Internal Investigation of Kansas Guard Pinpoints ‘Toxic’ Leadership by Tim Carpenter Posted Jan 7, 2017 at 4:30 PM Kansas National Guard Lt
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Internal investigation of Kansas Guard pinpoints ‘toxic’ leadership By Tim Carpenter Posted Jan 7, 2017 at 4:30 PM Kansas National Guard Lt. Col. Barry Thomas spoke of black soldiers under his command with a harshness perceived by investigators to inflame racial tension. The white officer, who led the Kansas Army Guard’s recruiting battalion among other assignments in a career spanning more than 25 years, told a soldier, “I thought I would never meet a black man that did not like watermelon.” On a separate occasion, according to investigation documents obtained by The Topeka Capital-Journal, Thomas said he believed African-American men universally favored oral sex. Investigators reported he referred to a black sergeant major as a “tongue-chewing retard” who dressed like a “pimp.” He questioned why a black soldier would possess a home more valuable than his own. A multifaceted internal inquiry by Kansas military officers into alleged malfeasance within the Kansas National Guard found that Thomas held “little regard for soldiers under his care” and led to a recommendation he forfeit a chance for promotion. Thomas was elevated to colonel despite violating a zero-tolerance Kansas Guard order against bullying subordinates. He still holds a leadership position among 7,500 Kansas Guard employees who serve in combat, respond to Kansas disasters and perform humanitarian missions. Kansas Army Guard Lt. Col. Scott Henry, based on more than 2,000 pages of material compiled in his investigation, concluded Thomas and four other Kansas Guard members warranted dismissal from military service, demotion in rank or relief from assigned duties. Official reports of the probe emphasize that Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, appointed Kansas’ adjutant general by Gov. Sam Brownback, was urged by investigators to abandon a management style devoted to advancing careers or shielding favored Kansas Guard personnel from accountability. Investigators advocated Tafanelli lead the Kansas Guard in a manner emphasizing the general welfare of all men and women in the state military organization. Gov. Sam Brownback, center, appointed Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli to serve as the state’s adjutant general in 2011. The two-star general is responsible for the Kansas Army Guard, Kansas Air Guard, state Division of Emergency Management and state Homeland Security unit. (Kansas National Guard) Henry said in a report to superiors that failure to reform the Kansas Guard’s leadership culture would compel soldiers and airmen to resign or retire in “fear of reprisals, threats and more toxic leadership. I caution the state leadership that action must be taken.” Tafanelli and his staff deflected requests from The Capital-Journal in December and January to be interviewed about the investigation. The inquiry found evidence of racism, enlistment fraud, sexual assault, retaliation against troops, promotion manipulation and subterfuge of the investigation. They also declined to directly address the encompassing declaration that a contingent of senior officers and enlisted personnel infected the Kansas Guard with leadership inconsistent with core values of integrity, respect and selfless service. On Friday, a Kansas Guard spokeswoman released a brief statement attributed to Tafanelli that said, “We take every allegation seriously, investigate it thoroughly and respond accordingly.” In addition, a Brownback spokeswoman Saturday submitted to The Capital-Journal a guest editorial by Tafanelli, despite not having read the yet-to-be- published story on the Kansas Guard. Tafanelli’s column will run in the Monday edition of The Capital-Journal. Brownback also issued a statement Sunday that said he intended to maintain “full support” for Tafanelli. Retired Col. Mike Slusher, a highly decorated Kansas Army Guard officer who had no role in the inquiry, said in an interview that Tafanelli established an unhealthy leadership standard by sidestepping obvious command problems and by insulating himself from soldiers and airmen who formed the backbone of the Kansas Guard. “Right now, they don’t have leadership. They have management,” Slusher said. “Because you have a poor tone at the top, you have a climate of fear.” Tip of the spear Thomas’ comments were exposed during a complex investigation started in 2013 under the direction of Henry, a lieutenant colonel in the Kansas Guard’s Army component, and closed in 2015 by a one-star general in the Air component of the Kansas Guard. The case began amid renewed allegations that Kansas Guard recruiters were pressured by superiors to forge documents to clear unqualified applicants or speed processing of paperwork. It ballooned during 2014 based on