Director of Horry County Veterans Affairs joins CCU Military and Veterans Studies advisory board
A native of Conway and a graduate of the University of South Carolina, Elvis is a veteran of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division and the 4th Ranger Training Battalion, and is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Sniper School.
In December 1989, he parachuted into Panama with the 82nd Airborne as part of Operation Just Cause to secure the Panama Canal and protect U.S. civilians during a period of instability in Panama. In 1990 and 1991, he served in combat operations in Iraq during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. His actions during combat operations earned him the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the Army Achievement Medal with 12 oak leaf clusters.
In 1992, Elvis retired from active duty with the U.S. Army and joined the South Carolina National Guard. He served as a training noncommissioned officer with the SCNG, a recruiter for the U.S. Army and the area noncommissioned officer in charge for the SCNG in coastal South Carolina.
In 2016, he retired from the National Guard and afterward became the director of the Horry County Department of Veterans Affairs. Among his other military awards are the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Expert Infantry Badge with Ranger Tab, Combat Parachutist Wings, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, the Humanitarian Service Award, and the Legion of Merit. He and his wife live in Conway with their 8-year-old son.
"We are pleased to have a veteran with Sergeant Major Elvis' life experiences as a member of the Center's board of advisers," said Rod Gragg, director of the CresCom Bank Center for Military and Veterans Studies. "He and the other members of the board of advisors are instrumental to the performance of the center's mission."
As a member of the advisory board for the CresCom Bank Center for Military and Veterans Studies, Elvis will advise and assist center activities that operate under its director and the CCU administration.
The center was established at CCU in 2010 and is active in the collection and preservation of oral history from American veterans and related military studies. Visit coastal.edu/militaryveterancenter.