Owner/OperatorPennington Farms, Inc.
Lieutenant Colonel A. Spence Pennington served 12 years on active duty and is in his fifth year as an Air Force Reservist. He is the Commander of the 433d Maintenance Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio Lackland, Texas. He is responsible for directing the efforts of 200 Airmen sustaining flying operations and back shop maintenance for C-5M aircraft supporting airlift and flying training unit missions—the Air Force’s only dual mission unit.
Spence operates his family’s 15,000-acre family farm in deep south Texas. Pennington Farms, Inc., El Jardin Partnership, and A. Spence Pennington Farms make up the operation. Alongside his wife Emily, his parents, and a brother and sister, Spence raises Brangus cattle and grows cotton, sugarcane, grain sorghum, corn, and sesame seed. The farm is both irrigated and dryland and is a certified sustainable cotton operation. His farming career officially began at age 13 when he started farming 15 acres of row crops and raising cattle for 4-H and FFA projects. While away at college and serving in the military, Spence focused on the research and development and returned each year to aid in planting and harvest. He returned to the farm full time in 2015.
Born in Harlingen, Texas, Spence later graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and was commissioned in 2003 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Texas A&M University. He received his Masters of Military Operational Art and Science from the Air Command and Staff College. Spence is a senior aircraft maintenance officer with experience on 12 different airframes. He is a graduate and past instructor of the U.S. Air Force Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School and has deployed in support of OEF/OIF, Unified Assistance, Noble Eagle, and numerous joint and multinational exercises.
Spence serves as an Alternate to the Board of Cotton Incorporated, as a Board Member of the Willacy County Farm Bureau, member of the Factory Operations Committee of the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, a member of the Willacy County Drainage Task Force, and is a Class Agent for the Class of 2003 from Texas A&M.