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 (l-r) Lt. Col. Carolyn Peacock, Captain Steve Smith, Lt. Col. Raymond Peacock, Brigadier Emma Irby, Commissioner Linda Bond and Captain Marcia Smith. |
BY OLIVIA YATES –
The Crestmont College chapel was the site of a special service of installation as Commissioner Linda Bond officially welcomed the college’s new leaders, Lt. Colonels Raymond and Carolyn Peacock, as President/Principal and Director of Campus Services.
The new territorial commander reiterated her message to the Peacocks from her own installation on Saturday evening: that the cabinet and administration would support, pray for, and hold them accountable for the training of cadets. Noting the Peacock’s Salvation Army heritage, the commissioner admonished them to “preach what you’ve been taught since childhood,” to train these cadets as Blood and Fire officers.
Responding to Bond’s charge, Lt. Colonel Raymond Peacock said, “At THQ I felt like I gave and gave. In a private devotional, I was reminded that you cannot outgive God. He made it clear that through our new appointment he would be doing the giving. He would give us cadets and staff to love, the opportunity for me to finish my doctorate, and the chance to lead Crestmont at a critical point in its development.”
The Peacocks come to Crestmont from territorial headquarters where they served as secretary for Program and as secretary for Current Issues, Women’s Auxiliaries and Order of the Silver Star. Lt. Colonel Ray Peacock will be the 20th President/Principal of the Western Territory’s Officer Training College, from its earliest days in San Francisco to the current location in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. In fall 2000, the college was officially inaugurated as Crestmont College.