[I]nside the Vermont Statehouse ceremonial Ethan Allen Room late last month, lawmakers from Addison and Rutland counties peppered Col. Greg Knight with questions about how he would improve conditions for women serving in the Vermont National Guard if elected to the post of adjutant general.
Knight, round-faced with a short military cut and beady blue eyes, responded bluntly. Having overseen the Army Guard’s recruiting and retention battalion commander efforts for four years, he first acknowledged many women are skittish about entering the military – an institution with a long history of hostile behavior toward women.
Knight said his daughter, a soon-to-be nursing student graduate at the University of Vermont, recently broached the idea of joining the Guard. Knight’s son is already in the Guard, and he told lawmakers he was excited about his daughter’s interest in serving, too. But he said the culture inside the Guard, and the military in general, requires significant changes for him to ensure that not only his daughter, but all women in service, will be safe and supported.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure my daughter has the same opportunities as my son does,” Knight said. “And to ensure that, we need to make a lot of changes.”
With less than a month until the Legislature elects a new adjutant general, the leader of the Vermont National Guard, three men – Col. Knight, retired Brig. Gen. David Baczewski and retired Lt. Col. David Graham – are circulating in the Vermont Statehouse trying to convince lawmakers they are best prepared to not only lead military missions, but also reform the military culture.
In addition, Rosanne Greco, a high-profile retired female Air Force colonel best known for fighting against the deployment of the F-35, has announced she too will run for adjutant general, a move that could scramble the race. Greco met with the Women’s Caucus of the Vermont Legislature and laid out a case for female leadership that previewed her late entry, announced on Friday, into the race.
In the first open election for Vermont adjutant general in six years, the major theme of the race is the same as it was in 2013: concerns over a “good old boy” culture that often sexualizes women and trivializes misconduct. VTDigger documented allegations of misconduct by Guard leadership in a series of stories published in December and charges that the Guard delayed discharges of personnel in order to artificially boost readiness numbers.
Many state lawmakers are unfamiliar with how the military works and feel flummoxed by their responsibility — unique in the nation — of the Legislature selecting the head of the state militia. Many, including lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott, are seeking a more effective process for vetting and selecting the best leader to command the approximately 3,500 troops in the Vermont National Guard. Scott wants to be able to make the appointment as governor, which is the standard operating procedure in all other states.
The Vermont National Guard is its own insular world populated by soldiers, pilots, administrators, medics, mechanics, IT specialists, intelligence officers and more. The organization includes its own language and jargon, as well as a rigid top-down power structure and hierarchical social dynamics. Like any complex institution, the Guard faces myriad challenges and claims numerous triumphs.
The outgoing adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Steven Cray, was elected in 2013 after his competitor, retired Brig. Gen. Jonathan Farnham dropped out amid allegations he failed to take action over an alleged sexual assault brought to his attention. Cray, a former F-16 pilot, pledged reform, and the Guard’s State Equal Opportunity Manager Doris Sumner has been recognized nationally for her work stemming sexism inside the military. In 2015, Vermont Army National Guard Specialist Skylar Anderson became the nation’s first female combat engineer.
VTDigger reported that Guard women face discrimination and difficulty rising up the ranks of the organization. The allegations ranged from serious sexual misconduct to routine harassment. More than two dozen current and former Guard members told VTDigger that the Guard’s culture was toxic, often driven by alcohol, and generally tolerated.
Now, as lawmakers hear from all three male candidates ahead of a Feb. 21 vote, some are demanding significant institutional reforms to rein in the Green Mountain Boys. Rep. Jean O’Sullivan, D-Burlington, is leading the charge.
“If you’re running, don’t simply tell me you are going to fix the culture, tell me specifically what you are going to do, structurally, to change things,” O’Sullivan said. “Remember, our Guard members have civilian jobs. And they would be fired from their civilian jobs for this behavior we’ve heard about. They know better, and they need to shape up.”
The three candidates for the job laid out their plans to reform the Guard in a question-and-answer session at the Legislature’s Women’s Caucus on Friday.
Knight said he would gather all of the women in the Guard in a “non-attributional” setting to talk about their experiences and what needs to change. Those anecdotes would be passed along to supervisors, who would have recurring conversations with Guard members every 90 days to ensure problems were being addressed. “We have to make a climate where people are more comfortable coming forward,” Knight said.
Baczewski said he would hire a gender equality adviser — modeled on a psychiatric health director he worked with as wing commander — who would hold leadership accountable to meaningfully addressing the cultural problems in the Guard. He also said he would seek a closer organizational relationship with the Vermont Commission on Women, ideally by placing a Guard leader on the commission’s board. And he would create a “cross-sector” team to look at Guard data and figure out how to move forward with policies and programs that address sexual assault and discrimination.
