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A top general in the California National Guard violated
government rules by having subordinates ferry his mother on a
shopping trip, perform other personal errands for him and
complete a part of his cybersecurity training.
A second general allegedly made antisemitic and homophobic
remarks, including that Jews are unrepentant sinners and that
gay marriage is a reason terrorists attack the United States.
And a colonel who serves as a Guard finance officer and had been
recommended for promotion to general has been charged with
exposing himself to three women in a restaurant.
Those are among the latest embarrassing episodes to tarnish the
Guard, a branch of the California Military Department that has
been beset in recent years by allegations of cover-ups and
retaliation against whistleblowers, a Times investigation based
on Guard documents and interviews has found.
Current and former Guard members say there is a widespread
perception in the organization that high-ranking officers who
engage in misconduct are protected from significant discipline.
One of the generals found by an internal inquiry to have
committed acts of wrongdoing was issued a letter of
admonishment, and the other received a letter of reprimand,
according to the Guard. After The Times began inquiring about
their cases in recent weeks, the Guard said one general resigned
and the other faces new discipline that has yet to be
determined. There are 13 generals in the California Military
Department, and four have been caught up in controversies since
2019.
When these things happen, the higher-ups cover for each other.
And without public exposure of these things, there would be
absolutely no real punishment, said Dan Woodside, a retired
Guard major and fighter pilot who has publicly criticized the
organizations leadership. We need an overhaul of the entire
system.
Interviews and Guard records reviewed by The Times show that
other allegations of misconduct include:
A captain allegedly referred to a Latino sergeant as a lazy
Mexican and harassed an African American soldier because he was
a Black Lives Matter guy. Another captain has been accused of
asking a Jewish soldier if cigar ashes were his relatives.
Both captains allegedly falsified physical fitness
certifications for Guard members.
A wing commander for the air side of the Guard faces
complaints that she used a military credit card to buy cleaning
supplies for her dog and had underlings walk the pet at work.
The vice wing commander at the same air station was grounded
because of a drunk driving arrest.
In response to Times queries, the Guard said all of the
allegations and incidents are or were the subject of internal
investigations. Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, who has headed the
Guard throughout the years of scandal and turmoil, declined to
be interviewed. In an emailed statement, he said that when we
do have allegations of misconduct, we take them seriously and
address them in accordance with applicable law and regulation,
safeguarding due process rights of all concerned.
Baldwin reports to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who declined to comment, a
spokesperson said.
The 20,000-member Guard serves a dual state-and-federal mission
that includes responding to emergencies in California, such as
earthquakes, wildfires and civil disturbances, and assisting
U.S. armed forces in military operations overseas. Baldwin has
been adjutant general of the Guard since 2011, when he was
appointed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.
In 2019, Baldwin removed the commander of the Air National
Guard, Maj. Gen. Clay Garrison, amid complaints of reprisals
against whistleblowers and allegations of a cover-up of
misconduct that reached into the highest ranks of the
organization. The complaints, which were disclosed by The Times,
focused on the leadership of the Fresno air base and included an
alleged cover-up of an incident in which someone urinated in a
female Guard members boots. The commander of the 144th Fighter
Wing there was also removed.
In 2020, in response to another Times report, Newsoms office
denounced the Guards decision to send a military spy plane to
suburban El Dorado Hills, where Baldwin lived, to help civilian
authorities monitor demonstrations over the police killing of
George Floyd. Baldwin said the fact that he resided in El Dorado
Hills, where the protests were small and peaceful, had no
bearing on the deployment of the RC-26B reconnaissance plane.
Last year, Baldwin fired Garrisons successor, Maj. Gen. Gregory
Jones, and suspended Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Magram with pay as
director of the air staff and reassigned him to human resources
and humanitarian duties. Those actions followed a Times report
that Guard members were concerned that their leaders had readied
an F-15C fighter jet in 2020 for a possible mission in which the
aircraft would fly low over civilian protesters to frighten and
disperse them. Baldwin denied that the jet had been prepared for
such a deployment and said the moves against Jones and Magram
had nothing to do with the report.
