Veterans' Mental Health and Leadership Challenges

In October 2024, Gov. Kay Ivey used her "supreme executive power of this state" to unilaterally fire then-Alabama Department of Veteran Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis.

Quite a saga led up to this unceremonious removal of the beloved ADVA commissioner, and many questions remain on whether Ivey has the authority to terminate a state agency head that serves at the pleasure of an appointed board of directors, in this case the State Board of Veterans Affairs.

A similar situation arose in the COVID pandemic years when the state health officer, who acts as the head of the Alabama Department of Public Health, Scott Harris, came under fire for his tyrannical measures in response to the virus. The governor's office claimed there was nothing Ivey could do, as an appointed board of directors chooses the state health officer, not the governor. Ivey claimed her hands were tied, so much so that legislation was passed to give the governor some authority over who the state health officer is in case another pandemic or health crisis arises.

The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that Ivey had the authority to fire Scott Harris all along and chose not to, or she didn't have the authority to fire Kent Davis, but did it anyway.

This week Bryan Dawson sits down with former ADVA Commissioner Rear Admiral Kent Davis to hear the entire story from his perspective.

Overtime: War stories with Admiral Davis ... and they involve Hunter Biden!

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