BIO

Lieutenant Colonel Payne received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Middle Tennessee State University and commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army on 11 May 1979.  He attended Army flight training at Fort Rucker, AL and graduated in 1980.  His assignments included Platoon Leader, Operations Officer, Airfield Commander, Executive Officer, and Commander of aviation units in the U.S. and Europe.  He concluded his aviation career flying for the Special Operations Command out of Tampa, Florida.  In 1995, he was assigned as Professor of Military Science and Leadership at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY.  His last assignment was as Chief of Training and Chief of Staff at the U.S. Army Cadet Command Headquarters serving and supporting some 132 university Senior ROTC and 760 JROTC programs in the Eastern U.S.  His professional military schooling included the Armor Officer’s Basic Course, Aviation Officer’s Advanced Course, Combined Officer’s Staff Course, the Command and General Staff Officer’s Course, and the Army Aviation Safety Officer’s Course.  He earned a Masters Degree in Business from Boston University.  For the last ten years, LTC Payne has continued to serve by teaching young people how to become better citizens as a Senior Army Instructor (SAI) in the Junior Army Reserve Officer Training Program (JROTC).

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