RICHMOND, Va. – Command Sgt. Maj. Dempsey O. Whitt was selected to serve as the new 329th Regional Support Group command sergeant major, according to an announcement made Jan. 1, 2019, by Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia. Whitt succeeds Command Sgt. Maj. E. Tim Miller, who retired Dec. 7, 2018, after 30 years of service to the Virginia National Guard.
Whitt currently serves as the command sergeant major for Fort Bragg’s Warrior Transition Battalion, and will continue to serve in this capacity until June 2019.
“I have complete confidence and trust that Command Sgt. Maj. Whitt will pick up the leadership mantle and carry it forward, building on the foundation of excellence that has been laid by Command Sgt. Maj. Miller,” said Col. Doyle Gillis, Jr., commander of the 329th RSG.
When asked about his vision for the 329th and where he anticipates the focus of his attention, he responded with ‘readiness.’ Whitt stated that the 329th RSG must be prepared, on short notice, to mobilize and deploy.
“We must increase personnel readiness,” Whitt stated. “To do so, we must focus on each Soldiers individual training, their equipment, and their medical readiness. It’s incumbent upon us as leaders to ensure we are doing what we need to do to meet these needs. The battlefield we are preparing for now, is different than the one we have become accustomed to.”
When asked if there is anything he wants the Soldiers of the 329th RSG to know right away, he did not hesitate to state that he is encouraging Soldiers to ensure they are preparing for the Army Combat Fitness Test.
“The ACFT is upon us,” Whitt state. “It is a test we are going to take and there is no fighting this. We must get ready. This is the Army test of record starting October 2020. We as leaders have to ensure we are doing whatever we can to help our guardsmen be successful.”
When asked specifically about how to prepare and how to be successful, Whitt stated that Soldiers do not need the ACFT equipment to prepare. He is requesting that Soldiers train now by doing high interval, functional fitness condition and strength training. He also encouraged Soldiers to continue running, as the ACFT concludes with a 2-mile run, the sixth event that measures aerobic endurance. He also stated that he took the ACFT on Jan. 30, 2019, and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command team that administered the fitness test explained why and how each event is related to combat.
Although Whitt calls Richmond home, he is originally from western Virginia. He is married to his high school sweetheart of 35 years, they have two adult children, and are proud to call themselves grandparents to two grandchildren.
Whitt has a total of 28 years in the Army, 22 of those years as a member of the Virginia National Guard. Whitt served on active duty for six years as a multiple launch rocket systems crewmember and then enlisted in the Virginia Army National Guard after a six-year break in service.
Upon enlistment into the Virginia National Guard, he was awarded the military skill identifier as a combat medic as he was a nationally-registered paramedic.
Whitt has served in most every leadership position during his career up to command sergeant major. His previous assignments include 29th Infantry Division, Regional Police Advisory Command, Medical Command, 34th Civil Support Team, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 21st Field Artillery, and 76th Field Artillery.
Whitt’s military and civilian education includes all levels of the noncommissioned officer education system and the Army’s Sergeants Major Academy. Whitt is a graduate of the first sergeant course, civil support team course, chemistry of hazardous material course, hazardous materials specialist course and retention course. Whitt is a graduate of the Alexandria Regional Technical College with a certification in Paramedic Studies. Additionally, Whitt has completed 101 credit hours toward his bachelor’s degree from Liberty University.