Mayor will chair military advisory group
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on March 17, 2010 1:46 PM
Just a few weeks after longtime Seymour Johnson Air Force Base advocate Troy Pate Jr. resigned from his post as chairman of the governor's North Carolina Advisory Commission on Military Affairs, his replacement was named by Gov. Beverly Perdue.
But the governor did not look far beyond Pate's front door for his successor.
Goldsboro Mayor Al King -- a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel -- will take the reins.
"Al King has served his city, state and nation proudly as a 20-year Air Force veteran, public servant, mayor of military friendly Goldsboro, and as a member of the (commission)," Gov. Perdue's spokesperson Justin Guillory said Tuesday evening. "Gov. Perdue is confident he will continue to serve our state well as chair."
The NCACMA was established to lead the effort to support and sustain the military in North Carolina, by advising both the governor and the secretary of commerce on how best to protect the state's existing military infrastructure and to promote new military missions and economic opportunities for the state.
The commission consists of 21 members appointed by the governor, the president pro tem of the Senate and the speaker of the House, and several ex officio members, including the commanding officer of each of the installations in the state.
Members of the group were and will be heavily involved in the Base Realignment and Closure Commission process and continue to advocate and promote policy to maintain North Carolina's reputation as military friendly.
King was not available for comment by press time -- he was a member of the delegation that traveled to Washington, D.C., Tuesday to lobby elected officials for support on several downtown projects.