State’s Guard welcomes new commander
Penn, who joined in 1982, becomes adjutant general
The Arkansas National Guard said goodbye Saturday to its leader of four years and welcomed a new commander for the state’s nearly 10,000 soldiers and airmen.
Maj. Gen. Kendall W. Penn replaced Lt. Gen. Mark H. Berry as the state’s adjutant general, a position responsible for the day-to-day operations of the entirety of the state’s military department.
In front of more than 200 Guard members, family members and friends Saturday at Camp Robinson, Gov. Asa Hutchinson officially transferred the power of the adjutant general to Penn and recognized the retiring Berry.
Penn, who at age 18 joined the Arkansas National Guard in 1982, said his primary goal during his time as commander will be the same as that of the adjutant generals before him: to ensure Arkansas’ military is prepared for any conflict, natural disaster or need.
“For anybody who takes this job, their first priority is always going to be the combat-readiness of the National Guard,” Penn said Saturday. “Our biggest debt we owe to the civilian population is … being an effective force for the state.”
Penn retired in 2014 after more than 30 years in the Guard and said he was happy to put on the uniform again for the state.
“This is like coming back home,” he said. “The people here today, most of them I served with at some point or another. I can’t tell you what a huge honor this is.”
Penn has been visiting with staff members and agencies across the state and reacquainting himself with current operations since Hutchinson chose him as Berry’s successor.
“While there were many that were qualified, one stood out,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson pointed to Penn’s deployment in Baghdad and his long history of being a military leader — indications, he said, of Penn’s ability to take on the job. At the same time, the governor acknowledged that Berry is leaving behind a legacy that will be hard to follow.
“As I look out at the soldiers and airmen in this audience, it makes me confident that we can make a difference,” Hutchinson said. “Gen. Berry is leading and setting high standards.”
Berry, the longest-serving military serviceman in Arkansas, has been in the National Guard for more than 45 years.
Berry first enlisted with the Air Force in 1974 before joining the Arkansas Air National Guard in 1992. Hutchinson appointed him adjutant general in 2015 as the first Air Force general officer to assume the position in the Arkansas National Guard’s 200-year history.
Throughout his career, Berry has been awarded numerous decorations, including the Legion of Merit, five Meritorious Service Medals, eight Air Force Commendation medals and an Air Force Achievement Medal.
On Saturday, Berry’s list of accolades grew as Hutchinson, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., various state representatives, and the Arkansas National Guard’s air and land components presented him with awards, placards and, in one instance, a knight’s helmet with the Arkansas flag painted across its face.
All servicemen or public officials who rose to give Berry an award recounted a personal story about their work together and praised the adjutant general’s dedication to his soldiers and airmen.
“For several months I have written and rewritten my comments for this,” Berry said. “How does one sum up a career that spanned four-anda-half decades? How does one capture the realization that after 45 years, you will no longer wear the uniform of the most powerful, most respected fighting force the world has ever known?”
At one moment in his speech, Berry reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of cardboard that he said he’d cut off of a box many years ago. The cardboard was flimsy and worn so thin it looked like paper.
“I kept it because of what it said. ‘I’m not here by chance, but by God’s choosing,’” Berry read. “No one could make a plan like this for someone like me except the almighty God himself.”