{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=3C6B1B06-35C3-4A59-BCC2-F11763947A01", "Boozman Recognizes Service of Veteran Who Broke Barriers at Arkansas Army National Guard", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "AR", "John Boozman", "B001236", "www.boozman.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator John Boozman recognized the service and sacrifice of Chief Warrant Officer (retired) Pamela Huff in \u2018Salute to Veterans,\u2019 a series recognizing the military service of Arkansans.\r\nHuff graduated from Little Rock\u2019s Hall High School in 1975. Her cousin was interested in enlisting for the Army National Guard and convinced Huff to join her. \u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u201cBelieve it or not I signed up for not only the Arkansas Army National Guard but I also signed up for the Air Force, so I said whichever one calls me the first, that\u2019s the way I\u2019m going,\u201d Huff said.\u00a0\r\nHuff and her cousin went to basic training for the Army National Guard in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Unfortunately, Huff\u2019s cousin had medical issues that prevented her from completing the training.\r\nFollowing basic training, Huff was assigned to Fort Sam Houston, Texas for Advanced Individual Training (AIT) as a dental technician. She used these skills in an Arkansas dentist\u2019s office for a few years before changing careers. Huff was encouraged to explore full-time job opportunities with the Arkansas Army National Guard, something she didn\u2019t know existed.\r\n\u201cI applied for a job at Camp Robinson with Combined Support Maintenance Service,\u201d Huff recalled. \u201cThe job announcement actually said \u2018black hire only.\u2019 All of that was explained to me because of a discrimination suit, so lucky for me that I applied at that time, so I was hired.\u201d She became the second woman to join the department.\r\nHuff was inspired to become an officer. She chose to pursue the track of a warrant officer and along the way broke barriers. While she worked toward achieving this rank, ultimately becoming the first female in the Arkansas Army National Guard to obtain the rank of Chief Warrant Officer Five (CW5), she also became the first black female noncommissioned officer (NCO) instructor at the NCO academy.\u00a0\r\nDuring her assignment with the 119th Personnel Service Company, she learned that her unit would be mobilized for the Gulf War with the possibility of deployment to Iraq. In preparation for deployment, Huff was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.\r\nInstead of deploying overseas, she operated the mobilization station at Fort Sill.\u00a0 \u201cAt the mobilization station, you do everything from A to Z,\u201d Huff said. For her work, she was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.\u00a0\r\nHuff retired earlier this year with more than 40 years of military service.\r\n\u201cI am grateful for Pamela Huff\u2019s dedication and service to our nation. Her memories of military service are an important part of our history and I am pleased to be able to collect and preserve her stories,\u201d Boozman said.\u00a0\r\nBoozman will submit Huff\u2019s entire interview to the Veterans History Project, an initiative of the Library of Congress\u2019s American Folklife Center to collect and retain the oral histories of our nation\u2019s veterans.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=3C6B1B06-35C3-4A59-BCC2-F11763947A01"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.633601961657405, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}