Major General Warner A. Ross II is the 77th Adjutant General for the Tennessee National Guard. Maj. Gen. Ross has 33 years of service in the military. He received his commission from Officer Candidate School after beginning his career as a infantry rifleman at Fort Benning, GA in 1990. He spent his early years learning and developing his leadership while assigned to Infantry, Field Artillery and Cavalry branches across the Tennessee Army National Guard.

His military education includes One Station Unit Training for 11B-Infantry (OSUT) Infantry Officer Basic Course, Artillery Officer Advanced Course, Intermediate Level Education Course, Infantry Pre-Command Course, Engineer Pre-Command Course and Senior Officer Legal Orientation Course. He holds a Masters in Strategic Studies from the Army War College, a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Mississippi and a Masters of Education from Freed-Hardeman University.

Maj. Gen. Ross commanded infantry, artillery, cavalry and engineer units at the company, battalion and brigade levels. He served as a regimental fire support officer in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and as a squadron operations officer in 2010 with the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. He served as brigade commander of the 194th Engineer Brigade and commander of Theater Engineer Brigade in support of Operation(s) Spartan Shield, Freedom Sentinel and Inherent Resolve. Duty with warfighting units include: 1st Infantry Division, 38th Infantry Division and 42nd Infantry Division. He also commanded the 1/278th in West Tennessee.  

His most recent Tennessee assignment was serving as the Assistant Adjutant General-Army. He commanded the Tennessee Army National Guard, including 5 Major subordinate Commands, 4 separate Battalions and over 8500 Soldiers. He was responsible to provide guidance, prioritization, and oversight for force readiness, planning and operations to support federal, state and local missions.

The majority of his service years have been as a traditional M-Day soldier. Maj. Gen. Ross is a licensed K-12 educator in Tennessee. During his 30 year career in education, he has served as a bus driver, classroom instructor, coach, vice principal, principal, district assistant director and Director of Schools. He has served as the Hardeman County Director of Schools from 2012 through 2021. He was selected as Tennessee’s Principal of the Year in 2008 and South West CORE Superintendent of the Year in 2018.

His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Cluster), Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (with 1 Silver and 4 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters), National Defense Service Medal (with 1 Bronze Service Star), Iraq Campaign Medal (with 2 Campaign Stars), Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Gold Hour Glass and M Device, Overseas Service Medal with Numeral 3, Tennessee Commendation Ribbon, Tennessee War Service Ribbon, Tennessee National Guard Service with Veterans Star along with numerous other federal and state awards.

(As of 23 December 2023)