May 11, 2017
LITTLE ROCK – Greg Rae was promoted today to colonel to lead the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Enforcement Division. He succeeds Pat Fitts, who recently was promoted to assistant deputy director at the agency.
“Greg has continuously demonstrated his abilities while serving in multiple leadership positions within the Enforcement Division throughout his career with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission,” Fitts said. “Most recently, his service as major demonstrated very clearly that he possesses the dedication and vision to meet the challenges that are common in the law enforcement field.”
Rae, 48, says he told his father he wanted to be a game warden when he was 14 during a Colorado mule deer hunt. “Thirteen years later, my dream came true,” said Rae, who was born in Denver. He came to the profession naturally; his father was a sheriff.
Rae began working with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in 1989, and attended the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy while he was a deputy sheriff. He was hired by the AGFC in 1995 and was assigned to Montgomery County, where he worked for 22 years. Rae became a lieutenant in 2003, was promoted to captain in 2011 and moved to AGFC headquarters in Little Rock as a major in 2016.
“I worked alongside some great leaders while there this past 15 months and, with those experiences, my wife, my son and a whole lot more prayer, I threw my name in the hat for colonel,” Rae said. “It is a decision that wasn’t made lightly; it is a position that I never imagined myself being in but always admired and respected.”
Rae and other AGFC wildlife officers have seen their jobs evolve over the years.
“Our job duties have changed drastically since I started in 1995,” Rae said. “When beginning my career, it was just being a game warden. Since then, we are heavily involved with every aspect of law enforcement duties.”
Rae is a graduate of the Criminal Justice Institute/UALR School for Law Enforcement Supervision and the FBI National Academy.
“Regardless of his rank with this agency, and throughout his career as a wildlife officer, Greg has consistently demonstrated a true heart for public service that will serve him well as he steps into this new role,” Fitts said.
Rae’s aspirations have led him to this point.
“I was always told to find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life; that’s the case for me,” Rae said. “I couldn’t be more proud to be selected to lead these extraordinary men and women of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Law Enforcement Division.”