Army Col. Jonathan Chung, commander of the fifth Safety Power Help Brigade, or SFAB, was relieved this week, a service spokesman confirmed to Army.com.
Chung’s termination comes after a Army.com investigation was first to element systemic points with the brigade, together with quite a few leaders going through investigations into their conduct and disciplinary and efficiency considerations throughout the brigade’s midlevel brass and noncommissioned officers.
Chung was relieved after a sprawling investigation into his conduct. Army.com interviewed two dozen troopers who served with Chung over the past decade. The publication additionally reviewed the Army’s unredacted investigation on Chung, together with greater than 30 sworn statements; dozens of audio recordings, emails, textual content messages and movies; an unredacted 2021 command local weather survey; and different inner information from the brigade.
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Most troopers interviewed say Chung often belittled employees, was a micromanager, and routinely scolded troops for minor errors.
Some troopers interviewed by Army.com conceded that Chung was very educated however was direct in talking to individuals, usually to a fault, and that he inherited poor-performing troopers. When the SFABs have been initially stood up, there was little scrutiny amongst candidates through the choice course of into what the Army hoped can be prestigious items.
The dysfunction surrounding Chung comes because the SFABs search relevance within the Army however stay an idea nonetheless in its infancy after being established in 2017. They’re purported to be the tip of the spear of the service’s coaching efforts with allied armies, every having its personal area of accountability.
The mission has been blurry, resembling Special Forces — though Inexperienced Berets concentrate on ragtag armies whereas SFABs broadly work with extra standard forces. The Pentagon’s effort to coach Ukrainians for his or her conflict in opposition to Russia has SFABs in a minor position, whereas a number of formations on the helm are made up of typical rank-and-file troopers.
The fifth SFAB oversees partnerships within the Pacific and solidifies doctrine with Japan, Australia, Mongolia and different key allies amid an more and more tense competitors with China for affect within the area.
Even with that vital position, the fifth SFAB could face deeper issues amongst its management.
Following Chung’s dismissal, Col. Tony Braxton is serving as appearing commander. Nonetheless, he was really useful for disciplinary motion after an inner Army investigation discovered that he violated non permanent responsibility, or TDY, guidelines on at the least 23 events, retaining troopers underneath him away from residence longer than 180 days. Troopers who’re on TDY longer than 180 days are entitled to further pay.
In the meantime, some officers and senior non-commissioned officers interviewed by Army.com stated that the fifth SFAB is stretched too skinny and that the mission calls for are an excessive amount of for the brigade because it struggles to maintain troopers in. It’s licensed to have about 800 troops in its ranks, however has misplaced greater than 116 previously two years — a staggering metric that has raised considerations over the standard of management and intense mission tempo.
Army.com was additionally first to report that one other high officer within the brigade was suspended in Could amid an ongoing sexual assault investigation.
Col. Meghann Sullivan, commander of the fifth Brigade Engineer Battalion, fifth SFAB, faces allegations of forcefully kissing one subordinate male officer and groping one other under the belt with out his consent. She additionally allegedly sexually harassed one other male, in response to two sources with direct data of the investigation. Sullivan didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
— Steve Beynon may be reached at Steve.Beynon@army.com. Observe him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.
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