For more than two decades, Gary Bell has served his country, the Georgia correctional system and the people within his community. From combat service and frontline corrections to statewide emergency operations, Honor Guard leadership, veterans’ programming and CPOF, Gary has followed a principle shared with him by the late Rose Williams: “May the work I’ve done speak for me.”
Some people build their legacy through the positions they hold.
Others build it through the work they leave behind.
Programs that make institutions safer.
Teams that stand ready during emergencies.
Ceremonies that honor sacrifice.
Young people who found a better path because someone took the time to guide them.
Correctional employees and families who discovered that they did not have to face a crisis alone.
Gary Bell’s career includes an impressive collection of titles, certifications and accomplishments. But the clearest measure of his leadership is found in the people, programs and organizations strengthened by his service.
His work speaks for him.
Service in Two Uniforms
Gary began serving in the Georgia Army National Guard in 2000 as an Infantryman.
Two years later, he began his career with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a Correctional Officer at Burruss Correctional Training Center.
For several years, Gary served in two uniforms.
One represented his country.
The other represented his commitment to public safety and the correctional profession.
In 2004, Gary was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom. During nearly two years of active-duty service, he deployed to Iraq, where he served as a team leader and Bradley commander.
Military service required discipline, tactical awareness, accountability and the ability to lead people through unpredictable and dangerous circumstances.
Those experiences would remain important throughout his correctional career.
After returning from combat, Gary resumed his work at Burruss. He later transferred to the Care and Custody warehouse, serving as a Correctional Officer and Property and Supply Supervisor.
The position introduced him to another side of correctional operations. In addition to supervising an incarcerated work detail, he managed assets, maintained inventories and remained accountable for the receipt and distribution of security items.
It was work where details mattered.
So did trust.
Continuing to Learn
Gary understood early that leadership required continued education.
While working within corrections and serving in the National Guard, he pursued his college education. He earned an associate degree in Criminal Justice in 2007 and completed his bachelor’s degree in 2009.
That same year, Gary promoted to Probation Officer within the Towaliga Judicial Circuit.
The move took him from an institutional setting into the community.
Gary supervised a caseload of approximately 200 individuals. His responsibilities included field visits, court appearances, drug court participation and close coordination with local law enforcement.
Community supervision demanded a different kind of awareness.
A Probation Officer had to understand the orders of the court, manage risk, document compliance and decide how to respond when someone violated the terms of supervision.
The work also required recognizing when accountability, counseling or connection to appropriate resources could help someone move in a better direction.
Gary brought his institutional experience into the role while continuing to develop as a leader.
Leadership in Special Operations
Soon after becoming a Probation Officer, Gary joined the Central Region Probation Tactical Team.
He quickly advanced to Assistant Commander and then Commander.
The Tactical Team supported high-risk operations, including warrant service, residential and institutional searches, joint task-force missions and sex-offender compliance checks.
The assignments required preparation, communication and trust between team members.
Gary’s military experience gave him a strong tactical foundation, but effective leadership required more than operational ability.
A commander had to prepare the team, evaluate risk and remain responsible for the people carrying out the mission.
Gary led with accountability.
He also continued developing his professional skills through advanced training. He became a POST-certified Instructor, Senior Instructor, Firearms Instructor and Emergency Medical Instructor. He completed training in hostage negotiation, special operations, high-risk warrants, arrest tactics and tactical medicine.
Each qualification strengthened his ability not only to perform demanding work, but also to prepare others to perform it safely.
From Individual Operations to Statewide Systems
In 2012, Gary moved into a headquarters assignment as a Program Development Consultant working for the Deputy Director of Probation.
He remained Commander of the Central Region Probation Tactical Team while accepting responsibility for statewide initiatives.
The new role allowed Gary to apply lessons learned in the field to systems affecting officers throughout Georgia.
He helped implement radio-communications improvements, a Field Training Officer program, Rapid ID technology and statewide training initiatives.
In 2013, Gary promoted to Operations Coordinator within the Facilities Division.
His responsibilities expanded again.
He worked on the introduction of Rapid ID devices in correctional facilities, Taser programming, emergency management, technological research and statewide training for Wardens, Superintendents and Deputy Wardens.
He also worked with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council to help ensure that thousands of correctional officers remained in good standing and compliant with professional requirements.
Gary was no longer responsible only for his own assignment or team.
His decisions could affect officers, supervisors and institutions across the state.
Preparing Georgia for the Unexpected
In 2015, Gary promoted into statewide operations leadership within the Georgia Department of Corrections.
His responsibilities included oversight of the agency’s Communications Center, emergency-management operations and numerous statewide projects.
Emergency management requires an organization to prepare for events it hopes will never occur.
Hurricanes.
Tornadoes.
