through Staff Ride

 By Maj. William Carraway, Historian, Georgia National Guard

Collage: The Georgia Military Institute shoulder Sleeve Insignia of Class 1 and officer candidates of Class 62.

Officer candidates of the Georgia Army National Guard’s Georgia Military Institute conducted a staff ride March 3, 2023 at the Atlanta History Center. The staff ride is part of the long tradition of military history education in the GMI leadership curriculum.

Officer Candidates of GMI Class 62 conduct a sand table brief on the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain January 7, 2023 in preparation for the March
staff ride in Atlanta. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

For two months prior to the staff ride, the officer candidates researched the Atlanta Campaign and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Assuming the roles of staff and commanders for the Federal and Confederate forces, the candidates conducted sand table briefs covering operational and terrain considerations and evaluating courses of actions for commanders on both sides of the conflict. Major William Carraway, Historian of the Georgia National Guard and graduate of GMI Class 46, presided over the briefings linking the events with the principles of war and modern military tactics. These principles and tactics will be the focus of training for the officer candidates as they begin phase three of training in the field in April.

 

Drew Hathaway recounts the evolution of military history training at GMI. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

Retired Captain Drew Hathaway opened the staff ride at the Atlanta History Center with an overview of the evolution of military history education at GMI over the years. A graduate of GMI Class 49, Hathaway was part of the first class to train fully at the Clay National Guard Center after GMI relocated there from Macon.

 

Historian Michael Hitt covers the antebellum to Civil War history of the Georgia Military Institute. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

Historian Michael Hitt, dressed in the antebellum uniform of a GMI instructor, addressed the officer candidates on the history of GMI beginning with the first period which ran from the opening of the institute in 1851 through the destruction of the campus in 1864 and the surrender of the cadet battalion in 1865. Hitt next recalled the brief period beginning in 1891 when GMI was resurrected with campus buildings in Atlanta. This heretofore little known period of GMI history had not appeared in printed history of the institute and represents an emerging field of study for the history of the Georgia National Guard.  Ultimately, the second iteration of GMI ended in 1898 with the auction of campus buildings and land which would form part of the Woodward Academy in College Park. 

This building served as part of the Georgia Military Institute in Atlanta from 1891-1898. Photo by Maj. William Carraway. 

While the campus might have closed, the legacy of this iteration of GMI continued forward as graduates served during the Spanish American War, on the Mexican Border in 1916 and through World War I.

 

Doctor Gordon Jones, senior military historian of the Atlanta History Center provides officer candidates of GMI Class 62 with a close view of
artifacts relevant to the institute’s history. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

Doctor Gordon Jones, senior military historian of the Atlanta History Center provided the officer candidates with a close view of artifacts relevant to the institute’s history. The candidates viewed Cadet John M. Hazlehurst cadet uniform worn while attending the Georgia Military Institute as well as his field jacket from his service in the Cadet Battalion from 1864-1865. Additionally, Dr. Jones and Michael Hitt demonstrated civil war weapons used by and against the Cadet Battalion during their service in the American Civil War. Among these weapons was the Spencer Repeating Rifle which was employed by the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry against the Cadet Battalion in skirmishes before the Battle of Resaca in May 1864.

 

Officer Candidates of GMI Class 1 March in formation at their armory in Forsyth in 1961. Georgia National Guard Archives.

While the staff ride was rich in military history and lessons of prior conflicts, the officer candidates were also immersed in the history of the Georgia Military Institute. The current GMI was authorized in 1961 by Governor Ernest Vandiver and was based in Forsyth, the present location of Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment. In October 1967, GMI relocated to Milledgeville and occupied the Carl Vinson Training Center. It would remain in Milledgeville until February 1985 when the institute relocated to Macon. From its Macon location, GMI conducted field training in wooded terrain in nearby Griswoldville. The institute moved to its present location in 2009 where GMI Class 48 became the first class to graduate at the Clay National Guard Center.

 

This collage represents 24 years of GMI history. Top left: Class 23 conducts PT in Milledgeville. Top Right: Class 29 rappelling. 
Bottom left: Class 46 conducts field training at Griswoldville. Bottom right: GMI in Macon in 2007. 

Since GMI Class 1 graduated in 1962, the institute has commissioned 1,217 second lieutenants in the Georgia Army National Guard. These officers have served in all of America’s wars beginning with Vietnam and continuing through ongoing conflicts overseas. Georgia Military Institute graduates were part of the 48th Infantry Brigade’s deployment to Bosnia Herzegovina and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. From Class 1 to the present class 62, GMI graduates have risen to the highest ranks of the Georgia National Guard including the office of adjutant general while others have gone on to joint commands in the U.S. Army as general officers.

The Georgia Military Institute is assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 122nd Regional Training Institute commanded by Lt. Col. Jeff Freeman, GMI Class 32. The 122nd RTI is commanded by Col. Theodore Scott, GMI Class 36. The Georgia Military Institute’s senior instructor is Capt. Joshua Merry, GMI, Class 55.