{"id":180360,"date":"2024-05-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=180360"},"modified":"2024-05-19T20:27:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T20:27:25","slug":"national-guard-professional-education-center-celebrates-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=180360","title":{"rendered":"National Guard Professional Education Center celebrates 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Col. Cathi Cherry, commander of the Professional Education Center, addresses the crowd at a groundbreaking ceremony for a 15,000-square-foot addition to the Combat Athletic Performance Center on Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, May 16, 2024. The groundbreaking ceremony took place during a day of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the federal education center responsible for training Army National Guard Soldiers from across the country. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Christie R. Smith)
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\n Col. Cathi Cherry, commander of the Professional Education Center; Maj. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, Adjutant General of the Arkansas National Guard; Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, Director of the Army National Guard; and Command Sgt. Maj. John Raines, Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, conduct a ceremonial groundbreaking for an expanded fitness center at the Professional Education Center (PEC) on Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 16, 2024. The groundbreaking, which took place as part of a larger PEC 50th anniversary celebration, marks the beginning of a multiyear project to add 15,000-square-feet to the Combat Athletic Performance Center in commitment to the Army\u2019s Health and Holistic Fitness (H2F) initiative. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Christie R. Smith)
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\n Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders gives a keynote address at the National Guard Professional Education Center 50th anniversary celebration on Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, May 16, 2024. The federal training center brings more than 20,000 students and event attendees from across the Army National Guard in all 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia to central Arkansas each year. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Christie R. Smith)
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\n Col. Cathi Cherry, commander of the Professional Education Center (PEC); Maj. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, Adjutant General of the Arkansas National Guard; Lt. Col. Elvin Zapata, oldest Soldier currently serving at PEC; Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders; Sgt. Rhett Crandall, youngest Soldier currently serving at PEC; and Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, Director of the Army National Guard, ceremoniously cut the cake at a 50th anniversary celebration for the Professional Education Center on Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, May 16, 2024. PEC is home to more than 480 courses spanning six battalions to train Army National Guard Soldiers and Department of Army civilians in cybersecurity, human resources, logistics, recruiting and retention, strategy and leader development, and finance. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Christie R. Smith)
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Fifty years ago, the Army National Guard identified a need to provide ongoing training to the Soldiers and civilians who worked for the Guard full-time, keeping units and armories running between drill weekends.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gen. LaVern E. Weber, then the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, knew he wanted this training facility to be centrally located. Out of 11 possible locations, Camp Joseph T. Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, was selected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason this facility is in Arkansas in the first place is because then-Gov. Dale Bumpers made an offer so good that national leadership couldn\u2019t refuse,\u201d Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.<\/p>\n

With the promise of land, some cinderblock buildings and support personnel, the deal was sealed.<\/p>\n

In the spring of 1975, with just six instructors, The LaVern E. Weber National Guard Professional Education Center graduated its first class of 50 administrative supply technicians.<\/p>\n

Today, the campus has spread to 36 buildings across 85 acres. With over 450 employees, the Professional Education Center, or PEC, welcomes more than 20,000 students and event attendees annually, while reaching another 4,000 through mobile training teams. The staff and students of PEC represent each of the 54 states, territories and District of Columbia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt puts PEC\u2019s humble beginnings in even greater perspective,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n

The impact of the Professional Education Center is evident across the Army National Guard. Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, the Director of the Army National Guard, regularly cites the effect the Arkansas campus had on his own distinguished career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe in the motto of this institution which is \u2018Readiness starts here,\u2019 because of my personal experience,\u201d Jensen said.<\/p>\n

He attended the Professional Education Center as a young first lieutenant in the first year of his active guard reserve career.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy two weeks here really made me a much more effective full-time member of the team,\u201d Jensen said.<\/p>\n

In the five decades since its inception, PEC has grown from that first administrative supply course to more than 480 courses spanning six battalions to train Army National Guard Soldiers and Department of Army civilians in cybersecurity, human resources, logistics, recruiting and retention, strategy and leader development, and finance.<\/p>\n

The Professional Education Center has also helped launch national programs like Buddy Aid, an innovative approach to first response to sexual assault, and the National Guard\u2019s education hub of the Army\u2019s Health and Holistic Fitness initiative.<\/p>\n

This month, the PEC campus kicked off a year-long celebration of its anniversary with an open house and a groundbreaking on a 15,000-square-foot addition to the center\u2019s current Combat Athletic Performance Center.<\/p>\n

This project not only provides further opportunities for PEC employees, students and members of the Arkansas National Guard to maintain fitness, but will also increase opportunities and resources for H2F training and education.<\/p>\n

Col. Cathi Cherry, commander of the Professional Education Center, has made modernization and innovation a focus of her tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here to train the 54 and that\u2019s exactly what we do,\u201d Cherry said, referring to each of the U.S. states, territories and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Through initiatives to improve and expand facilities and embrace training tools like virtual and augmented reality, she hopes to usher PEC into the next 50 years as a premiere learning institution, but she recognizes a truth Weber once famously said himself; PEC\u2019s foundation does not lie in its buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve determined it\u2019s the people who help make this organization strong,\u201d Cherry said.<\/p>\n

Many of the people who helped build and continue to support the Professional Education Center were highlighted during a 50th anniversary ceremony on the North Little Rock campus May 16.<\/p>\n

In attendance were previous commandants and retirees; senior National Guard leaders like Jensen and Maj. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, Adjutant General of the Arkansas National Guard, who spent time at PEC early in their careers; and local and state community and political leaders who recognize the tremendous impact the federal center has on the local economy.<\/p>\n

In her keynote address, Sanders said she was committed to ensuring another 50 years of the National Guard Professional Education Center in central Arkansas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe count on our National Guardsmen, not just in the Natural State, but across the country,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cAnd there is no better place for them to learn and grow than right here at Camp Robinson.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Col. Cathi Cherry, commander of the Professional Education Center, addresses the crowd at a groundbreaking ceremony for a 15,000-square-foot addition to the Combat Athletic Performance Center on Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, May 16, 2024. The groundbreaking ceremony took place during a day of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180362,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=180360"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180367,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180360\/revisions\/180367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/180362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=180360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=180360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=180360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}