Major General Bret Daugherty, former adjutant general for Washington state, retired on Saturday. Brigadier General Gent Welsh, recently appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee, assumed his command.
Washington’s adjutant general leads the Washington Military Department, which includes the state’s Emergency Management Division and Washington Youth Challenge Academy, and commands the Washington Army National Guard and Air National Guard.
Daugherty’s 44-year career started as a young ROTC Pathfinder, where he helped rescue a climber on Mount St. Helens. In the Army, he flew a Cobra helicopter and contributed to the Army’s night vision and desert fighting doctrine. Over the course of 23 military assignments, he rose to the rank of Washington’s adjutant general, serving 12 years while directing National Guard responses to floods, wildfires, derailments, riots, a pandemic, and disasters of every sort.
Over his own 35 years and 15 military assignments, the new adjutant general Welsh has been decorated with the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters, and among other outstanding distinctions.