Winter weather.
Public-health emergencies.
Civil unrest.
Institutional evacuations.
Loss of power, water, fuel or communications.
Gary helped ensure that the department could prepare, respond and recover.
That work included reviewing institutional plans, coordinating resources, deploying assets, tracking the effect of emergencies and identifying lessons that could improve future responses.
His responsibilities were tested during emergencies including COVID-19 and Hurricane Helene.
When an emergency affects a correctional institution, leaders cannot simply close the facility and send everyone home.
Staff must remain.
Security must continue.
Food, water, communication, medical support and transportation must be maintained.
If an evacuation becomes necessary, people and resources must be moved without compromising safety.
Gary’s role required him to see how every part of the system connected—and to help ensure that assistance reached the places it was needed.
Serving Those Who Served
Among Gary’s most meaningful accomplishments was his work developing Veterans Reentry Dorms within Georgia’s correctional system.
As a combat veteran, Gary understood that military service could shape someone long after the uniform was removed.
Veterans entering the correctional system could face challenges connected to trauma, mental health, substance use, family relationships and the difficult transition between military and civilian life.
Gary helped build an initiative designed to meet those needs more effectively.
The Veterans Reentry Dorm program connected incarcerated veterans with programming and resources addressing post-traumatic stress, behavioral health, employment, family reunification, veterans’ benefits and preparation for release.
The work led to Gary’s involvement as a founding member of the National Institute of Corrections Justice-Involved Veterans Network.
The national network brought correctional professionals and veterans’ advocates together to share information and develop stronger practices for serving justice-involved veterans.
Gary’s contribution reflected an important part of his leadership.
He could enforce accountability while still recognizing humanity.
He understood that someone’s worst decisions did not erase prior service or eliminate the possibility of a better future.
Honoring the Profession
Gary also helped establish and manage the Georgia Department of Corrections Statewide Honor Guard Team.
Building a statewide Honor Guard requires more than selecting uniforms and teaching ceremonial movements.
It requires creating standards.
Training members.
Coordinating teams across multiple institutions.
Preparing people to enter a family’s deepest grief with dignity, discipline and compassion.
Gary understood the importance of doing that work correctly.
An Honor Guard’s presence tells a family that their loved one’s service mattered.
It tells coworkers that their loss is recognized beyond the walls of their institution.
And it tells the public that correctional professionals are part of the law-enforcement family and deserve to be honored accordingly.
Gary helped build a team capable of delivering that message throughout Georgia.
Through the Honor Guard, he was introduced more deeply to the Correctional Peace Officers Foundation.
Discovering CPOF
Gary became an active CPOF member in 2015 and attended his first PROJECT 2000 in 2016.
Like many correctional professionals attending for the first time, he was struck by the scope of what he witnessed.
Families of correctional professionals killed in the line of duty were welcomed into a national community.
Officers who survived serious assaults were recognized.
Honor Guard teams from across the United States and Canada stood together.
Children who had lost a parent found a room filled with other young people who understood experiences they should never have been required to share.
Gary saw that CPOF’s support did not end when PROJECT concluded.
The Foundation remained present.
That commitment solidified his belief in the organization and its mission of “Taking Care of Our Own.”
When the Call Came to Georgia
Gary’s connection to CPOF became especially meaningful when the Georgia Department of Corrections experienced line-of-duty deaths.
As a leader of the statewide Honor Guard, Gary carried the responsibility of helping coordinate funeral arrangements with full honors.
During those moments, the CPOF National Honor Guard arrived to assist.
Gary witnessed firsthand what it means to have experienced people on the ground when an agency is trying to honor a fallen officer while supporting grieving relatives and coworkers.
The National team did not arrive to take over.
It arrived to stand beside Georgia.
That partnership stayed with Gary.
He also watched CPOF support members of his staff through cancer diagnoses, damage to their homes and other catastrophic hardships.
These were no longer stories he had heard during a presentation.
They were people he knew.
His own family also experienced CPOF’s investment in correctional families when his son received a scholarship while attending college.
Gary had seen CPOF from nearly every perspective:
As a supporting member.
As an Honor Guard leader.
As a supervisor whose employees needed help.
As a father whose child received educational support.
And as a correctional professional determined to make the mission stronger.
Turning Belief Into Action
Gary and members of the Georgia Honor Guard talked for years about raising money for CPOF.
Each time they returned from PROJECT, daily responsibilities quickly resumed. The intention remained, but the work of the agency always demanded attention.
Eventually, Gary decided they could not wait for the perfect time.
They began fundraising.
Honor Guard members created bracelets bearing two messages:
“GDC Strong.”
“Better Together.”
The phrases represented both the resilience of Georgia’s correctional professionals and the unity necessary to support one another.
