Brent R. Taylor

Brent Russell Taylor (July 6, 1979 – November 3, 2018) was an American politician and Army National Guard officer. He served as mayor of North Ogden, Utah from January 2013 until November 2018, when he was killed while serving in Afghanistan.

Brent R. Taylor
Mayor of North Ogden, Utah
In office
January 14, 2014  November 3, 2018
Preceded byRichard Harris
Succeeded byBrent Chugg
Personal details
Born
Brent Russell Taylor

(1979-07-06)July 6, 1979
Ogden, Utah
DiedNovember 3, 2018(2018-11-03) (aged 39)
Kabul, Afghanistan
Resting placeBen Lomond Cemetery, North Ogden, Utah
Spouse(s)Jennie Ashworth Taylor
Children7
EducationBrigham Young University
University of Utah (MPA)

Biography

Taylor was born in Ogden, Utah.

He graduated from Chandler High School, in Chandler, Arizona, in 1997, where he was student body president.[1]

Taylor was an Eagle Scout. He received his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University, in political science, in 2006, and his master's degree, in public administration from University of Utah. Taylor was working on a doctorate in international relations at University of Utah in 2012.

Taylor served in the Utah Army National Guard for more than 15 years, of which at least 7 were on active duty. He served two tours in Iraq, where he worked as a convoy security commander and later as an advisor to an Iraqi national intelligence agency, and another two in Afghanistan, where he worked as a combat advisor to the Afghan Border Police.[2][3][4]

Major Taylor was a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal.

Taylor was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[5]

Political career

In 2009, Taylor was elected to a four-year term on the North Ogden City Council. He ran for mayor in 2013, receiving 56.79% of the vote, defeating fellow Council Member Wade Bigler.[6] He ran unopposed in 2017 and was re-elected to a second term.[7] On January 5, 2018, Taylor was ordered to deploy to Afghanistan later that month for a period of 400 days.[8] He recommended Brent Chugg to serve as acting mayor during his absence, which was approved by the City Council. Chugg was sworn in on January 19.[9]

Death

On November 3, 2018, a member of the Afghan National Security Forces opened fire at a base near Kabul, where Taylor and other service members were helping to train them. Taylor was killed and another service member was injured. Other Afghan forces returned fire, shooting the gunman.[10][11][12]

On January 8, 2019, Acting Mayor Chugg was chosen to serve out the remainder of Taylor's term.[13]

In February 2019, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution to rename the North Ogden Department of Veterans Affairs Outstation as the Major Brent Taylor Vet Center Outstation. [14]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.