Roy Hoggatt of Richland was recently promoted from the rank of master sergeant to first sergeant in the Missouri Army National Guard.
Hoggatt has been with the Missouri National Guard for 23 years with three years in the Army Reserve. He is a chief instructor over the 2nd Battalion, 140th Regional Training Institute’s military police and transportation military occupational specialty courses on post. During the week in his active duty operational support role, Hoggatt is the noncommissioned officer in charge of the mobilization assistance team for the Institute’s Training and Evaluation Battalion on post.
“It’s a new challenge,” Hoggatt said of the promotion. “Being a first sergeant, you look at more personnel management more so than mission accomplishment.
“I’m fortunate being with the Regional Training Institute that I have a great command staff as well as an excellent group of soldiers and instructors assigned to the Regional Training Institute, so I expect my job to be very easy. The position is about ensuring the noncommissioned officers and soldiers have whatever they need to make them successful and have every opportunity to succeed that I can provide them.”
The promotion is both an accomplishment for Hoggatt and his unit.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve as a first sergeant,” he said. “It’ the first time the Regional Training Institute has had a designated first sergeant position. It’s a new opportunity for not only me, but for the unit to have a first sergeant and a Headquarters and Headquarters Company commander.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Tommy Brown, the institute’s regimental sergeant major, said Hoggatt possesses all the qualities of a senior noncommissioned officer.
“I got to know 1st Sgt. Hoggatt when he returned from Iraq,” Brown said. “He impressed me at once as a true soldier who believes in our country and loves the Guard. He has been the most versatile member of the unit through our recent reorganization. He has served the Regional Training Institute as the basic noncommissioned officer course branch chief, quality assurance noncommissioned officer and the military police/transportation corps branch chief. He has always made himself available to go anywhere on a moments notice to fill in or take up slack where it was needed. I see him as sort of a Jack-of-all-trades. He sets the example.”
Hoggatt earned the promotion through dedication and skill, said Lt. Col. North Charles, the institute’s commander.
“Selection as a first sergeant is among the most important assignments for any soldier,” Charles said. “First Sgt. Hoggatt brings years of experience and knowledge to this very important position.”
Capt. Greg Roman, the Institute’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company commander, agreed.
“Achieving the rank of first sergeant in the United States Army defines success for the noncommissioned officer, and to 1st Sgt. Hoggatt, I extend my congratulations for a job well done,” Roman said.
A 1980 graduate of Houston High School, Hoggatt earned a degree from Central Texas College in 1989 and another from Sterling (Kan.) College in 1991. He is a former officer at the Houston Police Department.
Hoggatt is supported in his military career by his fiance, Jennifer Hershberger, and a daughter, Tracey, of Houston.