Gary also organized barbecue plate fundraisers.
He sought donations from local businesses, prepared the food himself and relied upon a secret barbecue rub that became part of the effort.
In approximately a year and a half, their fundraising generated $10,600.
The team presented $5,000 to provide a CPOF lifetime membership for the Georgia Department of Corrections Honor Guard. Another $5,000 established a lifetime membership for GDC Headquarters.
The money mattered.
So did what the fundraising represented.
Gary took admiration for CPOF and turned it into action.
He helped make certain that more Georgia correctional professionals would learn about the Foundation and that the department’s connection to CPOF would continue long into the future.
Investing in Young People
Gary’s service has never been limited to his formal employment.
For approximately 18 years, he volunteered as a youth baseball coach. He also coached football and soccer and worked with young people through church and community programs.
Gary used sports to teach teamwork, discipline and sportsmanship.
He arrived early.
He stayed late.
He spent extra time with children who were struggling.
Years after some of those players left his teams, parents still contacted him when their children began making poor choices. Gary met with them and tried to help them return to a more successful path.
He also worked part-time counseling juveniles, many of whom were already under juvenile probation supervision.
Gary developed case plans, visited homes and schools and conducted counseling sessions. His experience in prisons and adult probation allowed him to speak honestly about where continued poor decisions could lead.
Later, he taught a fatherhood program to men in a transitional center preparing to reenter their communities.
Whether he was working with a child on a baseball field, a teenager struggling with decisions or a father preparing to return home, Gary’s goal remained the same:
Help someone recognize what is possible before it is too late.
The Influence of Rose Williams
Gary worked closely with longtime CPOF Georgia Field Representative Rose Williams.
Rose devoted more than five decades to corrections, including 34 years with the Georgia Department of Corrections, 17 years on the Georgia Board of Corrections and years of advocacy through CPOF.
She was a mentor, trusted leader and beloved member of the correctional family.
Rose carried a guiding principle that Gary adopted:
“May the work I’ve done speak for me.”
The words matched the way Rose lived.
They also matched Gary.
Neither believed service required constant recognition.
The work itself would reveal the commitment behind it.
The families helped.
The officers honored.
The programs built.
The people mentored.
The organization left stronger than it was found.
When Rose passed away, the correctional profession lost an extraordinary leader. But the values she shared continued through the people she influenced.
Gary is one of them.
His appointment to CPOF’s Board carries part of Rose’s legacy forward.
Joining the Board of Directors
On April 6, 2026, CPOF announced Gary’s appointment as its newest National Director.
He joined the Board while still actively serving within the Georgia Department of Corrections, bringing the perspective of someone directly involved in modern correctional operations.
Gary understands institutions, probation, tactical operations, emergency management, training, communications, technology, reentry programming and ceremonial service.
He has served in entry-level positions and statewide leadership.
He has worked with officers, executives, law-enforcement partners, incarcerated individuals, families and community organizations.
That range of experience allows him to communicate with people throughout the profession.
Gary also joined the Board with a clear goal: help CPOF reach correctional professionals who may not yet realize the Foundation is for them.
Jail employees.
Community-supervision staff.
Non-security personnel.
People whose duties may differ, but who serve within the same correctional family.
Gary recognizes that CPOF’s future depends upon reaching those employees, listening to their needs and showing them that “Taking Care of Our Own” includes them.
Let the Work Speak
Today, we recognize Gary Bell:
A combat veteran who served his country in Iraq.
A Correctional Officer who began on the front line.
A Probation Officer who supervised individuals within the community.
A Tactical Team Commander trusted during high-risk operations.
An instructor who helped prepare others to serve safely.
An emergency manager responsible for helping an entire correctional system prepare for crisis.
A founding participant in a national effort to better serve justice-involved veterans.
An Honor Guard leader committed to honoring correctional professionals with dignity.
A coach and counselor who invested in young people and families.
A fundraiser who turned belief in CPOF into more than $10,000 in action.
A National Director bringing Georgia’s experience and frontline perspective to CPOF’s leadership.
And a man determined to let the work speak for him.
Gary’s work has already spoken.
It speaks through the officers he trained.
The veterans connected to resources.
The institutions prepared for emergencies.
The families who saw their loved ones honored.
The employees who received help during illness and catastrophe.
The young people who knew a coach believed they could do better.
And the correctional professionals who will discover CPOF because Gary took the time to tell them what it means.
His legacy is still being written.
But its message is already clear.
Service is not something Gary talks about.
It is something he does.
If you served with Gary in the Georgia Army National Guard, Georgia Department of Corrections, Statewide Honor Guard, community programs or CPOF—or have a photograph or memory to share—we would be honored to help preserve it as part of his living legacy.
