Keith Eric Pruett is a native of Bluefield, WV. He attended Carson Newman University in Jefferson City, TN, on a football scholarship. He graduated with a Political Science degree and commissioned into the Army in May of 2001. In December of 2015 he received his Master of Liberal Arts degree from Arizona State University and completed the Army Command and General Staff College. He last served as the Professor of Military Science at Florida State University from 2017-2021, ending with his retirement from active duty.

Starting in the fall of 2021, Keith was hired by the Florida Digital Service. There he served as the Emergency Support Function-20 (ESF-20) coordinator for the state. His primary role focused on coordination with the State Emergency Response Team Chief and the Emergency Operations Center for all cybersecurity and digital responses during state emergency operations. As of August 28th, 2023 Keith serves as the Deputy Executive Director of Emergency Management for the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Prior to coming to Florida State, Keith served as the Deputy G4 for the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command located on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. While there, he served an individual assignment tour in Kabul, Afghanistan from October 2015 through May 2016. In July
of 2013 he was selected to serve as the XO for the 833d Transportation Battalion at Ft Eustis, VA. From Jan 2012-July 2013 he was the detachment commander for the 690th Rapid Port Opening Element, also at Ft. Eustis, VA. His units conducted six highly successful Joint Task Force-Port Opening (JTFPO) COCOM-level exercises as USTRANSCOM’s alert JTF-PO Surface Element. Repeatedly USTRANSCOM leadership recognized the unit for having the best cargo throughput operations seen to date. Prior to his arrival to the 690th he served as the Air Mobility Officer for US Army Pacific (USARPAC) G4 Mobility Division at Ft. Shafter, Hawaii. As the Air Mobility Officer he was responsible for the coordination for both cargo and personnel flights throughout the Pacific region. Keith traveled to 9 different countries in support of both Pacific Command (PACOM) and USARPAC exercises. Exercises such as Joint Exercise Talisman Sabre in Australia, Cobra Gold in Thailand, and Balikatan in The Philippines saw him serve as the exercise Joint Movement Control Officer In-Charge. He was also hand selected by the USARPAC G4 to travel to Ulaanbataar, Mongolia and teach US Army Logistics to the Mongolian Armed Forces. Before this tour of duty in Hawaii, he was the senior BDE Logistics officer and advisor on a Military Transition Team (MiTT), embedded with 4th BDE, 1 DIV of the Iraqi Army. His transition team navigated over 300 convoys, 200 combat missions and logged thousands of miles in combat operations throughout the Diyala Province of Iraq, an operating area of over 1200 square miles. As a Captain, he was the S3 for the 838th Transportation Terminal Battalion (SDDC) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands for two years and was the 2006 recipient for the General Del Mar SDDC Junior Officer of the Year Award. Keith served as the lead for SDDC’s implementation for Deployment and Distribution Support Teams in Europe. He was also the first operations officer for the 840th Transportation Battalion (SDDC) when they established permanent location in Balad, Iraq. He was later the first SDDC LNO to Multi National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) in Baghdad. In his first duty assignment as a Lieutenant, he served as platoon leader for both a HET-T platoon and a medium truck platoon for Bravo Company, 703rd Main Support Battalion (MSB), and the SPO Transportation Officer at Ft. Stewart, GA, culminating with his deployment to the Middle East for what became OIF I. During the entire operation, Keith’s platoon supported the distribution supplies to the Division, conducting over 230 convoy operations and contributed greatly to his company’s over 250,000 operational miles.

Keith is the youngest of three children. He and his wife, Chantel, from Clearwater, Florida, have been married for 18 years. They have a ten-year old son, Baylor, and a six-year old daughter, Lena.

Awards and Decorations

His military decorations include the Bronze Star (2 OLC), Meritorious Service Medal (2 OLC), the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (3 OLC), the Army Achievement Medal (1 OLC), the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, the Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Operation Iraqi Freedom Campaign Medal (4 Campaign stars), Overseas service ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon and the NATO Service Medal. His units have also received the Presidential Unit Citation Award, the Meritorious Unit Award and the Valorous Unit Award (1 OLC). He also received a Combat Action Badge for actions in support of OIF. Additionally, he received a 2022 Florida IT Leadership Forum, Outstanding IT Manager Award, due to his efforts during Hurricane Ian response and relief.