New adjutant general named for Nebraska National Guard

LINCOLN, NEB. — Gov. Dave Heineman named Brig. Gen. Daryl L. Bohac on Monday to serve as the new adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, a command that oversees more than 4,600 Army and Air Guard personnel throughout the state.

Bohac, of Waverly, was one of three candidates who interviewed for the job, Heineman said at a news conference. The 52-year-old will officially assume his duties Sunday at a ceremony in Lincoln.

“I’m very impressed with his leadership skills, and one thing that’s very, very important to the Guard — he cares about the men and women serving and their families,” Heineman said.

Bohac has served in the military for 35 years, including 31 with the Nebraska National Guard. He will replace outgoing Maj. Gen. Judd Lyons, who is taking a new job as deputy director of the U.S. Army National Guard in Arlington, Va.

The adjutant general serves as the senior uniformed officer responsible for leading more than 4,600 Army and Air National Guard personnel in Nebraska. Bohac will also become the director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, working with the state civilian employees who are assigned to handle emergency preparedness and disaster responses. The position is part of the governor’s cabinet.

Bohac said he planned to focus on retention within the Guard to offset an expected loss in deployment experience.

“We have to find ways to keep the men and women who have enlisted to serve their state and nation engaged in ways that are meaningful, and have purpose for them, so they’ll want to stay around,” he said.

Bohac has served in the military since 1978, serving first as an enlisted member of the Marine Corps Reserve in Omaha and later in a Lincoln-based vehicle maintenance branch of the Nebraska Air National Guard. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1988. He was appointed as the Air National Guard’s director of staff in 2007, serving in that role until he became the assistant adjutant general in April 2010.

Bohac was deployed as a senior adviser to Al Adeid Air Base in Qatar from December 2008 to May 2009, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Bohac was born in Malcolm, near Lincoln. His annual salary will be $101,522.

He and his wife, Kristie, live in Waverly and have two children. Bohac is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, having earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a doctorate in psychology.