Army recognizes Womack’s support

WASHINGTON — U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning on Thursday presented U.S. Rep. Steve Womack with the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service.

The award, created in 1956, is given “to those who provide distinguished service that makes a substantial contribution to the accomplishment of the Army’s missions,” according to Army regulations.

During the brief ceremony in Womack’s Capitol Hill office, Fanning praised the fourterm Republican from Rogers for his support of the armed services.

He noted, in particular, Womack’s work as a member of the board of visitors of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

The panel, similar to a board of trustees or regents, is by law in charge of reviewing the “morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and other matters relating to the academy.”

The gold-colored, discshaped medal is suspended under a red, white and blue ribbon and features a laurel wreath, a triangle and the eagle from the Great Seal of the United States.

Womack, 59, served 30 years in the Arkansas Army National Guard, retiring as a colonel in 2009. He also served in the 1990s as the executive officer for the University of Arkansas’ Army ROTC program.

The lawmaker said he admired Fanning’s “remarkable work, selfless work,” telling him, “few people have had as much of an impact on the workings of the Army, the Navy and Air Force as you.”

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