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.
Here's a possible update
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