OPINION: Former Kentucky governor testifies to role of military roots in future successes

FORT KNOX, Ky. — On a sunny May afternoon in 1960, Gover­nor Bert T. Combs stood on the grounds of Fort Knox, dedicating a new grave marker for Abraham Lincoln’s grandmother, Bathsheba Lincoln.

The moment, bridging Kentucky’s past and present, also served as a poignant reminder of Combs’s own journey; from a young Army judge advocate to the Commonwealth’s highest office, Combs gravitated back to this familiar military installation as governor years after his formative service in the Nation’s oldest law firm.

Combs’s story is one of coming full circle, a journey that began and ended with service, both in and out of uniform, animated by the desire to be a force for justice.

Born Bert Thomas Combs in 1911 in Manchester, Kentucky, which was tucked away in the lush mountains of eastern Kentucky, academic excellence and a strong work ethic marked his early life. In high school, Combs and his sister rode their pony, lov­ingly named “Turkey,” to school, allowing the horse to graze in the woods near the school.

After graduating from high school, Combs continued his education first at Cumberland College and then at the University of Kentucky Law School, where he graduated second in his class in 1937. This legal education would prove invaluable in his future military and political careers.

When World War II erupted, Combs answered the nation’s call. Leaving his Prestonsburg law practice in September 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a pri­vate.

Combs later said the events at Pearl Harbor stirred his desire to contribute to the war effort by joining the service. So, Combs matriculated into the Army through the Volunteer Officer Candidate program.

Initiated in 1942, the program allowed men who had previously been deferred from military service to apply for officer training. Under this scheme, candidates like Combs could enter basic training with the opportunity to attend Officer Candidate School and retain the option to return to ci­vilian life if not selected or commissioned.

After completing basic training at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, Combs attended Officer Candidate School in 1943 at the Judge Advocate General’s School in Ann Arbor, Michigan for training to become a judge advocate.

Graduating as a second lieutenant after three months’ time, Combs received his first choice of duty station and was assigned to Fort Knox. While at Fort Knox, Combs served as the staff judge advocate, which allowed him to drive to Lexington every weekend to visit his wife, Mabel, and newborn daughter, Lois.

By early 1945, 1st Lt. Combs served in the South Pacific on Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s staff in the War Crimes Department.

Rising to chief of the investigating section, Combs assisted in the investigation and prosecution of Japanese war criminals. This role allowed him to apply his legal expertise to complex international legal issues, an experience that would later prove valuable to his political career.

His exemplary service earned him the Bronze Star and the Philippine Medal of Merit.

By the fall of 1945, the Army promoted Combs to captain. As a judge advocate, Combs honed his legal skills by working in military justice and operational law assignments.

Upon his discharge in 1946, Combs decided to return home to Kentucky.

This homecoming set the stage for his rapid ascent in Kentucky’s legal and political spheres. He resumed his law practice in Prestonsburg, serving as city attorney, the Commonwealth’s attorney, and, in 1951, filling a vacancy on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which was then the state’s highest court.

In each of these roles, Combs drew upon his JAG Corps experience and applied the dis­cipline, attention to detail, and legal acumen he developed during his military service.

Combs’s gubernatorial ambitions emerged in 1955, though his initial bid was unsuccessful. Undeterred, he ran again in 1959 and emerged victorious.

As governor from 1959 to 1963, Combs left an indel­ible mark on Kentucky by championing education, conservation and infrastructure improvements. His approach to gover­nance was notably influenced by his legal background and JAG Corps experience, particularly in his emphasis on the rule of law and equitable application of justice.

During his tenure as governor, Combs’s journey came full circle, bringing him back to Fort Knox. The 1960 dedica­tion of Bathsheba Lincoln’s grave marker was more than a historical commemora­tion; it symbolically linked Combs’s civilian leadership to his military and legal roots.

Standing on the same grounds upon which he once served as a young staff judge advocate and later as the Commonwealth’s highest-rank­ing official, Combs embodied the ideal of the citizen-Soldier turned public servant. That event at Fort Knox encapsulated the essence of Combs’s remarkable jour­ney.

From a young man leaving home to serve his country as a military lawyer to a seasoned leader returning to honor the past and shape the future, Combs’s life traced a path of service that continually led him to return to his Kentucky roots and legal foundations.

Combs’s story resonates with judge advocates who parlay their military legal experience into public leadership roles. His journey from Army private to Judge Advocate captain, from wartime legal investigator to peacetime governor, exemplifies how military legal service can prepare people for future challenges in civilian government.

Combs passed away in 1991 at the age of 80, leaving behind a legacy of service both in and out of uniform. Yet, his story did not end there.

In a fitting tribute, part of the Mountain Parkway — a highway system he championed as gov­ernor — was renamed the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway.

This highway, like Combs’s own journey, connects rural Eastern Kentucky with the broader world that he came to serve, much as his JAG Corps experience connected his local legal knowledge with a global perspec­tive.

Today, as new judge advocates continue to mill about the offices, fields and forests at Fort Knox, they unknowingly follow in the footsteps of a man who began his own journey of ser­vice upon those same grounds.

Combs’s life serves as an inspiring example for military lawyers from all the military service branches. Combs demonstrated how military legal expe­rience melds into meaningful civilian leadership, and how the call to serve can bring us full circle to where we began.

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Editor’s Note: This commentary is derived from the original article that ran in Issue 1 of the 2025 edition of The Army Lawyer magazine.