General Griffin: Community and Guard honored
Brigadier General Ralph R. (Ronnie) Griffin has retired as deputy adjutant general of the North Carolina National Guard.
Ceremonies were held last weekend at the National Guard Center in Raleigh.
In civilian life, General Griffin is president of Griffin Auto Sales in Goldsboro. His wife, Annalee, runs the North Carolina automobile license plate agency here.
Much of Griffin’s adult life has been spent pursuing a military career as a full-time as well as a citizen soldier.
He began as an enlisted man in the Marine Corps, serving two combat tours in the 1960s. Griffin took part in the joint U.S. operations that put down the revolution in the Dominican Republic and then went to Vietnam to serve a combat tour there.
He subsequently received a commission in the North Carolina National Guard. Called to active duty during the first Gulf War, Griffin served in Saudi Arabia and Iraq as operations officer of the 46th Corps Support Group of the XVIII Airborne Corps.
A graduate of the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College, he was promoted to brigadier general in October of 2002 after serving with distinction in numerous command positions.
He probably is among the most decorated individuals in the National Guard. His dress uniform tunic is festooned with 27 ribbons and numerous oak leaf clusters presented in lieu of second and third medals of the same kind. Among them are the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters,) Army Commendation Medal (with two oak leaf clusters) and the Army Achievement Medal.
He was inducted into the North Carolina Military Hall of Fame in 1999 and was presented with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by former Gov. Jim Hunt.
Ronnie Griffin has had a truly outstanding career in the service of his state and his country. He has earned the high honors that have been bestowed upon him and the units under his command. General Griffin can take great pride in his military record. And his home community shares that pride.
Published in Editorials on May 6, 2005 10:23 AM