Chaplain Ken Daft began his military career in January 1968 by enlisting in the Army as a Pershing Missile Guidance and Control Repairman (21H20). Following his training for 32 weeks at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, he was assigned to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma for a few months before his transfer to Neu Ulm, Germany where he served his last two years of active duty.
Following his completion of college and seminary in 1977 and at the encouragement from Chaplain Fred Ketner, Chaplain Daft applied for chaplaincy in the Ohio Army National Guard and was accessioned 1 February 1979. During his 27-year old career he served as chaplain for the 112th Transportation Battalion (Middletown), the 737th Maintenance Battalion (Newark), the 216th Engineer Battalion (Portsmouth), the 134th Engineer Group (Hamilton), the 112th Medical Brigade (Columbus), and the State Headquarters (Columbus) as State Chaplain appointed by BG John S. Martin in 1995.
In April 2004, Chaplain Daft became the first full-time Ohio Army National Guard Chaplain and served in that capacity until his retirement in July of this year.
Significant contributions include his being the second recipient of the Honorary Master Badge Recruiter for having 100% fill for chaplains for 10 consecutive years. Chaplain Daft was invited by Chaplain (COL) John Ellington to active duty in December 2003 to the National Guard Bureau to help formulate an emergency response capability for National Guard chaplains nationwide which culminated in Chaplain Daft’s deployment to Operation Katrina in August 2005.
Chaplain Daft is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, the Advanced Critical Incident Stress Management Course, the Prevention and Relationship and Enhancement Program, and the Applied Suicide Incident and Sustainment Training Course.
Military decoration include the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Army Achievement Medal, and the Ohio Distinguished Service Medal.
He and his wife, Linda, currently live in Marysville, Ohio where Chaplain Daft now serves as the Senior Pastor of the United Methodist Church there. They are the proud parents of four sons, Doug, Jason, Brian, and Jonathan; three of whom currently serve in the Ohio Air National Guard.
