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A nearly retired colonel who has served with the four largest branches of the U.S. military is now chief of staff at NGAUS.
Col. Paul Drake IV, who is in his first week at the National Guard Memorial, the association’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., is a 1992 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.
He served in the Marine Corps for six years before entering the Georgia Air National Guard in 1998 and then transferring to his home state of Mississippi in 2002.
While a member of the Mississippi Air Guard, he completed the Army Electronic Warfare Officer Course at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in 2007, and deployed to Iraq to serve as the electronic warfare officer with an active-component Army infantry battalion.
In his most recent assignment, he was the first Air Guard instructor at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Among the courses Drake taught was How Congress Runs, an elective he said was intended to provide students with the background and skills to be more effective in a wide range of interactions with the legislative branch.
Now, he works just a short walk away from Capitol Hill.
“I believe passionately in the NGAUS mission and appreciate the opportunity to play a small part in the association’s future accomplishments on behalf of the National Guard,” Drake said.
He is also familiar with the workings of NGAUS. A longtime association member, he is a former president of the National Guard Association of Mississippi.
“Paul brings added intellect, energy and a wide range of experience to the staff,” said retired Brig. Gen. J. Roy Robinson, the NGAUS president, who has known Drake for many years. “We are very fortunate to have him.”
Drake officially retires Feb. 1 after nearly 30 years in uniform. He is currently on terminal leave.
He replaced retired Lt. Col. Robert “Jake” Jakubek, who is now the association’s vice president for business development and the general conference.
Jakubek’s staff includes Barbara Scott, the new industry liaison.
In other staff moves, Luke Guthrie returns to be the director of the National Guard Educational Foundation and the NGAUS Insurance Trust and Kevin Brown moves from an analyst on the legislative staff to the archivist and museum specialist for NGEF.
