Summary of Education and Training Accomplishments

CIVILIAN EDUCATION: Arkansas State University, BSA Degree (1964). Distinguished Military Graduate, Army ROTC Cadet Corps Deputy Commander, ROTC Drill Team Commander, Scabbard and Blade Society member, Senator, ASU Student Government Association (elected ASU student body), I 1964 Who's Who in American Colleges & Universities selection. Arkansas State University, l\IBA Degree (1972). Phi Kappa; Alpha Honor Society.

MILITARY EDUCATION: US Army Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC), Infantry Officer Advanced Course (IOAC). Airborne, Ranger, Pathfinder and Jumpmaster Courses at Ft. Benning, GA and Ft. Bragg, NC (1964-1970). ! Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS (1974-75). Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA (1987).

MILITARY SERVICE: I Commissioned a 2LT of Infantry, RA (1964). Served With the 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, NC as a Rifle Platoon Leader, Rifle Company Executive Officer, and Rifle Company Commander (Jan. 1964 - Jan. 1967). , Three Combat Tours: The Dominican Republic w/82nd Div. (1965). Vietnam, US MACV Advisory Team #38, II Corps, (Jan. 1967-61), then again with MACV Headquarters Saigon, (Jun 1970-May 1971). Served in command and staff duty in Airborne and Mechanized Infantry units at the Platoon, Company, Battalion, Division, and Corps-level: * Three company commands: 82nd Ahn. Div., Ft. Bragg, 5th Mech. Inf. Div. Ft. Carson, & 25th Student Company, Infantry School, Ft. Benning. * Battalion S-3, 1st Bn. 54th Inf, 1st Armored DivisionGermany 1975-76. * Senior Aide-de-Camp, LTG Frederick G. Kroesen, CG, Corps, FRG. * Battalion XO, 1st Bn 16th Inf, 1st Infantry Div. ( Fwd.), Germany 1977-78. * Chief, Combat Arms Tm, Readiness Group Stewart, Ft. Devins 1978-1981. I * Professor of Military Science, ASU Jan 1981-Aug 1984. I * Chief, Army Protocol, Department of Army Staff, Pentagon (I 984-87). * Executive Officer to the Director Army National Ghard, Pentagon (1987-89).

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS: Legion of Merit w/OLC, Bronze Star Medal w/OLC, Meritorious Service Medal w/2OLC, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Armed forces Expeditionary Medal, Army Commendation Medal w/OLC, Vietnam Service Medal w/4 service stars. The • Combat Infantryman Badge, Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutists Badge, Army Pathfinder Badge, and The Pentagon DA Staff Service Badge. I

Summary of Professional or Employment History US Army, January 1964-August 1989. US Department of Veterans Affairs, May 1993 -May 1998, l Regions Bank, Jonesboro, Arkansas, July 1999 -August 20f 1. Bowen Properties I, II, & III, LLC's. March 2004 - present Bowen Properties I is commercial real estate holdings in Arkansas. Bowen Properties II is a residential rental property in Arkansas and Bowen Properties III is for real estate holdings outside the State of Arkansas. My wife, Connie Bowen my son, Steve. Bowen and I are Members of these LLC's, and I am the Manager.

 Summary of Veteran's Advocacy: Contributions:

 US Department of Veterans Affairs. In May 1993, ' was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the US Senate as Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs. I served in this position until May 1998 when I resigned and returned to Arkansas. An Under Secretary is the protocol equivalent of a 4-star military "flag officer." The VA has three Under Secretaries: Under Secretary for Health, Under Secretary for Benefits and Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs. In this position, I directed land acquisition and new infrastructure at Arkansas' three National Cemeteries and was instrumental in building two new State Veterans Cemeteries in Arkansas. 

Fayetteville. In 1993, this cemetery was slated to close by 1998 due to lack of burial space, and the VA had no plans to expand the cemetery. Upon my first visit there, I met with the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation and we became allies to save this Civil War- era cemetery. At my direction, the VA purchased an additional six acres and built all new infrastructure facilities - office visitor’s center, maintenance complex and committal shelter.

Fort Smith. This cemetery was also running out of burial space in 1993. Through negotiations with the city, I directed the VA to purchase an additional eight acres where we built a new committal shelter thus extending the life of the cemetery an additional 25- 30 years. Like Fayetteville, Fort Smith is also a civil war era cemetery. Notable burials include Judge Isaac Parker - "the hanging Judge," and General William 0. Darby - founder of the Army Rangers.

