Board of Directors and Staff

The AAST National Board of Directors consists of seven (7) officers, namely the President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Third Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Immediate Past President, as well as a number of state directors. Each member of the National Board of Directors has one vote and the power to propose changes to policies of the Association and to adopt, change, or amend, the articles of incorporation and the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association.

President Keith Barbier
Keith Barbier retired in 2011 after 33 years with the Texas Department of Public Safety, serving his last years as a lieutenant with the Criminal Intelligence Service. He previously served as AAST's First Vice President and the Texas state director. He is married and has two daughters.

First Vice President Jeffrey Lane
1st Sgt. Jeffrey Lane has served with the Virginia State Police for 23 years and also served for two years as AAST's Virginia state director. He and wife, Judy, have two children.

Second Vice President Christian Ricks
Christian T. "Chris" Ricks lives in Jefferson City, Missouri, and recently retired from the Missouri Highway Patrol after a distinguished 35 year career. He has been a member of AAST since 2002. Chris also serves as Chairman of the AAST Scholarship Foundation Board of Directors.

Third Vice President Claude I. Johnson
Claude retired in 1990 as assistant director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation after 27 years of service. Claude was the first African American trooper hired in Tennessee in the south in 1965 and is currently deputy administrator for the Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court. He previously served 11 years as AAST's national second vice president. He is married to Kirunda and has one son and two grandchildren.

Secretary Kenneth Musick
Kenneth Musick has been a member of the Texas Department of Public Safety since 1990. He is a Captain, currently assigned to the Deputy Director's Staff in the Leadership and Operational Review Unit. He has a son, who is also a Texas State Trooper, and a daughter.

Treasurer J. D. Johnson
Sgt. James D. "J.D." Johnson, a 22-year veteran of the Florida Highway Patrol, served as the AAST Florida financial director for eight years and state director for six years before being elected national treasurer. AAST's longest-serving member nationwide, J.D. is currently stationed in Marianna. He and wife, Laurie, have two daughters.

State Directors

Alabama State Director Clarence M. "Bubba" Blue, III

Arizona State Director Michael D. Bonin
In 1985 Michael was hired by the Arizona Department of Public Safety as a uniformed patrolman for the Phoenix Metropolitan Patrol Bureau. He was promoted to sergeant in 1994 and assigned to the Narcotics Enforcement Bureau along the Colorado River Region in Parker and Lake Havasu City. He has held supervisor assignments in general investigations in Mohave and La Paz counties with the Concealed Weapons Permit Unit, the Professional Standards Unit, the Public Information Office, and the Human Resources Bureau. For the last five years of his career, Michael was assigned to the Gang Intelligence and Immigration Team Enforcement Mission (GIITEM) as the State Gang Task Force Undercover Squad supervisor. He retired from the department in May 2011.

California State Director Gordon A. Koolman
I was appointed to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in 1965 and attended the CHP academy in Sacramento Ca. Upon graduation I was assigned to the San Francisco Area. I later went to advanced motorcycle training and was assigned to motorcycle duty in San Francisco Area, which covered the Oakland Bay Bridge San Francisco and the East Bay. In 1968 I obtained a transfer to the San Luis Obispo Area and assigned to the Paso Robles Substation (later it became the Templeton Area). While assigned to the Templeton Area Office I was the Weanons/Range Officer, Division Bomb instructor, and Associate member of the Multi Accident Investigation Team.

In 1975 I became the California Association of Highway Patrolman (CAHP) Area representative for the Templeton Area. In 1987 I was elected to the CAHP Board of Directors in Sacramento Ca., where I was elected to hold the position of Sect/Treasurer, Vice President and then President. After retirement I was elected to be the CAHP Director of Retired for over 5600 CHP retirees through the United States, a post I hold today.

I retired from the California Highway Patrol in 1997 after 32 years of service. I was rehired as a retired annuitant and traveled the State teaching California Resident Foreign Registration (CRFR) and have been doing CRFR investigations and enforcement to date.

I have been the California Director for the American Association of State Trooper since 2003.

Connecticut State Director Sean Connelly
Trooper Sean Connelly, a member of the Connecticut State Police since 2005, is a second generation Connecticut State Trooper. He is currently assigned to Troop I in Bethany under the office of Field Operations.

Sean's father retired from the Connecticut State Police after 24 years of service and passed his Badge (#960) down to his son. Prior to becoming a Trooper, Sean was a local police officer in the town of North Haven for 6 years.

Florida State Director John Bagnardi

Georgia State Director Lee Burch
25 years combined service with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia State Patrol. Retired SFC. Post Commander. B.S. degree from Jacksonville State University, Alabama

Idaho State Director Rick Wright

Indiana State Director Noel Houze, Jr.
Noel Houze, a second generation Indiana State Trooper, graduated from the 42nd Indiana State Police Recruit Academy in November of 1984 and was assigned the Seymour District. After a little over two years he transferred back to his home district of Versailles. In 1994 he was promoted to Squad Sergeant and served as a field supervisor for the next 12 years when he then transferred into ISP's Public Information Office. He now serves as the PIO/Recruiter for the Versailles District. Noel has a BS Degree in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University and attended the 102nd session of the Northwestern University Traffic Institute-School of Police Staff and Command in 1996. He and his wife Susan have two daughters, two grandsons and one granddaughter.

Iowa State Director Mark Probst
Capt. Mark Probst is a 29-year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol and currently serves as the Fleet and Supply Commander for the department. In addition, he oversees the patrol's tactical teams, serving as their state coordinator, having spent his entire career as a member of these tactical teams in a number of roles. He served as the Iowa public information director for AAST before becoming the state director. Mark is a graduate of Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command, Class 214. He has two children.