anonymous letters claiming Kansas Guard members were involved in impropriety extending beyond recruiting. About 50 subsidiary allegations were evaluated, but documents produced in the investigation indicated most were unfounded. Incidents of unethical behavior and possible criminal acts were confirmed. Examination of the unsigned correspondence by an expert revealed the author was likely a Kansas Guard soldier who had a prominent role in the recruiting forgery scandal. Timing of the Kansas Guard investigation coincided with Brownback’s re-election campaign. Unofficially, Kansas Guard personnel said, they were to keep a lid on controversy capable of embarrassing the governor until after the November 2014 election. By 2015, Henry and Brig. Gen. Scott Dold had filed a series of memorandums detailing evidence that Army Guard soldiers created phony enlistment documents, promoted workplace bullying, distorted the promotion system and failed to respond adequately to charges of sexual assault. Evidence surfaced that Kansas Guard members conspired to interfere in the Henry-Dold investigation, leaked information about the inquiry to soldiers under scrutiny and orchestrated reprisals against personnel involved in the case. Indeed, Henry formally requested reassignment of the case after learning Kansas Guard colleagues maneuvered to undercut his work. “The predominate culture of this command clearly has difficulty balancing legal, moral and ethical facets of decision making when addressing poor performance, toxic leadership and substantiated wrongdoing,” Dold said in a memorandum prepared for Tafanelli. “There is a myopic focus to avoid harming an individual’s career, at the same time, ignoring extensive damage to organizational morale and loss of trust in senior leadership caused by retaining wrongdoers and poor performers.” Dold, an attorney who served as Tafanelli’s chief of staff before retirement, said in the memo to the adjutant general that training of future Kansas Guard leaders must “place soldier and airmen welfare and organizational needs before personal careerism and self-promotion.” Call for discipline A portion of Kansas Guard members classified by Dold and Henry as engaging in foul play remain on duty. Thomas and others were promoted or retained prestigious assignments within the Kansas Guard. Several eventually retired with full pomp and ceremony. It’s not clear, without disclosure by the Kansas Guard of basic personnel information, whether punitive steps contemplated by investigators were ordered. In early 2014, Henry recommended disciplinary action against Thomas, State Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Haworth, Command Sgt. Maj. Manuel Rubio, Master Sgt. Merle Amrine and 1st Sgt. Joseph Alaniz for violating “trust and confidence of our soldiers” and disrupting the “important mission of enlisting soldiers into our ranks.” Henry found each of the five violated Policy Letter No. 32, signed in 2011 by Tafanelli. This adjutant general’s policy on workplace bullying, according to a Kansas Guard publication, supported “zero tolerance for behavior that harms, intimidates, offends, degrades or humiliates soldiers, airmen” or other Kansas Guard employees. The policy was created to recognize that demeanor rising to that level tended to drive away talented employees, reduce productivity, weaken morale and raise legal risks. Henry’s recommendations: Drop Thomas from consideration for promotion to colonel. Remove Haworth as the Kansas Army Guard’s top command sergeant major and force him to retire. Reassign Rubio from active-duty Kansas Guard to a lower-compensated technical position or force him to retire. Oust Amrine from the active-duty Kansas Guard and reduce his rank. Displace Alaniz from active-duty Kansas Guard and reduce his rank. Information contained in the investigation file compiled by Henry, including sworn statements by Kansas Guard troops, chronicled Thomas’ propensity for offensive comments about black people. The statements provided evidence Thomas had a special interest in harassing one particular enlisted black male soldier, who apparently retired from the Kansas Guard. “I did tell LTC Thomas directly that, as a leader, he cannot call people ‘tongue chewing retards,’ ” Chief Warrant Officer 4 Sandra Lashley said in a statement to investigators. “I got the sense while talking to LTC Thomas that he discounted what I was telling him. He had an explanation or rationalization for his actions and conduct.” The case put together by Henry also said there were multiple strands of evidence showing Amrine and Alaniz repeatedly bullied recruiters under their direction. Henry, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, described in investigatory reports that Rubio tried to conceal information about recruiting transgressions damaging to Amrine’s career, participated in leakage of information about the inquiry and compromised the