ADVA Welcomes New Top Boss
The Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) welcomed its 3rd Secretary, Robert Ator II, on Thursday, January 2.
Ator, a retired Air Force Colonel, replaces Major General (Ret.) Kendall Penn, who retired on December 31. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed him as ADVA Cabinet Secretary effective January 1, 2025.
I recently sat down with Secretary Ator to discuss his plans for the agency, top priorities, and how he received his unique call sign as an Air Force pilot.
Q. You’ve served our nation and the state of Arkansas for many years. What were your initial thoughts when you received the call from the Governor to serve in this position?
A. I was incredibly humbled. Initially, it started with me trying to help the Governor find a new Secretary. Much of the conversation was about what characteristics were needed in a new Secretary. She invited me to the Governor’s mansion and wanted to have a conversation where she asked me to serve in this role. I was and still am incredibly humbled by her trust and her desire to commit the State to the service of our Veterans. Being asked to serve our veterans is a very high calling, and I was absolutely blown away by her asking me to do this.
Q. I know there is a learning curve with each new leadership position you’ve held. What do you think your top priorities will be?
A. My style is to try and learn. I don’t want to prejudge anything before talking to the team and finding their struggles and what they’re trying to achieve to move the ball forward for the veterans in the state. The Governor was very explicit about her desire to expand our services to our Veterans. We provide a lot of end-of-life care through our veteran's homes and cemeteries, and we cannot fail at that. The Governor also said, and I agree with her, that we can continue improving our services to veterans who have not reached that point in their lives. It means helping them when they leave the uniform. Additionally, we want to provide avenues to get them into the workforce. We have a unique group of people who possess every soft skill you would want out of an employee and are more educated than they’ve ever been in the history of our country. They’re highly motivated and responsive, which is needed to fill vacancies and help grow our economy. We have a duty to help reintegrate them into the civilian world and ensure they live their best lives.
Q. You’ve served all over the world and held several leadership positions. How is this role a bit more personal to you?
A. Everyone who wore the uniform did so “to serve,” which shouldn’t be lost on any citizen. They each served us in their own individual ways. It could mean that they were deployed and not there for family events or serving on weekends or a state emergency as a guardsman, and they were all the way serving in combat and dealing with everything that comes with that. These people have earned everything that this state and country can provide. We need to keep the faith with them. Being in service of those who served us is profound, and again, I don’t think there is any higher calling. It’s easy for me to get motivated to get up in the morning to do the job. It is a bit personal for me as I grew up as a military brat. My father was an Air Force fighter pilot who served in Vietnam. I grew up all over the world, and serving in uniform is something I wanted to do because that’s what I was taught. Most of my family served in the military, and now my son and daughter-in-law are both currently serving on active duty.
Q. Air Force pilots are given call signs. How does that process work, and what is your call sign?
A. Everyone knows me as Gator. Honestly, the call sign process is done through a naming ceremony, and 99 percent of the time it is because of something you goofed up. Usually, it will be covered up in some way, so you have to explain why that is your call sign. Truly, I got off easy. Mine was given because nobody could pronounce my last name. It’s only four little letters. They would try to call me A-tor or At-or, and finally, everyone realized it is pronounced as gator without the g letter. My daughter-in-law is an intel officer in Alaska. She is a big Star Wars fan, so her call sign is Darth.
Q. Do you still fly as a hobby, or do you have other activities you enjoy?
A. Yes, I do still fly. We have a little Piper Cherokee Six that I’m in with three other Air Force buddies, so we still fly on the general aviation side. Flying is just one of those really fun skills to possess. It’s a great way to get away from the noise of life, such as phone calls or texts. Beyond that, I married a Colorado girl, Michelle, and she’s got to be outside. We have an RV now, so we do a lot of camping, play golf, and ride bikes. If it’s outside, we’re doing it.
Secretary Ator is a 1989 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. After completing his degree, he attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. He has held numerous leadership positions during his career and has received multiple military awards and decorations. You can read his full bio by clicking here.
Story by Mark Woodall