Roby named interim commissioner of Georgia veterans agency

ATLANTA (AP) A longtime assistant agency head has been named interim commissioner of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service.

The state agency announced Tuesday that Mike Roby will temporarily replace Commissioner Pete Wheeler, who died last week at age 92. Wheeler was Georgia's longest-serving state agency head, having led the department since 1954.

Roby has worked for the Veterans Service department for 21 years, most recently as assistant commissioner for field operations and claims. When Wheeler was forced to take medical leave because of illness last summer, he assigned Roby to oversee day-to-day operations at the department.

The agency says Roby also served 23 years in the U.S. Army, retiring in 1994 with the rank of sergeant major.