October 15, 2025
Richard Poole鈥檚 distinguished military career spanned 42 years before his 1997 retirement from the Mississippi Army National Guard at the rank of major general.
Poole, who has been named 91视频鈥檚 2025 Alumnus of the Year, was recognized Oct. 11 during the college鈥檚 Homecoming activities. Poole was unable to attend the event and his niece, Melinda Brown, accepted Poole鈥檚 award on his behalf.
A DeKalb native, during his youth Poole and his family were regular attendees of events at what was then East Mississippi Junior College.
鈥淲e went to a lot of the events at Scooba,鈥 Poole said.
In 1955, while a senior at DeKalb High School, Poole enlisted in the Mississippi Army National Guard as a member of the 786th Transportation Company in Scooba. The following year, he transferred to the Guard鈥檚 DeKalb unit, where he spent 14 years, ending his time there as detachment commander.
He attended East Mississippi Junior College from 1956-1958 where he was a member of the Lion鈥檚 baseball and basketball teams. Poole initially joined Coach Keyes T. Currie鈥檚 basketball team as a walk-on, earned a scholarship and worked his way into a starting position on the team.
鈥淚 was a pitcher on the baseball team,鈥 Poole said. 鈥淚 was pretty good, but I had problems sometimes controlling the ball. There were a couple of guys who were better than I was, but I really enjoyed it.鈥
In 2019, Poole was inducted into EMCC鈥檚 Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1962, he earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and later attended Officer Candidate School, earning a commission as a second lieutenant in the Mississippi Army National Guard.
In 1970, Poole was promoted to captain and served as a liaison officer with Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD) for the Mississippi Army National Guard. He remained with the detachment for 10 years and held positions as recruiting officer, executive officer and detachment commander before being appointed battalion commander of the 106th Support Battalion.
Poole later became the mobilization planner for Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg before
being assigned to Jackson as the chief of logistics operations for the Surface Maintenance
Office.
鈥淚 was on active duty for three and a half years during that time,鈥 Poole said.
The promotions continued, first to the rank of colonel in March 1988 when Poole was named director of military personnel. Four years later he was promoted to the position of full-time assistant adjutant general. In 1993, he received federal recognition as a brigadier general, overseeing the 66th Troop Command.
Upon his retirement in November 1997, Poole was promoted to the position of major general of the Mississippi National Guard. Poole is the recipient of numerous federal and state awards, medals and citations during his distinguished military service. His federal awards include the U.S. Army鈥檚 Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal, to name a few.
His top state awards are the Mississippi Magnolia Cross, Mississippi Magnolia Medal and the Mississippi War Medal. Poole also received awards from the National Guard Bureau, including the Meritorious Service Award.
鈥淭he military has been good to me,鈥 Poole said. 鈥淭he work was rewarding and I enjoyed my time in service.鈥
Poole has also supported EMCC鈥檚 efforts to create a museum on the college鈥檚 Scooba campus to display sports memorabilia and other artifacts dating back to the college鈥檚 inception in 1927. That project is in the works.
In addition, he served on the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum Foundation board of directors since its founding, with 17 years as president. He retired from that position in 2019.
Located inside Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, the museum houses the state鈥檚 largest collection of historical military artifacts from the early 19th century to the present.
Poole was among a group who lobbied for a museum at Camp Shelby dedicated to those who trained there prior to being deployed for combat duty in World War I, World War II and all other conflicts up until the current time.
鈥淚t was mainly going to be a museum for the National Guard, but there were people from the Navy, the Marines and other branches who wanted to be a part of it and it just kept expanding,鈥 Poole said. 鈥淣ow there are displays from all the branches of service.鈥
Poole and his wife, the former Mary Lou Mitchell of Picayune, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary this year. The couple resides in Hattiesburg. They have two children, a son Col. (retired) Richard P. Poole and a daughter, Mary Ellen, along with four grandchildren 鈥 Rick, Nicholas, Spencer and Abby 鈥 and a great grandson, Hunter Poole.
鈥淚 have been blessed with a great career and a wonderful wife and family,鈥 Poole said. 鈥淟ife has been good to me.鈥