By Capt. Rob Cooley, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="380"]
Maj. Bobbie Mayes, commander of the Kentucky National Guard's Officer Candidate School at the Kentucky State Capitol building, Sept. 27, 2015. The graduation ceremony was Mayes' last as commander as she relinquish the position this fall. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Rob Cooley)
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Maj. Bobbie Mayes, the first Kentucky National Guard female Officer Candidate School commander, 238th Regimental Training Institute, reviewed the final school graduation of her command at the Kentucky State Capitol Sept., 27, 2015.
“As the OCS commander I’ve been able to mold the captains and lieutenants who mold the future officers and warrant officers,” said Mayes.
Mayes said this class has been special. “This class has been very diverse, from education, occupation and gender,” she said.
Mayes started with the OCS Program in 2004 as a Teach Assess Counsel (TAC), a position now referred to as platoon trainer.
“As a TAC officer, I remember long sun-up to sun-down days molding the Kentucky National Guard’s future leaders, teaching them Operation Orders, Troop Leading Procedures, and Individual Movement Techniques,” she said.
In 2007, she left the OCS program to serve a three-year tour as the company commander of the 940th Military Police Company. She deployed in 2011 with the Kentucky National Guard Agriculture Development Team. She returned to the 238th in 2011, first as a staff training officer then commander.
Mayes said she is as optimistic about the future of the newly commissioned officers as she is her own. In her next assignment as the personnel officer for the 238th RTI, she will continue to support the careers of those assigned to the 238th.