Magram, who has been a member of Baldwins inner circle as an
assistant adjutant general, is the focus of one of the Guards
latest upheavals.
According to interviews and a confidential report obtained by
The Times, the U.S. Air Force inspector general conducted an
investigation into conduct by Magram over a period of seven
years ending in 2020. The investigation was completed last year
but has never been made public.
A heavily redacted inspector generals report reviewed by The
Times states that the inquiry grew out of complaints by a woman
in the Guard that, among other allegations, Magram stopped
consulting her on inquiries into misconduct, which was part of
her duties, and abused his authority. The womans name is
redacted in the report.
Magram denied the allegations in written statements to the
inspector general, the report says. The investigation determined
that he did not inappropriately limit the womans role in
investigations, according to the report. He was also accused of
requiring subordinates to pick up documents he placed on the
floor for shredding, and the report states that he was counseled
about the practice and stopped it.
The investigation found that Magram had on-duty Guard members
drive him up to 120 miles round-trip to personal dental and
medical appointments at Travis Air Force Base, according to the
report. The document quoted one unnamed Guard member as saying
he did not want to drive Magram because my job is to take care
of the airmen in the state of California and not be a chauffeur
for a general.
A Guard member who took Magrams mother shopping was quoted in
the report as saying that she was particular. When I say
particular, it had to be at Whole Foods.
It just took her a
long time to decide what she wanted, a lot of comparison
shopping amongst products.
The report says the Guard member feared her career would suffer
if she declined Magrams request to cart around his mother:
If you were not on his good side, then, um, yeah, he would kind
of discard or try to make sure that you were kind of put to the
side, the member is quoted as saying. She said Magram also had
her drive him to his credit union to get money for someones
birthday card, according to the report.
Magram generally confirmed the members accounts of running
errands for him, according to the report. He said he believed
subordinates giving him rides to medical appointments was
consistent with the Air Forces wingman concept, in which
Guard members look out for one another. I want to reiterate
that had I ever heard of any ethics issues like this from
subordinates, peers or commanders, or perceptions of such, I
would have corrected or addressed it on the spot, Magram said
in a statement to the inspector general.
However, Magram had been counseled in 2017 that tasking Guard
members for rides to personal appointments was inappropriate,
the report states, adding that his wingman argument rings
hollow. The investigation similarly faulted him for using an
underling to work on his travel awards accounts, including for
personal trips.
And the inquiry determined that Magram failed to complete his
annual cybersecurity training and thus had subordinates each day
request that headquarters temporarily restore his computer
access. This went on for about two weeks, until he had the
training finished by a subordinate. Magram said in his statement
that he was late in completing the training because of a
tremendously busy operational tempo.
Magram did not respond to interview requests. In a statement to
The Times, Lt. Col. Brandon Hill, a Guard spokesperson, said the
Air Force issued a letter of admonishment to Magram as a result
of the inspector general investigation. Such a letter is a
lesser form of punishment than a letter of reprimand. In
Magrams case, Hill said, the letter is not career-ending.
After further Times queries, however, the Guard said a second
investigation of Magram by a state inspector general
substantiated similar allegations against him, and he awaits
another round of discipline.
Meanwhile, according to confidential Guard records reviewed by
The Times and interviews with four people familiar with the
incidents, a chief warrant officer alleged that Brig. Gen. David
Hawkins, in an apparent state of irritation, charged toward her
at Guard headquarters, causing her to fall backward and into a
wall.
Hill said in an email to The Times that an in-house
investigation by two other generals did not substantiate this
allegation, a conclusion reached in January.
Hill would not provide details on how the inquiry determined the
accusation could not be substantiated. Hawkins told The Times
the incident did not happen. The chief warrant officer, Lori
Sandes, declined to be interviewed.
