A former senior officer with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve will be the keynote speaker for Rogers State University’s 3rd Annual Military History Day on Tuesday, April 5, 2016.
Major General Darrell Moore, USMCR (Ret.), will be the guest of honor for the day’s activities, culminating in a public lecture entitled “The American Military’s Pivot to the Pacific Ocean Then and Now.” His lecture will start at 5:30 p.m. in the Baird Hall Performance Studio on RSU’s Claremore campus. The lecture is free and open to the public, including area veterans, community members and all RSU faculty, staff and students.
Born in Tulsa and raised in Pryor, Moore attended the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in business administration and a law degree. After graduating in 1979, he served on active duty with the United States Marine Corps until October 1991.
He then transitioned to the Marine Corps Reserve as a battalion commander, strategy and plans officer, and group operations officer. He graduated from the U.S. Army War College in 2000. As Deputy Commander, 4th Force Service Support Group, Moore was instrumental in preparing marines and sailors serving in the group for mobilization and deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In 2003, he deployed to Kuwait with the 16,000 marines and sailors of the combined 1st Force Service Support Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, as Chief of Staff in Kuwait and Iraq. In 2005, Moore was selected for promotion to Brigadier General and assigned to serve as Commanding General for the Marine Corps Mobilization Command.
He later became the Commanding General, 4th Marine Logistics Group, where he directed the activities of the 10,000 Marines and Sailors serving in nine battalions across the United States. He prepared them for repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2008, Moore was selected for promotion to Major General and was assigned as the Director of Reserve Affairs at Headquarters Marine Corps. After a final assignment as the mobilization assistant to the Commanding General, United States Pacific Command, Moore retired in 2014 after 35 years of service. He lives in Pryor, where he continues his law practice.
Moore’s lecture is part of RSU’s annual Military History Day, which aims to educate Oklahomans to become better informed citizens regarding military affairs. RSU offers both a bachelor’s degree and a minor in military history, and the university was the first in Oklahoma to develop a military history program. RSU’s military legacy runs deep thanks to its predecessor institution, the Oklahoma Military Academy, which was known as “The West Point of the Southwest.”
For additional information, contact the RSU Department of History and Political Science at 918-343-6811.