BRISTOL — The guest speaker at this year’s Memorial Day observances in Bristol will be Maj. Jacob Roy, the S3 Operations Officer for the 86th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 86th IBCT (MTN), Vermont Army National Guard.
He will deliver his address on the village green on Monday afternoon at the conclusion of a parade that will leave from Mount Abraham Union High School at 1 p.m. and march down West Street to the green.
Maj. Roy enlisted in the Vermont Army National Guard in 1998 as a flight operations specialist. He attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant engineer officer in 2000.
In the 131st Engineer Company, Maj. Roy held positions of platoon leader, company executive officer and assumed command in 2003. In July 2006, he deployed the 131st Engineer Company to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The members of the unit were deployed as a route clearance company with the primary purpose of finding and destroying improvised explosive devises, known as IEDs.
Upon his return from Iraq in 2007, Maj. Roy was assigned as the Logistics Officer (S4) for 3-172d Mountain Infantry Battalion. In 2008, he was reassigned as the Commander for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3-172d Mountain Infantry Battalion, and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010. While in Afghanistan, he was assigned the additional duty of task force engineer for Paktya Province.
Upon his return from Afghanistan, Maj. Roy was assigned as the operations officer for J3-Joint Force Headquarters, and then in 2013 he was assigned as the plans and operations officer for the Director of Military Support. He was assigned to his present position in 2014.
Among other distinctions and decorations, Maj. Roy has been awarded two Bronze Stars, a Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, German Armed Forces Achievement Badge, Aviation Badge, and the Combat Action Badge.
Maj. Jacob Roy resides in Bristol with his wife, Elizabeth, and their children, Oliver, Abigail and Evan.