The full airing of these plans is expected to take place on Feb. 5, when lawmakers will question the candidates. Some additional ideas floating around the Statehouse include initiating an independent investigation into the Guard’s culture, requiring more frequent disclosures over sexual misconduct to lawmakers and the governor, and initiating new programs to discourage mistreatment and harassment of women. Another key campaign pillar for the top candidates is better recruitment, retention and promotion of woman. Some also want to see a woman in a top leadership role, like deputy adjutant general, while others said the Air Guard should recruit its first female fighter pilot as part of the organization’s changing mission to the F-35.
Knight and Baczewski have further pledged to meet with leaders of the three communities that last year voted to halt the planned basing of the F-35, increase the Guard’s transparency with the press, and re-examine the case of Jeff Rector, who told VTDigger that he was retaliated against after bringing untoward Guard behavior to light. (Rector is currently contesting the characterization of his discharge, and is seeking a hearing before the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.)
The Vermont National Guard is divided into two units – Army and Air. This year, as is often the case, both branches have fielded a candidate.
While Knight served for seven years in the Vermont Air National Guard in the late 1990s as a Security Forces specialist, he’s been on the Army side for the last two decades. The other top candidate, Baczewski, served as the wing commander at the Air National Guard between 2012 and 2014. (A third announced candidate, Graham joined the Army National Guard in 1979 as an enlisted soldier, and served in the organization for roughly two decades.)
Baczewski enters the race with the most impressive and varied resume, plus a powerful supporter in retired Lt. Gen. Michael Dubie, who served as adjutant general between 2006 and 2012.
“I’ve found him to be an outstanding leader, and an all-around good person who can bring the organization to a new level,” said Dubie, who worked with Baczewski in various capacities, and deployed with him in 2004 to serve as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. “Col. Knight is a good guy, I like him. But I think Gen. Baczewski has more experience, and is more qualified.”
Baczewski’s experience may prove both an asset and a handicap. Most of the incidents described in VTDigger’s reporting occurred in the Vermont Air National Air Guard, and many occurred while Baczewski was wing commander, the top official at the Air Guard. On his watch, there were a number of DUIs among pilots that went largely unpunished, a bungled investigation against alleged predatory behavior by Mark Parish and allegations that Lt. Col. Christopher Caputo and other personnel went off base to unauthorized locations in Djibouti. As wing commander, Baczewski was also the director supervisor for now-retired Col. Thomas Jackman, who replaced Baczewski in 2014. Jackman was forced to resign his post after he took a work trip that doubled as a romantic rendezvous to Washington in January 2014, shortly after Baczewski had left the Guard.
“Baz is a cliché fighter pilot with a sharp edge,” a Guard source said. “He helped hijack the culture of the Vermont Air Guard to turn it into a B-movie version of ‘Top Gun’.”
While the Guard generally split along organizational lines ahead of the adjutant general race – Team Green (Army) and Team Blue (Air) – a cadre of current and former Air Guard members have crossed over, and say Baczewski is the wrong man for the job.
Eight current and former Air Guard sources, all of whom requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, gave varying reasons for their opposition to Baczewski.
Some simply said that after more than two decades of rule by Air officers, it was time for the Army to lead the Green Mountain Boys. Others who broke for Knight still spoke highly of Baczewski, describing him as an effective, if demanding leader, who sought and achieved results while inside the Guard.
Yet some say Baczewski, a former F-16 pilot with 4,000 flight hours, did little to stem systemic issues of sexism and rowdy drinking.
One former Guard member said Baczewski “protected pilots,” while another said he “propagated a culture of favoritism, and didn’t always hold people accountable.”
“He was the best wing commander I ever worked for, but he was a part of the good old boy network,” a third source said. “He was awesome at running the cogs of the organization, but he did not change the culture at all.”
“If we were more broken structurally, I’d vote for Baz,” another Air Guard source said. “But we are more broken mentally, culturally. And I don’t care how you slice it, another Air leader as adjutant general is a continuation of the same old things.”
In a letter delivered to lawmakers Monday, retired Col. Doug Fick, who served as the Air Guard wing commander from 2008 to 2012, threw his weight behind Knight despite the fact that Baczewski was Fick’s direct subordinate for eight years. Fick spoke no ill words of Baczewski, but wrote that Knight was “approachable,” “talented,” and a “superb officer and leader.” (Fick and Knight worked together for four years.)
