Photo By Joseph Siemandel | Col. Roger Wold give his remarks during the 205th Regional Training Institute’s...... read more read more
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Roger Wold had a lifelong dream – he wanted to join the military. So while attending Washington State University in 1985 he joined the U.S. Army Reserve. If first impressions speak the loudest, he’s relieved he had a second chance.
“I remember standing there, long hair down past my shoulders and the sergeant in the room probably thought to herself, who is this guy and why is he here,” said Col. (Ret) Roger Wold. “I think she was surprised when I returned from basic training and advance individual training that I made it.”
That second impression must have spoken volumes.
“She was surprised then,” Wold said. “But three years later I was surprised when she agreed to marry me.”
After a career that spanned 36 years, Wold retired during a ceremony on March 6, 2021 at the Information Operations Readiness Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. While it may not have been the retirement he envisioned when he first started thinking about it, it was still special none the less.
“I remember after I left battalion command in 2015 that I thought it was time to hang it up,” said Wold. “Kitty was the driving force to keeping me in, saying that I had more to give.”
While Wold, a field artillery officer, admits to being hard of hearing after so many years of shooting off rounds in Yakima, he admits he heard her loud and clear that day.
“I think she just enjoyed me being gone during drill and annual training so she could get stuff done,” said Wold. “I promised her that I won’t mow the lawn any time before 8:30 on the weekends.”
In what Wold called a career of building memories and strong relationships, he talks most fondly about the chance to deploy in 2011 with 1st Battalion, 168th General Support Aviation as a personnel officer for now Brig. Gen. Dan Dent, the commanding general of the Washington Army National Guard.
“When I asked then Lt. Col. Dent if this old artillery red leg could join him on the mobilization, he was more than happy to take me along,” said Wold. “I think it will be one of my fondest memories, the time I had with some of the most professional and best people I have ever known.”
After returning from that deployment, Wold took command of the 81st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, which saw success in his tenure with their unmanned aerial system platoon.
“When I came in we were down at the bottom in flight hours for our shadows, but I have to give credit to my staff and Chief Kerr with the platoon. If not for their work we wouldn’t have climbed from the bottom five to the top five in the country,” said Wold.
Equally impressive was Wold’s work with the 205th Regional Training Institute.
“When Roger took over the command of the 205th, it was in a bad spot. The state was on the verge of losing the force structure and had to make some changes,” said Dent during the ceremony. “Not only did he change the narrative of the 205th, in just a few years he built it stronger than ever and now will teach the Stryker Leaders Course.”
Wold credits the soldiers around him for their work, taking no credit himself.
“I have been a product of great leaders investing in me, working for people like Maj. Gen. Daugherty, Brig. Gen Dent, Brig. Gen. Grenon and Col. Weitzel,” said Wold. “I have also been blessed with a great staff around me every step of the way.”
| Date Taken: | 03.12.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.12.2021 19:07 |
| Story ID: | 391333 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 203 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Building Memories: Washington National Guard Colonel retires after 36 years, by Joseph Siemandel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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