Leadership can be toxic (catch all)

**former-19Z5OC5** · 01-29-2010

Originally Posted by Ken White

Maybe it's just me but that 'Army Values' foolishness is suspicious...

One thing I found interesting was that apparently an early official statement said the decision had been made "at the highest levels of the Army" but after that comment drew questions about exactly who made the decision, the statement was revised.

I also note that the relief came shortly after LTC Jenio (and presumably his command group and staff) had given a briefing to some visiting congressmen.

Perhaps someone forgot to be politically correct??

**Fuchs** · 01-29-2010

Not good: CO and CSM relieved

"Not good" is -given the performance of high-ranking officers in recent warfare and procurement- that NATO forces didn't total more than 1,000 sacked colonels and generals since 2002.

I am serious.

**tequila** · 01-29-2010

This thread over at Tom Ricks' blog is filled with some sordid backbiting between representatives of what appears to be the wives of the officers involved. Who knows if this had anything to do with it, but it may be that personality conflicts from back home made their way into theater for some of this.

**Schmedlap** · 01-29-2010

I've seen speculation / RUMINT in a few locations now that suggest this had something to do with some presentation(s).

You live by the slide, you die by the slide.

**patmc** · 01-30-2010

Early Bird this morning had this from the Fayetteville Observer: http://www.fayobserver.com/Articles/2010/01/30/972239

Sat Jan 30, 2010
Racial image led to removal of 82nd commanders
By John Ramsey

"A racially offensive PowerPoint slide meant as a joke led to the removal of two 82nd Airborne Division leaders from their positions in Afghanistan this month, an Army official has confirmed."

"The slide - a parody of ubiquitous motivational posters - shows a picture of Michigan State University basketball coach Tom Izzo with his arm wrapped around point guard Mateen Cleaves. Izzo is white; Cleaves is black. The text below the photos reads, "Slavery Reinstated," with smaller letters adding, "Catch yourself a strong one.""

Not sure how I feel about this, if this is the real reason. I sat through enough staff meetings, briefings, and presentations with stupid humor slides that I'm not phased any more. I've included them in briefs I've given, though I wouldn't have put that particular type of slide (which was racist). It was apparently placed by a black soldier in the unit, and the leaders didn't see it until it came up in a briefing. I guess they set the "command climate" allowing crude humor, but this may be over-reacting by the Chain of Command. The Army promoted MAJ Hassan, but is firing 2 senior leaders over a slide they didn't create? Unless they sat in the briefing and clapped and said, "Damn straight, bring slavery back!" or something to that effect, it looks like over-reaction. I hope there is more to the story.

Leaders are responsible for the climate, but they can't prevent the actions of every Soldier in their command. In my S2 shop, my analyst put up a series of military "De-motivation" posters on the wall by his desk. Most were a mix of anti-terrorist or WW2 humor (ie: MAJ Richard Winters, Better than you. Period."} One slide was political, calling out a particular political party, so I told him take that one down. He protested but did, and we left the others, which were funny but not offensive (unless you were a terrorist or in the Navy). MY NCOIC later threw them all out because he thought they were stupid, and the issue was resolved. If the LTC and CSM promoted racist or bigotted views, then removing would be appropriate, but if something offensive came up and they corrected it, move on. I'm sure more info will follow.

**Entropy** · 01-30-2010

Here's the poster:

There are hundreds of funny spoof motivational posters out there. This is not one of them.

**Schmedlap** · 01-30-2010

Context isn't everything, but it is very important, imo.

I know of a case that could have appeared similarly offensive if the context were not understood. A Mech Inf CO, who was white, had a gunner who was black. Being the CO's gunner is a demanding job. He frequently joked about the demands of his job, stating more than once that "the CO thinks I'm the damn Hotel November." By that, he meant "HN" which apparently is an acronym for "house nigger" meaning "house slave." After hearing this a few times, one of the guys in the CP who had some artistic skills drew a caricature of the gunner in 18th century slave attire and chains, and a caricature of the CO whipping him (along with the obligatory S&M overtones, since everything in the Army needs to have some sexual innuendo added to it). The gunner found this to be hilarious. The CO was mortified - likely envisioning his career going up in smoke like LTC Jenio's apparently has. I wonder what would have happened if that had been photographed and emailed to BN and put into the Cmd & Staff slides. Without understanding the context, I suspect there would have been an overreaction.

**Ken White** · 01-30-2010

obviously, the poster maker printed it and knowing what passes for humor in airborne infantry units, I suspect the allegedly black soldier who inserted it in the slide packet though it was off the wall funny -- or, conversely, he could've wanted to get someone in trouble by doing exactly what 'they' told him to do (that, too is an old airborne attribute...

).

If what apparently occurred is the case -- and we still do not really know for sure -- the message is "Screw up tactically and you may get a bad OER; screw up politically and you WILL be relieved." That's not a message that should be sent.

If used, the slide was wrong and the result will be more wrongs due to the Chain of Command's massive overreaction:

1. The desire to micromanage will be enhanced and slide sets will be checked by five people including at least one Field grade. Co/By/Trp will submit slides to S3 two days prior...

2. Commanders at Bn level, already significantly over managed and showing it, will become even more gun shy...

3. Already unnecessary and overlong briefings will become even more boring.

4. All Staffs will be authorized one additional SFC for slide checking and certification. Accordingly, the senior Scout Squad Leader will serve as Scout Platoon Sergeant and the SFC space formerly allocated will be used to resource the new position on the Staff for Infantry Bns as the pressing need obviously is in that branch. Bns from all other branches will have a space identified for transfer in due course...

5. The rumor that a panel similar to the West - Clark panel which 'investigated' the Nidal Hasan incident at Ft Hood will investigate the use of any 'humor' slides in professional briefings is false (we hope...).

6. Anti-Virus Software maker SlammNTech will announce availability of 'PP Chekist,' their new product that uses data mining to search slide sets for offensive words and phrases. The new software will sell initially in AAFES Exchanges worldwide.

The first three are real.

P.S

Tequila is right -- those Commenters are sordid. Embarrassing, too...

**oblong** · 06-13-2010

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2010...03278?sac=Home

Col. Drinkwine wrote in his sworn statement that he never let personal issues creep into his professional evaluations of soldiers.

But two battalion commanders - Lt. Col Frank Jenio and Lt. Col. David Oclander - told Spillman they believe disputes with Dr. Drinkwine were an unstated cause for professional retaliation.

Jenio, who was in charge of 800 troops operating just outside Kandahar, was relieved of command in Afghanistan along with his top enlisted adviser, Cmd. Sgt. Maj. Bert Puckett, on Jan. 13. They were sent home to Fort Bragg for "using poor judgment" that "fostered a command climate that was not consistent with our Army values," an 82nd Airborne Division spokesman said at the time.

The Observer later discovered that racially and sexually offensive PowerPoint slides shown during briefings led to their removal.

Jenio, who declined an interview request, paints a different picture in his sworn statement.

Dr. Drinkwine and Jenio's wife, Sherri, were often at odds, according to multiple statements

Frank Jenio said in his statement that during one heated phone conversation last year, Dr. Drinkwine threatened to have him fired.

Jenio said Col. Drinkwine failed to address the problems his wife was causing and stayed isolated from his subordinates. Dr. Drinkwine would often use the threat of "telling Brian" when she had a disagreement with a family member or soldier, he said, and Col. Drinkwine made matters worse by giving the impression that she had influence over him.

Jenio said in his statement that the need to deal with the FRG challenges nearly every other day took away valuable time he could have been using to focus on the war.