State military chief takes control
Ceremony caps transition for new National Guard leader
Maj. Gen. Mark Berry formally assumed command as the state’s adjutant general Saturday when Gov. Asa Hutchinson handed him the Arkansas National Guard flag.
The ceremony at Camp Robinson completed Berry’s transition into a job Hutchinson appointed him to in December. He was sworn in as adjutant general in January, replacing retired Maj. Gen. William Wofford.
Berry leads the approximately 10,000 soldiers and airmen in the Arkansas National Guard, serves on the governor’s Cabinet and is director of the state Military Department.
“It’s all about readiness,” Berry, 59, said. “We’ve always got to be ready for a federal mission if we’re called on, and at the same time, we have to be ready to be called on by our governor for domestic response missions.”
The Guard’s 1038th Horizontal Construction Company, comprising about 160 soldiers, is the only Arkansas National Guard unit currently deployed overseas. The 1038th is in Kuwait, working to improve roads, drainage systems and fortifications at U.S. bases.
As the war on terrorism continues, Berry said, the Guard must be prepared for future mobilizations.
“Never has our belief in what we do been so strong and so determined,” he said. “We face many challenges today in all the services, and I believe the National Guard has never been more necessary. Wherever we are deployed, we will remain strong, unified and resolute.”
About 600 people were in attendance for the change of command, including U.S. Sen. John Boozman, former U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, as well as state legislators and Brig. Gen. Eduardo Enrique Caballeros Flores, the vice minister of defense for Guatemala.
The Arkansas National Guard partners with Guatemala through the U.S. Department of Defense state
partnership program.
Berry told the crowd that stepping into the job was “overwhelming” and that he has “a lot to prove” to guardsmen.
“My vision is to continue on the path that Gen. Wofford has had us on for a number of years and to grow the Arkansas National Guard to an even stronger force that the citizens of the state can depend on,” he said. “I take this post knowing I am following in the footsteps of somebody very special.”
Former Gov. Mike Beebe appointed Wofford as adjutant general in 2007. During the past eight years, he oversaw the deployment of more than 8,000 soldiers and airmen who were called into federal service. At the same time, Arkansas National Guardsmen worked 486 state missions.
Wofford looked back to the speech he made when assuming command, in which he said his focus was on accountability.
“Eight years ago I had one word for our troops, and it became our mantra: accountability,” Wofford said. “Accountability for mission accomplishment, accountability for taking care of our soldiers and airmen, accountability to maintain readiness. And you did that. You defined the true meaning of accountability and took it to great heights. It is with great pride that I entrust to Gen. Berry this military organization.”
Berry is the first airman to hold the position since 1966. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1974 and transitioned to the Arkansas Air National Guard in 1992. He most recently served as chief of staff of the Arkansas National Guard and as an assistant to the director of the Air National Guard in Washington, D.C.
He lives in Ozark with his wife, Theresa.
“I got some advice that one of the most important selections you make is that of adjutant general,” Hutchinson said Saturday. “With that in mind, I asked Gen. Mark Berry. I know as we face challenges here in the state and abroad that he will be able to lead the soldiers and airmen successfully.”