Ronald L. Gott Commander 2019-2020 Department of Oklahoma

Ronald L. Gott Elected Commander of The Oklahoma Department of the American Legion on July 21, 2019

Commander Gott was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana on January 12, 1949, and raised in the city of Lebanon, Indiana.  The Commander enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 17 March 1967 at age 17.  After graduation from Lebanon Senior High School in May of 1967 he reported to recruit training at MCRD, San Diego. Upon completion of recruit training he was transferred to MATSG, Millington, Tennessee for MOS training and subsequently transferred to MCAS Cherry Point North Carolina for further training.

During August of 1967 he was assigned to Marine Squadron VMA (AW) 225, Cherry Point MCAS as an Aviation Power Plant Mechanic. During the next twenty-four months Commander Gott filled various billets within the Aircraft Engine community. 

In November 1969 Gott executed PCS orders to Marine Air Group 11, Da Nang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam where he served as a Crew Chief on the All-Weather Attack Fighter A6A Intruder.  The Commander served in many different billets during his tour to include escort patrol duty for medical personnel to the surrounding villages of Da Nang.  CSM Gott received a meritorious promotion to CPL during this tour.  

Upon return to conus in May 1970 he was directed to MCAS El Toro, Calif., the Commander remained at El Toro until his discharge from active duty on 18 June 1971.

In February 1976 he enlisted into the Oklahoma Army National Guard serving as a Motor Transport Operations Sergeant with the 700 Support Battalion.  The Commander was discharged from the 700 Support Battalion in February1978.

In February 1978 the Commander enlisted into the United States Air Force Reserves (USAFR) 507th Tactical Fighter Squadron, serving as a F-105 Fighter A/C Crew Chief. Commander Gott remained with the 507th until January 1980 at which time he separated from the USAFR.

In May 1985 he again enlisted, this time into the 120th Combat Heavy Engineer Battalion where he assumed duties as a General Construction Squad Leader in “C” Company. The Commander served in this capacity until he was promoted to Platoon Sergeant in July of 1987.

In September 1989 after completion of Advanced Non-Commissioned Officer Course (ANCOC) he was promoted to First Sergeant. The Commander served as the “C” Company First Sergeant until April 1994. 

In April 1994 the Commander was ordered to Headquarters Support Company (HSC) assuming the billet of HSC First Sergeant. 

In February 1997, upon graduation from the United States Army Sergeant Majors Academy he was appointed to Command Sergeant Major (CSM) for 120th Engineer Battalion.

In February 2004 the Commander again executed PCS orders to Al Taquaddum Iraq where he served as the 120th Engineer Combat Heavy Battalions Command Sergeant Major.  His Companies of which he visited on and off for the one-year tour were located in Fallujah, Ramadi, Al Assad, and Taquaddum along with an outpost in Camp Wolf.

In February 2005 the Commander along with his Battalion returned to CONUS ending their one-year tour of duty in Iraq.

The Commander remained as the 120th Command Sergeant Major until the 23rd day of June 2006 upon where he retired from military service during a change of command ceremony held at Camp Gruber Oklahoma.

Commander Gott has attended numerous military schools and training programs to include Mechanical Fundamentals, Aviation Machinist Mate (Jet) CIA, A6A Power Plants and Related Systems, Rotor Craft Accident Investigation (FAA), Jet Engine Mishap Investigation (FAA), Aircraft Accident Investigation (FAA), Aircraft Egress Systems, Aircraft Fuel Systems, Hydraulic/Pneumatic Pressure Supply and Related Systems, Aircraft Maintenance Technician, Air Force Technical Order Acquisition & Management, Introduction to Acquisition Management, Test and Evaluation Management, Principals of Acquisition Management, Quality Participation Evaluation, General Engineer Basic, Introduction to Technical Management, ANCOC-RC, MACA PL Course, USAIPD, General Engineer Reference Course, United States Army Sergeants Major Course, Reliability Centered Maintenance Analysis

The Commander holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University.  The Degree is in Aviation Management with a Minor Degree in Safety.  He has also attended the American Legion College graduating in 2016.

His awards and decorations include, Legion of Merit - Meritorious Service Medal - 3rd Award, Army Commendation Medal - 2nd Award, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal - 3rd Award, Vietnam Service Medal - 3rd Award, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal w/60 Device, Good Conduct Medal – Marine Corps, Good Conduct Medal – Air Force, Oklahoma Good Conduct Ribbon – 15th award, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon – numeral 2, Army Service Ribbon, NCO Ribbon – numeral 4, Air Force Longevity Service Award (Ribbon), Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Armed Reserve Component Achievement Medal – 5th award, Oklahoma State Active Duty Ribbon – numeral 2, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Combat Action Badge.

In his civilian career the Commander retired from Tinker AFB in September 2005 after 34 years of dedicated service.  He served as the Propulsion Program Manager for the F110-GE-100 engine that powers the USAF F-16 Falcon. 

He has further served as the acting Commander for the Okemah Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 3737, Commander and Adjunct for American Legion Post 0123, American Legion District 4A Commander, Department Vice-Commander East, the Department Senior Vice Commander, and today as the Department of Oklahoma Commander. Gott has also served on the National Law and Order & Homeland Security Committee and is serving today on the National Veterans Employment and Education Committee.

The Commander is married to the former Carolyn Joan Hynson from Duncan, Oklahoma; they have one son (Doug), one daughter (Jennifer), and two granddaughters (Kaycee J.) & (Annsley Jo) and two grandsons (Colten Michael) & (Gage Cannon)

Ron Gott, Department Commander Goals and Objectives

Hello everybody. This has been a long and eventful journey for all. Being your Commander is going to be one of the best positions I will ever have held. I promise you, as your voice and spokesperson, I will NOT let you down. You elected me for this great position, and I will serve you proudly. We must make some changes to keep this great organization moving forward and to continue doing what we do best for the next 100 years.

As we say every year, membership is what keeps us going. With over 300 hundred thousand veterans in the State of Oklahoma, we need to be more visible within our communities as our preamble states. We need to find a better way to get our younger veterans and the families more involved in our organization.  In order to accomplish this our chain of command needs to be actively engaged throughout our State.  Both Vice Commander East and West need to engage each of their respective District Commanders to move us forward.  Each of our District Commander need to implement membership teams within their Districts as well as down within each Post.  Our Legion existence depends on this type of interaction.    We all need to work as a team to start helping those Posts that have struggled to meet membership goals in the past three years and assist them one on one with membership.

Thinking outside the box and most of all having fun will lead us to success. Communication is very important for us to succeed in making 2019-2020 a successful year.  I know that the majority of our communities have fall and spring community events, there are county fairs, sporting events, these are where we need to be interacting with our communities.  Our schools are also another very important venue for us to mentor our kids on Patriotism/Americanism, we need to get involved.

I want everyone to HAVE FUN this year. I believe by having fun the membership will increase the way we want it to. For those who hold a Department level position (Chairman, Area or District), and for any reason feel that they can no longer perform their duties, it is not a dishonor to step down and take a break. As we all know, these positions can be very demanding. We have all volunteered to do a job and we owe it to the veterans in Oklahoma to ensure it is done correctly. Veterans serving veterans.

Again, thank you all. I promise to make you proud as I’m representing YOU, “The Great Oklahoma Family”.

Ronald L. (Ron) Gott
Commander
American Legion Department of Oklahoma

Service – Honor – Sacrifice