Col. Paul Rowlett was promoted to brigadier general of the Arkansas Air National Guard during a ceremony Saturday at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville.
Rowlett, a native of Salem, stood at attention as an Air National Guard official recognized him as a brigadier general. Rowlett's children, Rachel and Jack, walked to the stage where Rachel placed a hat on Rowlett's head and Jack added a pin to his uniform, sealing it with a friendly punch to his father's chest.
As a brigadier general, Rowlett will serve as the chief of staff for the Arkansas Air National Guard. He said in an interview earlier Saturday that he was honored to assume such an important position.
"I think for me, personally, this is my state and I'm proud to serve in the Arkansas Air National Guard," Rowlett said.
He joined the military in 1988 and serves in the Arkansas Air National Guard one weekend out of every month, as well as other required service days.
Rowlett is an intelligence officer with the National Guard and works with remote-piloted aircraft and those who analyze data gathered through the use of the aircraft. His duties will include strategically planning current and future missions.
Rowlett lives in Oxford, Miss., where he works as an intelligence specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Although he has been assigned to active-duty positions throughout his career, including locations such as Guantanamo Bay, Rowlett said he has been assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base for the majority of the time since 2001.
He joins a select group as a brigadier general, which ranks above a colonel but below a major general. He becomes one of only three general officers in Arkansas, according to Bob Oldham with Arkansas Air National Guard Public Affairs. General officers are the highest classification of the Air National Guard.
Brig. Gen. Marc Sicard, commander of the Arkansas Air National Guard, said Rowlett is well-deserving of his promotion.
"Paul has been a rock star," Sicard said during the ceremony.
Rowlett said he will assist the Arkansas National Guard in planning intelligence missions, which he said have become increasingly important since he joined the Air Guard.
"I will tell you that if every American could attend the morning brief where we discuss the last 24 hours of intelligence operations, they would sleep well at night knowing the eyes of Americans' intelligence enterprise never close and are constantly watching and assessing our enemies and constantly conducting operations that keep America safe," he said.
NW News on 04/08/2019