Captain Ronald Beasley
The opening of a door is something most
people do without thinking. For Ronald
Beasley, once a door is open he doesn't just
walk through it, he blasts through it while
holding it open for others to bring them
through. The Tallahassee native was an
athlete in high school and upon graduation
from Florida High School in 1973, attended
Florida A & M University on a track & field
scholarship. However, facing some very
stiff competition from others on the team
who would go on to star in their own right,
Beasley made the decision to switch gears
and enter the Navy in a very non-traditional
way. Beasley would join a strict and very
competitive Navy ROTC program in Newport,
Rhode Island where he would have to
complete the equivalent of the 1st and 2nd
year of Navy ROTC in 16 weeks. The program
which boasted over 400+ participants from
across the country only had 20 African
American students. Of those 20 only seven
would successfully complete the program.
However, those seven would go on to
greatness including Captain, Commander,
and Admiral.
Beasley recounts his time at the program, a
culture shock of sorts, where he was called
racist names and treatment that he had never
experienced on that level and states that in
order to be successful, he had to teach himself
how to persevere. As an athlete, he knew what
it meant to compete and this was an opponent he was
determined to beat. He would eventually complete the
program and return home to finish his last two years of
college and earn his Navy Commission.
He barely had two weeks to
celebrate his recent accolades as
he would receive orders to report
to his first ship the USS Chicago
stationed in San Diego, CA in 1978.
There, he would face a whole new
level of racism where he was the
only African American officer on a ship with 80 other
Navy officers. Beasley shared a story about how he
was demeaned by a prank by other officers on the ship
that affected him to the point where he was ready call
it quits. It would take the urging of his mother to stay
the course.
Beasley would go on to have an illustrious 23-year
military career which included being recognized as the
General Naval Office Recruiter of the Year as well
as the Minority Officer Recruiter of the Year for the
Navy. After his success in Field Officer Recruitment, he
was then promoted to Commanding Officer of Naval
Reserve Recruiting where he led the Western United
States offices to 3 consecutive years as Naval Reserve
Recruiting Command of the Year.
For most people, that is where the story would end.
However for Beasley, after a couple of years doing IT
Recruitment, it was another door opening that would
lead him to establish a (first of its kind at the time) Navy
ROTC program at a middle school.
The newly formed Sea Cadets program was
established at the Denn John Middle School
in Osceola County. The success of that program
resulted was Beasley being selected as Osceola County
Vocational Teacher of the Year and also earned him
the Walt Disney World Teacheriffic Award winner for
Osceola County.
Beasley's story could end there and it would be a great
one however as they say in infomercials, "wait - there's
more". When Orange County District 5 School Board
member Dr. Kathleen "KAT" Butler Gordon who
worked at Denn John with Beasley called him to work
on a school in Orange County, one phrase came to
mind, "Where you put a question mark, God will put a
period." That call would lead him to Evans High School
where as he describes it, he felt that he needed to the
there. He had to model what success looked like for
the kids and help keep them accountable. Compared
to other ROTC programs he had visited, the program at
Evans was on the brink of collapse. However, under the
leadership of Beasley, he would transform the program
in a few short years to a precise, polished unit ranked
among the top in the state. Beasley's teams at Evans
would on to sweep the state competitions and, even
earned the coveted Distinguished Unit award given
to the top one-third of programs in the area. It would
earn the distinction of being the nation's third mostimproved
unit finishing 124th out of 1,375 units
nationwide in 2007.
While it may sound cliche,
the apple doesn't fall too
far from the tree as the
Beasley’s two children
have carved their own
path to success as military
officers with their daughter
a Lieutenant Commander and United States Navy
JAG Corps and their son, also a Lieutenant and a
Doctor of Pharmacy.
T
hese days you can find the Beasley's
enjoying a lazy afternoon with their dog
at their beautifully decorated home
which feels more like an exclusive art
museum. But don't think for a second
he has slowed down. His Talented
Ten organization is working to identify
diverse candidates from under-served areas for Tier
One colleges, universities, and military academies in
preparation for STEM-related studies.