Board at academy taps Womack again

Members of the U.S. Military Academy’s board of visitors have elected U.S. Rep. Steve Womack as chairman for the third-straight year, keeping him in the post he has held since 2017.

The panel, under federal law, keeps track of West Point’s “morale and discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and other matters.”

Based along the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City, West Point is “the oldest continuously occupied military post in America,” officials say.

It is also the nation’s oldest service academy.

Womack, a Republican from Rogers, served 30 years in the Arkansas Army National Guard, retiring as a colonel in 2009. He is also former executive director of the University of Arkansas’ Army ROTC program,

His brother, Jim, is a 1977 West Point graduate.

“I’m kind of awestruck by the opportunity to even be on the board, much less serve as its chair for a third consecutive year,” Womack said. “That is the pre-eminent leadership development institute, really, on the planet.”

On trips to campus, he’s able to meet with Arkansans who are studying there. He’s also able to enjoy the nation’s premiere service academy football team, he said.

The past two years, the West Point Black Knights have won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, after beating Navy and Air Force.

Womack, who attended the trophy presentation at the White House earlier this month, said he’s already looking forward to this year’s season.

“[We] hope that we can go and have a three-peat,” he added. Planning to visit the nation’s capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (202) 662-7690 or flockwood@arkansasonline.com. Want the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Washington bureau? It’s available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.