Brigadier General Gentry was appointed by the Adjutant General of Georgia in August of 2019 as an Assistant Adjutant General for the Georgia National Guard. He is responsible for Soldier and equipment readiness of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 78th Troop Command headquartered at Clay National Guard Center in Marietta, Georgia.
Brigadier General Gentry’s military career began when he commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery in July 1991, through the Reserve Officers Training Corps at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Presbyterian College and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Brigadier General Gentry’s additional military education includes the Joint and Combined Warfighting School, Command and General Staff College, Combined Arms Service Staff School, and Field Artillery Officer Basic and Advanced Courses.
His first assignment was as a Company Fire Support Officer in the 1st Battalion, 178th Field Artillery in the South Carolina Army National Guard. Upon transferring to the Georgia Army National Guard, COL Gentry served in multiple assignments as an artillery officer to include Fire Support Officer in the 122nd Rear Operations Center; Operations Officer in the 1-118th Field Artillery Regiment, and Brigade Fire Support Officer in Headquarters, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
Brigadier General Gentry previously served as Chief of Joint Staff, Georgia National Guard with prior command assignments including Brigade Commander at the 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Battalion Commander at 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment and Firing Battery Commander at 1st Battalion 214th Field Artillery.
Brigadier Gentry’s deployed assignments include 122d Rear Area Operations Center Effects Coordinator for Multi-National Force North West in Mosul, Iraq and Multi-National Division-Baghdad’s Task Force Thunderbolt, Iraq; 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Fire Support Officer with duty assignments as Information Operations Coordinator for Task Force Phoenix IX and Current Operations Officer for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command’s Afghanistan Development Assistance Bureau, Afghanistan.
COL Gentry's awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal w/bronze star, Afghanistan Campaign Medal w/campaign star, Iraq Campaign Medal w/campaign star, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, NATO Medal, and the Parachutist Badge.
COL Gentry works contractually as a civilian consultant in the Parks and Recreation Profession and previously served as the Gwinnett County Director of Parks and Recreation in Lawrenceville, Georgia and Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department in Watkinsville, Georgia.
He is married to the former Katherine Pope of Washington, Georgia. They have two children, Anna, age 20 and Caroline, age 17.