Alaska National Guard Chief Forced Out

Alaska National Guard chief ousted in wake of scathing report
Los Angeles Times
By Maria L. La Ganga
Published: September 5, 2014

Investigators reviewed 37 reports of sexual assault. Of those, 20 were investigated by local law enforcement officials, who decided not to prosecute in 16 cases. In only one instance did the National Guard leadership decide to “pursue administrative action” against a suspect if local authorities refused.

SEATTLE (MCT) — The Alaska National Guard’s commander was forced to resign after a six-month federal investigation found that some members of the Guard had been ostracized and abused after reporting sexual assaults and that Guard members lacked trust and confidence in their leaders.

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell asked the National Guard Bureau Office of Complex Investigations to conduct the review.

After receiving the report, he requested the resignation of Maj. Gen. Thomas H. Katkus, who also served as commissioner of the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The scathing 229-page report, released late Thursday, found that complaints by some sexual assault victims before 2012 were not properly documented, that the victims were not referred to victim advocates, that their confidentiality was breached and that “in some cases, the victims were ostracized by their leaders, peers and units.”

Noting that the report found more than 200 reports of discrimination and sexual harassment over the last year, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, called it “shocking in its documentation of widespread sexual assault, discrimination, retaliation and tolerance of wrongdoing, especially at the highest levels in the Guard.”
read more here