Walker To Begin Reviewing Candidates For National Guard Post

Since the election, new Gov. Bill Walker has been piecing together his cabinet. But a few positions still remain in question. Key among these is the job of National Guard adjutant general, who also serves as commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Download Audio

Walker’s Republican predecessor Sean Parnell was in the process of finding a new adjutant general at the time of the election. Parnell had asked then-adjutant general Thomas Katkus to resign in September, because of a devastating federal report on sexual assault and favoritism in the Guard. Second-in-command Mike Bridges was promoted to the position in an acting role.

Bridges remains in the position today, but Walker says he will be reviewing candidates for the job next week and that a decision should be made shortly after.

“It’s in the works,” says Walker. “We expect that probably in the next 30 days.”

Walker says he plans to meet with the investigating team from the National Guard Bureau on Monday. He says they will start by looking at the applicant pool collected by Parnell before he considers soliciting additional names.

“Well, we want to see first what the group was that was brought to us,” says Walker. “We haven’t gone through that yet, and also the process that was used. We want to make sure that it was broad enough to include Alaskans as well.”

Walker has also kept Parnell’s education commissioner, Mike Hanley, and his environmental conservation commissioner, Larry Hartig, in acting roles. At a press availability on Tuesday, Walker said he was “seriously considering keeping both of them” in permanent roles.