LTC Robert R. Russell Jr, PMS Battalion Commander

Lieutenant Colonel Russell graduated from the University of Florida in 1988 with a Bachelors Degree in History.  He earned his Masters Degree in Education from Nova Southeastern University in 2005.  Lieutenant Colonel Russell began his Army career in 1983 as a Private in the Signal Corps in the Army Reserve, then transferred to the Florida Army National Guard and served in the Corps of Engineers.  After joining ROTC at the University of Florida, Lieutenant Colonel Russell became a Simultaneous Membership Cadet and served as the Operations Officer, Medical Service Corps, for a Field Clearing Hospital in the National Guard.  He was commissioned into the Field Artillery where he was stationed in Nuremburg Germany and served as a Fire Support Officer for the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, and as the Battalion Special Weapons Officer.  Following the units deactivation after Operation Desert Storm, Lieutenant Colonel Russell was assigned to 6th Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment (Multiple Launch Rocket System), 8th Infantry Division where he served as a Battery Executive Officer.  Upon completion of the Field Artillery Officers Advanced Course, Lieutenant Colonel Russell was re-assigned to the Transportation Corps and assigned to Fort Bragg where he deployed with the 1st Corps Support Command, 18th Airborne Corps to Mogadishu Somalia.  Lieutenant Colonel Russell completed his second command while assigned to the Corps and was transferred to the Montgomery Recruiting Battalion to command the Gulf Coast Recruiting Company.  Following this assignment, he was re-assigned to Holland to command the Port Movement Control Team in Rotterdam where he supported Operation Joint Endeavor from locations in Northern Europe and Bosnia-Herzegovina and Operation Joint Guardian from locations in Greece, Macedonia, and Kosovo.  Lieutenant Colonel Russell was then assigned to Kaiserslautern Germany to be a Battalion Operations Officer (S-2/3), and Heidelberg Germany where he served as the Transportation Plans Officer for the United States Army Europe Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics.  Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, Lieutenant Colonel Russell deployed as the Battalion Executive Officer for the 831st Transportation Battalion in December of that year where he supported OEF/OIF in the Persian Gulf Region for 30 months.  After re-deploying in July of 2004, Lieutenant Colonel Russell was assigned to the U.S. Army Transportation School at Fort Eustis Virginia, where he developed training to prepare Transportation Warrant Officers, Lieutenants, and Captains for deployment.  While at Fort Eustis, he was re-assigned to be the Deputy Commanding Officer for the 7th Sustainment Brigade.  After serving in that position for a year, Lieutenant Colonel Russell was assigned the task of developing an exercise for deploying Reserve and National Guard Logistics units used by 1st Army to certify units as ready to deploy.  In June of 2007, Lieutenant Colonel Russell was selected to serve as the Professor of Military Science for Auburn University at Montgomery and its partnership schools of Alabama State University, Faulkner University, Huntingdon College, Troy University, and Troy University at Montgomery.  

Lieutenant Colonel Russell’s personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (Six awards), Army Commendation Medal (Five awards), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Second award), Overseas Service Medal (Five awards), The United Nations Service Medal for Somalia, and both the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals and is Airborne qualified.