Little Rock. The cemetery would exhaust available burial space by the year 2000 with no available land for expansion. Located on Robinson Ave in East Little Rock, it was "boxed- in" on all 4 sides. By VA policy, any land purchased for cemetery expansion must be contiguous to the original site, as was possible with Fayetteville and Fort Smith. Arkansas' only solution was to apply for a State Veterans Cemetery Grant, which we did beginning in 1996.

The Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery. I worked very closely with Nick Bacon (then ADVA Director) to apply for a VA grant. The VA and the State would split the $5.4 million construction cost 50/50. In late 1997 the Grant pr6vision was changed whereby the Federal VA would pay 100%. ADVA was still working 1 on their request when I called Nick and asked him to hold-up. I didn't want Arkansas 1to be committed to the old program when the new program would soon be in place. A few weeks afterwards, I called Nick and asked him to submit under the new program thus saving Arkansas taxpayers $2.7 million!  

The Birdeye State Veterans Cemetery.  After leaving VA in 1998, I worked to bring the second State Veterans Cemetery to Arkansas. I started working as an unpaid volunteer in January 2005 at the request of US Congressman [Marion Berry and a group of veterans from Wynne in Cross County. Later on I briefed Governor Beebe, received his support and then began lobbying key members of the Arkansas State Legislature for their approval.

The Federal VA now pays 100% of the construction cost ($7.2 million), but the State, must bear annual operating expenses (estimated at $250,000). This was a big concern for many Legislators; however, there was great support from northeast Arkansas Legislators, and they eventually won the battle. During the final phase of planning when some travel to D.C. was required, I worked as a paid consultant for one y ar. Cemetery construction is nearing completion now.

Military Officers Association of America {MOAA). MOAA is a non- profit veterans' association dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and to preserving the earned entitlements of members of the uniformed services and their families and survivors. Membership is open to those who hold or have ever held a warrant or commission in any component of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, or NOAA and their surviving spouses.

An MOAA Life Member since 1989, I have also served in several elected leadership positions at the local, state and national levels as follows: -

President, Northeast Arkansas MOAA Chapter -- 2001 & 2002. –

President, Arkansas MOAA Council (10 Chapters in Arkansas) 2003 & 2004. –

Board Member, National MOAA Board of Directors -- 2001 to 2010.

 MOAA National Board Members are elected by the Association's over 375,000 members world-wide. National Directors are limited to one 6-year term and may not seek re-election. According to MOAA records, I'm the only Ark and to ever be elected to this office.  

During my two years as President of the Arkansas council and six years on the I MOAA Board, I attended for eight consecutive years MOAA,'s "Storming the Hill." Each year MOAA National schedules this 3-day event in Washington D.C. that includes an "office call" with each State's Congressional Delegation. While MOAA asked us to talk about National veteran issues, I also used the time to talk to our US Congressional members about Arkansas veteran issues.  For example, during the four years while working on the new Birdeye State Cemetery, I always gave. an update to Marion Berry, and Senators Lincoln and Pryor. Charted a new MOAA Chapter in Ft. Smith. In doo4, Arkansas had 10 local MOAA chapters. However, in 2007 the MOAA Chapter at Hot Springs City disbanded and turned in their charter. Their problem was that a new chapter was chartered in Hot Springs Village in the early 1990's, and the two chapters f\'ere just too geographically close for both to be successful. I did not want Arkansas to lose chapters during my time on the Board! So I asked National to run a Zip-Code roster of National MOAA members who lived in Arkansas, but without reasonable access to a local chapter. Ft. Smith came out as the most "target-rich" area in Arkansas. Harlie Treat of Conway was the 2008-09 Arkansas Council President and we worked together and "stood-up" a new chapter there in September 2009. MOAA's President (Vice Admiral Norb Ryan) traveled to Ft. Smith and presented the charter for the William 0. Darby MOAA chapter to the Chapter's first President - Bill Vines. I 3. Craighead County Veterans Monument Foundation {CCVMF). I