Kansas State Director Steven Jensen
Steven retired from the Kansas Highway Patrol in March 2002, after serving 29 years. He served as the Public Relations Officer for the Metro Kansas City Area for over 20 years. He presently serves as the President of the Uniform Safety Education Officers, Inc., which holds an annual conference on Highway Safety Presentations. Steve has been married for 34 years, has three children and one wonderful grandson.

Kentucky State Director Tim Hazlette
Tim Hazlette is a native of Kentucky where he was reared and educated in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern portion of the state. Upon graduation from the University of Kentucky in 1978, he joined the Kentucky State Police as a Police Radio Dispatcher stationed at the Pikeville Post. He entered Cadet Trooper School in 1979, graduating in January 1980 and being assigned to Post 9 in Pikeville, KY.

In 2003, he retired at the rank of Colonel after 25 ½ years of service with the Kentucky State Police. During his tenure with the State Police he served in every permanent and appointed rank within the department prior to attaining the rank of Colonel. Hazlette’s career involved the research, develop and implement many programs for the Kentucky State Police in addition to operational commands at two field posts . Among those accomplishments was the national accreditation of the department by The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). He was tasked with leading that initiative and KSP was awarded accreditation in 2003. Other programmatic areas he has been directly involved in were Leadership Development training course development; allocation of manpower model development; crime prevention strategies and initiatives; and school safety initiatives.

Since retirement from KSP, Hazlette has continued to work in the public safety field serving at the Center for Rural Development; in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet working in areas of human resource management, employee safety and health and fleet management; and eighteen months as Commissioner of Transportation Safety providing oversight to the Division of Highway Safety Programs, the Division of Highway Safety Administration and the Division of Transportation Security - a new agency created within the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet; at the Kentucky School Boards Association as a Risk Control and Safety Specialist assisting local school districts to address their liability, fleet, and workers compensation insurance needs in addition to their campus safety and security issues; and as a consultant/investigator assisting local government entities with management evaluations, policy development, and state-level accreditation. In addition, Hazlette has continued his association with CALEA as a team member and leader, participating in 17 assessments over the past eight years.

He has served as an adjunct faculty member for Eastern Kentucky University, Department of Police Studies in the College of Justice and Safety and as a Graduated Divers License Program Instructor teaching traffic safety classes at area high schools.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture Education from the University of Kentucky (1978) and earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Kentucky State University (1988). In addition, he is an alumnus of Leadership Kentucky class of 1993.

Louisiana State Director R. Adam White
Adam is a second generation Louisiana state trooper. Hired in 1986, he worked uniformed patrol in the Baton Rouge area for two years before transferring into criminal investigations. Having years of experience in detectives, narcotics, and intelligence investigations, in 2006 Adam advanced to the rank of major as Command Inspector in charge of the Louisiana State Police Criminal Investigative Program. In January 2009 Adam was transferred to Operational Support Services and now oversees the State Police Crime Lab, Technical Services, which includes Criminal Records, Traffic Records, Concealed Handgun Permits, and State Police Communications, as well as Fleet Services and Supply. He holds a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy 191st Session.

Massachusetts State Director Francis J. McVeigh, Jr.
Frank was a Massachusetts State Trooper for twenty one years, serving from June 1966 until his retirement in September 1987. He is currently a Licensed Private Detective with his own business. He is a Past President of the Licensed Private Detective Association of Massachusetts. Frank also serves as a Board Director of the Former Massachusetts State Troopers Association and a Board Director for for the Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center. Frank created and is presently the Owner and Moderator of the MSPNET (Massachusetts State Police Network) for retirees as well as current Troopers. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Retired Troopers Association.

North Carolina State Director Carolyn Logan
Carolyn Green Logan retired from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol in 2007 after 30 years of law enforcement. Carolyn was the Traffic Safety Information Sergeant for Troop H. She was the first black female trooper in the state of North Carolina, and at the time of her retirement was the senior female member, and the first female to retire as a trooper with 30 years of law enforcement service from the NCSHP. Retired Sergeant Logan has been a member of AAST since 2004. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, has three children, and is a devoted New York Yankees fan. Carolyn is writing a book about her career and teaches driving at CPCC.

Pennsylvania State Director Jim Emigh
Lt. Jim Emigh has been a member of the Pennsylvania State Police since 1991 and currently serves as the station commander of the Troop G- Rockview Station. He became state director of the AAST Pennsylvania chapter in 2010 when Frank Thomas completed a 10-year term as state director. Jim and wife, Roxann, have four sons.

South Carolina State Director Bryan McDougald

Tennessee State Director Robert F. Yoakum
Robert retired from the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 1995 with the rank of Lieutenant after 35 years of service. He is AAST's longest serving state director nationwide and currently serves on the Scholarship Foundation Board of Directors. While employed with the THP, he taught in numerous recruit and in service schools. He received training in VIP/dignitary protection, interviewing and interrogation techniques, criminal investigations and was a certified firearms instructor. He has two children and two granddaughters.

Virginia State Director James E. Clare, Jr.
James E. Clare, a 41-year veteran of the Virginia State Police, retired January 2009 at the rank of lieutenant. He spent 15 years of his career in the Executive Protective Unit and most recently served as the department's Staff Inspection Manager. He has served as the AAST Virginia State Director for three years. He and wife, Anita, have two children and three grandchildren.

Wyoming State Director Carla L. Nichols