BENTONVILLE -- Troy Galloway can't remember when he decided to make his military involvement into a career.
"Fortunately, I kept having opportunities," said Galloway, who is 31 years into his service with the Army National Guard. "A lot of that is good luck, a lot of that is being in the right place at the right time, but the majority of that is being surrounded by very professional, very capable people my entire career."
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Galloway recently was promoted to brigadier general and became a deputy commanding general at the Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kan. A ceremony was held Saturday for him at the Northwest Arkansas Armed Forces Reserve Center.
He's also the community and economic development director for Bentonville.
Galloway enlisted in the Missouri Army National Guard when he was 18. He was going to be an enlistee "who did his time, got his school money and went to the house."
He completed the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Missouri State University and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1990. He became a part of the Arkansas Army National Guard in 1991 and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 142nd Field Artillery. He was assigned the 142nd Field Artillery Brigade's operations officer in 2005.
Galloway was next assigned as the 142nd Field Artillery Brigade's deputy commander and served during the unit's deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from March 2007 to March 2008.
Galloway was assigned in June 2008 as commander of the brigade's 2nd Battalion. In May 2010, he attended Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
He graduated in June 2011, then commanded the 142nd from June 2011 to June 2014. In May 2015, Galloway was assigned as the commander at Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center.
In his new position, he'll transition from operational force to force development and policy development, he said.
"It really is the connective tissue between the National Guard and the active component," he said.
There's a push across the country to make the Army's active duty component, the National Guard and Reserve more cohesive, Galloway said. He said one of his responsibilities will be to make sure National Guard units get the same training and educational opportunities as the active duty Army.
His position will require travel, likely at least once a month, and includes four or five annual trips to the nation's capital. Galloway said the support of his community, employer and family has made his military career possible.
The structure of the military reserve component is such that it's a cross section of society where part-time soldiers also serve full time in other capacities, said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers. Womack retired from the Arkansas Army National Guard in 2009 after more than 30 years.
"It brings about its own complications or hardships in that two very important institutions compete for the services of one individual," he said.
"If our military is going to be well-served by its reserve component, we have to recruit and retain the very best quality of people in our civilian sector to do this on a part-time basis, and Troy is one of those unique individuals who has been very accomplished in doing that."
Galloway's military experience has exposed him to leadership and problem-solving training he wouldn't otherwise have had, which he's then able to use in his position as the city's community and economic development director, said Mayor Bob McCaslin.
It's an honor for Galloway and Bentonville to have one of its own promoted to general officer as the military has a strict vetting process prior to promoting someone to this level, he said.
"It's nice to have a general reporting to me," McCaslin said with a laugh.
NW News on 05/01/2016