The Arkansas National Guard will promote a new general officer and retire a longtime guardsman and brigadier general today.
The Guard plans to promote Col. John Payne to brigadier general. Payne, who serves as the Arkansas Army National Guard’s deputy chief of staff for aviation, will move into his new role as the Arkansas Guard’s assistant adjutant general, according to a news release.
Payne replaces Brig. Gen. Keith Klemmer, who will retire Sunday after 32 years of service.
Klemmer, a Jonesboro native, joined the service after graduating from the reserve officer training program at Arkansas State University in 1985. The 53-year-old is a veteran of both Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the Guard.
Payne, an Army helicopter pilot, graduated from Henderson State University’s ROTC program in 1988. The 51-yearold is a veteran of Operation Just Cause in Panama.
The Benton resident commanded the 77th Aviation Brigade from 2010 to 2013, including a deployment to Iraq where he led Task Force Peacemaker in support of the 36th and 25th Infantry Divisions in south Iraq, according to the Guard.
Payne was confirmed as a general officer by the U.S. Senate in August 2015. His promotion has been on hold until the Arkansas Guard had an available general officer’s position.
As a civilian, Payne is an attorney at Little Rock firm Gill Ragon Owen.