Lindsay native named parade's honorary grand marshal
Only second in parade's history
Brig. Gen. Keith D. Jones, a Lindsay native and commander for the 40th Infantry Division with the Army National Guard, has been named this year’s Porterville Veterans Day Parade honorary grand marshal.
Jones commands and controls the division’s headquarters and assigned subordinate commands. He also serves as the principal adviser to the adjutant general and Army commander, California Military Department, on employment of the division on both state and federal missions.
Jones is also the senior commander for Camp Roberts Maneuver Training Center in Camp San Luis Obispo, and Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos.
As such, Jones is responsible for directing, training and mobilization support and installation matters at California’s three training installations.
Brig. Gen. Jones is only the second honorary grand marshal to ever been named for the parade. The last one was Rear Adm. Richard Mauldin.
Parade chairman Ed Flory said the opportunity to have and active high ranking military officer with local ties in the parade was too much to pass up.
“We’ve only done it twice. His name came up and it just came about,” explained Flory.
“It adds flavor to the parade to have a ranking officer from here,” he added.
Jones entered the military as an 11C mortar man in 1971, and in 1973, earned a commission through the California Military Academy.
His experience includes deploying as commanding general, Task Force Falcon/North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Forces, Multi-National Task Force (East), and Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo in 2009.
Jones’ previous assignments include, among others: assistant division commander (maneuver) 40th Infantry Division; assistant deputy adjutant general (Army), California Army National Guard; commander, 100th Troop Command; commander and earlier chief of staff, 49th Combat Support Command; commander, Third Brigade, 40th Infantry Division (Mech); and operations officer (S-3) Third Brigade 40th Infantry Division (Mech).
Jones’ awards and decorations include Legion of Merit with two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters; Meritorious Service Medal with one Silver and one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster; Army Commendation Medal with three Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters; Army Achievement Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster; Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster; National Defense Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars; Kosovo Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Humanitarian Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars; Armed Forces Reserve Medal with ‘M’ device and Gold Hourglass; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon with Numeral Five; North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Medal (Kosovo), and German Army Marksmanship Badge, Gold.
Jones completed the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania and holds a Bachelor of Science in city and regional planning from California State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Master of Arts in public administration from Shippensburg University.