This 501 (c) (3) non-profit foundation was charted in October 2000 with the mission: "to honor the sacrifice and to respect the service of Craighead County's military veterans." The initial CCVMF Board of Directors consisted of three directors from each of the four major Veteran Service Organizations and Military Associations headquartered in Craighead County: *The American Legion, George H. Pickett Post #21 I *Veterans of Foreign Wars, Roy C. Wiles Post #199f *Disabled America Veterans, Chapter #26 L *Military Officers Association of America, NE AR Chapter I As the name implies, our first and most ambitious! project was to build on the Craighead County Courthouse grounds "not only a first-9lass, but in fact a world-class military veterans' monument." First, we restored the WWII bronze "doughboy statue" which was placed at the Courthouse in 1920. In addition, we installed four 22 feet high stainless-steel arches which stretch over the statue. On the six-foot tall brick base for each arch is placed the bronze seal of the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. My first duty as one of the 12 CCVMF Directors as to chair the "Major Donor Committee" with a mission to raise $100,000 in individual and corporate contributions. I chaired this committee for three years, and at the end of our capital campaign, the committee had raised $116,000!  Our "advanced brick sales" also went better than I expected, and when we dedicated the Monument on Veterans Day 2002, we had $40,000 in the bank. These funds were earmarked for subsequent monument maintenance. Another feature of our monument is "Patriots Plaza." We generally agree that all veterans are Patriots; however, all Patriots may not be veterans. So with this plaza we have mounted brass plaques (size depending upon level of contribution) for those individuals or corporations who contribute money or "in-kind" donations of labor or construction material for the monument. j When the Foundation was created in 2000, I was a member of three of the above VSO's, but choose to serve as a CCVMF Director representing MOAA. In addition to my 5 years as a CCVMF board member, I was also elected CCVMF President in 2006 and served in that position until 2009. 4. The Arkansas State University Beck PRIDE Center -- Personal Rehabilitation, Individual Development;, and Education. Mission: To provide combat wounded veterans with first /class educational services at Arkansas State University, assistance with access to the college experience; advocacy, counseling, personal rehabilitation, and financial assistance; to support veterans in achieving their individual post service goals. Appointed a member of the first Beck PRIDE Center's National Advisory Council in 2008, and I remain a member of the council today. Worked through MOAA National to get Susan Ton mon, Director of the Beck PRIDE Center, invited to the 2009 MOAA National Defense Forum in Washington, D.C. The theme of the '09 Forum was Support for "Wounded Warriors" outside of DOD and the VA. While there, I also provided her an opportunity o brief the MOAA National President, Vice Admiral Norb Ryan, USN-Ret. on the work that the PRIDE Center was providing here at ASU. I 1 At Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. on the way home after the Forum, I had a chance meeting with the Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. During our conversation there, he mentioned that the State had recently received some money from· a successful lawsuit against several out-of-state "Payday Lenders" in 2008. He mentioned that military personnel were frequent victims of the outrageous interest rates that these organizations were charging. He asked me what I thought w:'ould be an appropriate way to get some of that money back to the State's veterans. So I invited him to visit the Beck PRIDE Center for al tour and briefing at his first opportunity. Shortly thereafter, he made the visit and was briefed by Dr. Susan Hanrahan, Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions an Susan Tonymon. The end result was a $34,700 grant for the PRIDE Center from the Attorney General.

Summary of Civic Activities and Contributions Jonesboro US Jaycees, 1971-74. I was elected as the club External Vice President in 1972 and 1973. I chaired a Jaycee committee to co4duct various fund-raising activities to purchase playground equipment and created a small "neighborhood park'' for area children. As a result this project and other JC efforts, I was selected for "Outstanding Young Men of America" in 1974. I " Jonesboro Kiwanis Club, 2007 - present. I'm an active member of this club and currently serve on the Board of Directors. I also served on the Kiwanis Club Scholarship Committee. Annually, we award three $1,000 scholarships to a student from three local high schools in Jonesboro who will be attending ASU.

List of Awards and Honors:

 Arkansas State University Distinguished Alumni Award, 1997. This award is given to an ASU alumni based upon distinguished community service, professional achievement, or service to Arkansas State University. Also selected in 1997 were Jerry Bookout, former State Representative/State Senator and Mike Gibson, past Chairman of the ASU Board of Trustees.

ASU ROTC Hall of Heroes, 1995. This recognition is reserved for ASU ROTC graduates based upon valor in combat (Silver Star or higher), significant professional achievement in Government or Military Service, or being a significant financial benefactor to the ASU ROTC program.