Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs has recently appointed retired Rear Adm. W. Kent Davis to be its next commissioner.
An active duty veteran of both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, Davis has experience in all service branches, serving a total of over 30 years in the military with more than 11 years of active duty, according to the Alabama Political Reporter.
Davis is one of a few service members who have served as an Army field grade officer and a Navy senior officer. He also was a Navy supply corps officer and served as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Navy Reserve.
“After serving his country in multiple branches of the military over the course of his distinguished career, Adm. Davis has proven himself as an excellent selection to serve as the next commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. “I commend the hard work of the State Board of Veterans Affairs Search Committee for recommending our next VA leader. I know that Adm. Davis will take his broad spectrum of experience and apply it well to help the honorable men and women of Alabama who have so proudly served in uniform.”
Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Louisiana State University in 1985 and received a law degree from Georgia State University in 1998.
Davis served in several other positions throughout his military career, such as a U.S. Army judge advocate, attorney adviser within the Department of Homeland Security, labor and employment law attorney, senior legal counsel at FEMA Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, U.S. Detention Operations director of public affairs in Afghanistan, vice chief of information in the Navy Officer of Information at the Pentagon, outreach officer for the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery and city manager of the city of Anniston.
“As a veteran myself, I understand the importance of providing help to the hundreds of thousands of Alabamians who have served in uniform,” Davis said. “It is an honor to have been chosen for this new post. I appreciate the confidence in me shown by Gov. Ivey and the State Board of Veterans Affairs. I will work hard each day to ensure the veterans of Alabama are treated with the utmost respect and granted the care they so greatly deserve.”