An internal inquiry substantiated the allegations that Hawkins
made the slurs about Jews and gay people, and he received a
letter of reprimand as a result, Hill said.
Responding to a subsequent Times query, Hill confirmed that
Hawkins had resigned.
Hawkins told The Times that those allegations are largely
untrue, and he specifically denied making the statement about
terrorist attacks. He said he believed the allegations were
lodged by someone who overheard and misconstrued a conversation
he had with a chaplain.
At no time was there any characterization of any kind that was
meant to defame, Hawkins said. Asked if he was forced to
resign, he replied, I would not comment on that. Its just time
for me to move on.
The Guards troubles extended well beyond the California state
line. Col. Jonathan Cartwright was arrested in March on
suspicion of exposing himself to three women at a restaurant in
Arlington County, Va. Police booked Cartwright on a misdemeanor
charge, and he was released from jail on his promise to appear
in court. A hearing is scheduled for July.
Hill said Cartwright had been recommended for promotion to
general. The colonel, he said, remains on active duty but has
been barred from Guard properties until his criminal case is
resolved. Hill referred other questions about Cartwright to the
National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., because he is part of
its chain of command. A bureau spokesperson declined to comment,
and it was unclear how the criminal case might affect his
proposed promotion. Cartwright did not respond to interview
requests.
Closer to home, an internal complaint accused Capt. Brandon
Hamilton of telling members of the State Guard, a branch of the
California Military Department made up of volunteers, that a
Latino sergeant was a lazy Mexican in part because he resisted
a directive to return to field duty after being hospitalized and
then isolated with COVID-19, two sources told The Times.
Hamilton allegedly targeted a Black sergeant for harassment and
retaliation after labeling him a Black Lives Matter guy,
according to these sources, who requested anonymity because they
feared they would be punished for speaking out.
The alleged mistreatment of the Black sergeant included unfairly
critiquing his work and preventing him from completing a search-
and-rescue course and then disciplining him for it, the sources
said.
The officer accused of uttering the slur about ashes to a Jewish
soldier is Capt. Marc Gates, according to the sources and
internal records examined by The Times. Gates and Hamilton also
are alleged to have falsified physical fitness certifications
for Guard members by recording run times for them for runs that
never occurred, the interviews and records show.
The Guard declined to release information on the allegations
against Hamilton and Gates because they are still under
investigation, officials said. Hamilton and Gates did not
respond to interview requests. Neither did the Latino and Black
sergeants Jeremy Hernandez and Prezell Harris, respectively
nor the Jewish soldier, Jesse Poller.
The commander of the Guards 146th Airlift Wing at Channel
Islands, Col. Lisa Nemeth, has been accused of having
subordinates tend to her dog and buy a carpet scrubber and
cleaning solution for the pet with a government purchase card.
The Guard said the allegations are under investigation and
officials declined to comment further. Nemeth declined to
comment.
The vice commander of the 146th wing was charged with drunk
driving in March 2021. Col. Bill Green was grounded the day
after the incident and underwent a required evaluation for
longer-term alcohol or drug abuse, according to records and
interviews. He received a letter of reprimand, but a commander
allowed him to eventually resume flying missions. Baldwin
ordered him grounded again, and had an investigation launched
into whether Green had received preferential treatment. The
results of that inquiry have not been disclosed.
Green, who retired from the Guard in February, told The Times
that he was fully accountable for his conduct. I believe I met
my responsibilities that came with that, he said. I had a
series of penalties to pay as a result of my actions. Im
grateful for the time I served. I know of no preferential or
unfair treatment in my case.
In his statement to The Times, Baldwin said, If, after a
federal and/or state investigation, allegations are
substantiated, then this command and/or the relevant federal
entity takes appropriate action. The bottom line is we have an
effective system in place that deals with allegations of
inappropriate behavior.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-23/new-scandals-
rock-california-national-guards-highest-ranks