Ret. Col. Joel Rountree

Retired Colonel Joel Rountree spoke about veterans and  American History during the 11:00am worship service at Ascension Lutheran Church on Veterans Day, Sunday, November 11th. Following his presentation, veterans in the congregation shared memories of their time in military service. Colonel Rountree was commissioned through the Davidson College ROTC program and served on active duty as a field  artillery officer with the 18th Airborne Corps, and later joined  the North Carolina National Guard. He was a Crisis Action Team Chief in the Army Operations Center from December, 2002 to June, 2004 and briefed General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff of the Army, on the night that Operations Iraqi Freedom began (19 March 2003). Later he worked for then Major General Pete Chiarelli who went on to become the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army.;  was the Fires/Targeting Officer for   Standing Joint Force Headquarters at Joint Forces Command from September, 2005 to December 2007;  and  commanded the North Carolina Military Academy at Fort Bragg from December, 1999 to February, 2003. Colonel Rountree  is  active  in Shelby American Legion  Post  82  and  works with American Legion World Series Committee.