Col. Jeffrey D. Wood, a longtime legal officer and former state representative, will be promoted to brigadier general in the Arkansas National Guard during a ceremony on Aug. 2. He will also assume the role of deputy adjutant general, one of the highest-ranking positions in the state's military organization.
Wood began his military career in 2000 as an enlisted administrative specialist before commissioning as a first lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 2004 after graduating from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Bowen School of Law.
Over the past two decades, he has served in a variety of legal and leadership roles, including as a judge advocate and deputy state judge advocate at Joint Force Headquarters and as brigade judge advocate in the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He was also the founding senior defense counsel for the 326th Trial Defense Team.
In 2018, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Wood as the state judge advocate, a role he continued under Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. On the federal level, he was appointed by then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper as the Convening Authority for Military Commissions in 2020. He held the position for more than three and a half years, making him the longest-serving person in the history of the Military Commissions.
Wood deployed to Iraq in 2008 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and took part in domestic emergency operations during Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey.
His academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts in political science, a Master of Business Administration, and a Juris Doctor—all from UA Little Rock—as well as a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, where he graduated with distinction.
In his civilian career, Wood has held several leadership roles in state government, including Chief of Staff for the Arkansas Department of the Military and Deputy Chief Counsel at the Department of Human Services. He also served three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives and has practiced law with a focus on commercial litigation and bankruptcy.
A native of Newport, Arkansas, Wood now resides in Little Rock.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Former enlisted soldier to become brigadier general in Arkansas ANG
Comments