Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 8-14-18

Feature
Major Retires After 30 Years Of Service
Two Airmen Complete Basic Military Training
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Roosevelt Ratliff, III,
decided he wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement more than 30 years ago. After completing all requirements, he joined the Tampa Police Department February 13, 1989.
On Friday, Major Ratliff will close that chap- ter in his life and begin an- other. He served the community for 30 years, spending his entire career in the community.
Major Ratliff said he plans to spend his time con- tinuing to mentor children and teaching self-defense to both youth and adults. He also plans to continue work- ing with the Police Athletic League (PAL).
He considers his greatest accomplishment as being community engagement. “I worked in all three districts and in all 7 public housing units. And I feel it is impor- tant to develop relationships with the community.
“There are less than 1,000 police officers in Tampa. But, there are 380,000 citizens. For the most part, 95-98% of the information we receive to solve crimes comes from the community. If you have a good working relationship with the community, when something happens, they will call the person who they have that relationship with. We all have to work together to re- duce crime.”
Some of the things he has accomplished during his tenure was to institute an ini- tiative to prevent loitering in front of storefronts and on street corners; bring back the concept of foot patrol throughout the communities; help to create the Community Oriented Policing in all three districts; and helped to re- solve community complaints and disturbances in city
parks by acting as the liaison to Parks and Recreation.
Major Ratliff graduated from Taylor County High School, in Perry, FL. He con- tinued his education at St. Leo University, where he earned his B. S. Degree in Criminology. He also gradu- ated from the prestigious University of Louisville Southern Police Institute.
Major Ratliff is married to Mrs. Tasha Ratliff, and the father of 4 daughters. He has 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He is a member of Love First Chris- tian Center.
He enjoys spending time with family, weight training, golfing, fishing, and mentor-
ing.Major Ratliff said he will be retired, but not idle. He is also researching and gathering information about the Black officers who served at the Tampa Police Depart- ment. “I am gathering this in- formation on the pioneers who paved the way for us today. I’m collecting photo- graphs and the information for the Tampa Police Depart- ment’s Museum,” he said.
Major Ratliff said throughout his career, his goal was to make Tampa a better place to live, work, and play.
Two young adults with ties to the Tampa Bay Area have successfully completed basic military training. Both participated in their gradu- ation ceremonies at the Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland, in San Antonio, Texas.
National Guard Airman 1st Class Robby T. Jaramillo and Airman Xavia S. Owens-Majette completed an intensive, eight-week program that in- cluded training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Each Airman also earned
NATIONAL GUARD AIRMAN 1ST CLASS BOBBY T. JARAMILLO
four credits toward an Asso- ciate in Applied Science De-
gree through the Commu- nity College of the Air Force. Airman Jaramillo is the son of Noemi T. Jaramillo, of San Antonio, Texas. He is also the hus- band of Yesika B. Diaz-
Moreno.
Airman Jaramillo
graduated from Highlands High School, San Antonio, Texas, in 1996. He contin- ued his education at Col- orado Technical University, in Colorado Springs, Col- orado, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in 2006.
Airman Xavia S. Owens-Majette graduated from Wharton High School, in 2017.
MAJOR ROOSEVELT ‘ROCKY’ RATLIFF, III
Our Military Men & Women
Tampa Bay Area Residents Serve In United States Navy
ROTA, Spain – Two Naval enlistees with ties to the Tampa Bay Area are sta- tioned in Rota, Spain. Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Reina is stationed aboard the USS Ross. Petty Officer 3rd Class Carleigh Ro- driguez is assigned to the USS Donald Cook.
Both are stationed aboard guided-missile destroyers and both are located on the coast of Spain, which is 65 miles south of the city of Seville.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Reina graduated from Sick- les High School in 2015. He is a Tampa native and partici- pated in a critical NATO bal- listic missile defense (BMD) mission.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Reina is a gas turbine sys- tems technician. A gas tur- bine systems technician is responsible for the health of the engines and the propul- sion of the ship.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Rodriguez graduated from Lennard High School in 2014. She is a native of Apollo Beach, and is also participat- ing in a critical NATO ballistic missile defense (BMD) mis- sion.
PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS PATRICK REINA
Petty Officer 3rd Class Rodriguez is a quartermas- ter. A Navy quartermaster is responsible for the safe navi- gation of the warship.
The four destroyers are forward-deployed in Rota to fulfill the United States’ phased commitment to NATO BMD while also carry- ing out a wide range of mis- sions to support the security of Europe.
According to the NATO website, many countries have, or are trying to develop ballistic missiles. The ability to acquire these capabilities does not necessarily mean there is an immediate intent
PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS CARLEIGH RODRIGUEZ
to attack NATO, but that the alliance has a responsibility to take any possible threat into account as part of its core task of collective defense.
U. S. Navy Aegis ballistic missile defense provides scal- ability, flexibility and mobil- ity. These systems are equally beneficial to U. S. assets, al- lies and regional partners in all areas of the world. Posi- tioning four ballistic missile defense ships in Spain pro- vides an umbrella of protec- tion to forward-deployed forces, friends and allies while contributing to a broader defense of the United States.
PAGE 8 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018