43
First woman named to Guard position
Photo
SNP
Hilliard resident and Ohio National Guard Col. Deborah A. Ashenhurst, 51, has been appointed by Gov.-elect John Kasich to serve as Ohio's new adjutant general. She will succeed Maj. Gen. Gregory Wayt, of Hilliard, appointed in 2004 by former Gov. Bob Taft. The announcement was made Tuesday, Dec. 14 at the Joint Safety Services Building in Hilliard.
Associated Press
COLUMBUS
Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich has named Col. Deborah Ashenhurst as the state’s next commander of the Ohio National Guard. Ashenhurst will be the state’s first female adjutant general, and one of two women serving in the role nationally. The other is Brig. Gen. Mary Kight of California.
Ashenhurst is commander of the 73rd Troop Command operating out of Rickenbacker Air Base in Columbus. She will replace Adjutant General Gregory Wayt.
Kasich announced Ashenhurst’s selection at a news conference Tuesday in her hometown of Hilliard in suburban Columbus. She is eighth person he has named to his Cabinet and the first woman.
Kasich says he is excited to see his administration making history with the appointment.
Also, Kasich is poised to select the state watchdog as his director of public safety, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Inspector General Tom Charles will be named Thursday as head of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which includes the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, said the person, who requested anonymity because the decision hadn’t been made public.
Charles’ office this year led a high-profile investigation of the agency he will now head. The probe centered on the role of then- Director Cathy Collins-Taylor in calling off a law enforcement sting at Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland’s residence in Bexley, a Columbus suburb.
The investigation concluded that Collins-Taylor obstructed the probe and lied under oath when interviewed by investigators.
Collins-Taylor denied the findings, which hurt Strickland.