After 45 Years, Florida National Guardsman Retires

Retiring Guard general sees lean times ahead for Florida units 
Distinguished units
St. Augustine News
By Clifford Davis
February 14, 2015

Master Sgt. Thomas Kielbasa
Adjutant General of Florida Maj. Gen. Emmett Titshaw Jr. prepares for his final ride in an F-15 Eagle at the 125th Fighter Wing in Jacksonville, Fla., Jan. 29, 2015. The 45-minute flight in the back seat of the Florida Air National Guard's tactical jet ended more than four decades in the air for Titshaw, who has been flying military and commercial aircraft since the early '70s. He will retire in March. (Photo by Master Sgt. Thomas Kielbasa)

The U.S. Army faces tough times.

With the end of operations in Iraq and the shrinking number of combat soldiers in Afghanistan, the Army and Army National Guard see increasingly sharp cuts in soldiers and funding.

To Maj. Gen. Emmett Titshaw, however, this is nothing new.

“I’ve read this book twice already,” he said speaking of the drawdowns after Vietnam and again at the end of the Cold War. “The difference is, this time the threats are still out there.”

In the twilight of a 45-year military career, Titshaw sat at a table in his office at St. Francis Barracks in St. Augustine and shared his thoughts on the future of the citizen soldier.

The Jacksonville native, Ribault alum and former fighter pilot joined the Florida Air National Guard in 1970 and steps down as the state’s adjutant general next month.

The cuts would be salt in the wound to Florida’s National Guard, which, in spite of being among the most disaster-prone states in the country, ranks 53rd out of 54 (50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia) in Guardsman-to-civilian ratio.

“There are a lot of threats possible to Florida: We have three combatant commands, nuclear power plants, a huge tourist industry centered in Orlando,” he said. “If a terrorist wants to do something to make a statement, where are they going to do it?
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