Retired Maj. Gen. Martha Rainville is perhaps the biggest and most politically damaging defector from Baczewski and Team Blue. She endorsed Knight in a letter sent to legislators in January.
Rainville, a former Air Force officer, made history in 1997 when she become the nation’s first female adjutant general. She oversaw the Green Mountain Boys until 2006, and is widely respected in military circles throughout the nation.
In an interview this month, Rainville said she supports Knight because “the women and men in the Guard need an adjutant general who has credibility, and who can earn their respect.”
“I think it would be extraordinarily difficult right now for the Guard to field a former Air Guard pilot who interacted with some of the pilots that have been mentioned in VTDigger’s reporting,” Rainville said. “It’s important to look ahead, to move forward productively, and put strong leadership into the Guard.”
In his letter, Fick echoed Rainville’s sentiments.
“In light of recent articles regarding the Air National Guard, a new direction may be the clean break we need versus a perception of ‘more of the same,’” he wrote.
‘BAZ’
Over iced tea in Essex Junction on a recent snowy evening, Baczewski rejected any contention he would go light on bad behavior. He made clear he didn’t want to dwell on the past.
“The status quo is unacceptable, the existence of those behaviors is unacceptable. But we can move forward, we can learn from it and move forward. That’s my promise as adjutant general, I’ll own it and take it on,” he said. “These are Vermonters that are serving their state and country. They deserve an environment where they are respected, protected and connected to each other. That’s my mantra. Anything else is unacceptable.”
Baczewski looks like a pilot, with broad shoulders, a dimple in his chin, and closely cropped black hair. His demeanor is calm, and his eyes light up as he walks through his vision for the Vermont National Guard.
As wing commander, Baczewski’s mantra was “Be Ready,” and he is widely considered to have empowered and promoted a number of effective leaders who improved the Air unit’s operational readiness. Baczewski also circulated pocket cards outlining the Guard’s core values to all Guardsmen, which included “integrity, excellence, and teamwork.” He told VTDigger that he improved the retention rate to 99 percent and increased the medical readiness rate by 11 percent, making for an Air Guard that was more prepared to serve when the nation called. Moreover, he said climate assessment improved during his tenure as wing commander.
Retired Chief Master Sgt. Leo Besaw said that ahead of a 2006 deployment to Iraq, Baczewski ensured that all airmen were properly prepped to accomplish the mission.
“The prep for that mission started a good year before we left,” Besaw recalled. “He was instrumental in guaranteeing our airmen had everything they needed for success, from training to pay. Baz not only worked to ensure we were prepared, but that our family members were very well taken care of while we were overseas.”
In a statement, Vermont’s Assistant Adjutant General Richard Harris called Baczewski the “best” of the four wing commanders he has worked with.
“His leadership and vision was critical to the 158th Fighter Wing to be the first Air National Guard unit chosen to receive the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter,” Harris said.
After Baczewski left the Guard, in 2014, he became a principal adviser to the deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) before serving as deputy director of Operations in Northern Command. Baczewki’s work there included directing operations around “The Nuclear Enterprise,” the Air Force’s nuclear weapons deterrence program. Baczewki’s biggest selling point is his managerial experience. He managed multi-million-dollar budgets and directed high-level missions among various military branches (all classified) falling under Northern Command, a 51-country conglomeration formed after 9/11. In his career, Baczewski earned the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit, one of the military’s most prestigious awards, ranking just below the Silver Star.
“The job of adjutant general has become more complex over the last couple of decades,” said Dubie. “It would be an asset for the adjutant general to have a larger experience-base of the bigger military. Baz has that experience.”
Two sources claimed Baczewski helped insulate Lt. Col. Christopher Caputo from proper punishment after he was picked up in Djibouti with a cadre of other pilots at an unauthorized location. Baczewski offered a glowing assessment of Caputo in an officer performance report that covered the period of time when the ace fighter pilot got into trouble. In the report, Baczewski did not mention the incident in Djibouti.
As leadership was pondering Caputo’s punishment, it was noted by Jackman that the trip off base was “not an isolated incident” and “lots of people in senior positions knew the pilots were not complying with the alcohol policy while everyone else was expected to comply.” Jackman further noted that leaders “confronted [Caputo] several times but nothing changed.”
While Jackman and others thought that pulling Caputo’s slot at the Naval War College was justified, Baczewski mused that perhaps leadership had “jumped the gun too early.”
In an email regarding potential punishments sent by Baczewski on April 26, 2013, he told Caputo, “I will influence to the best of my ability.”
“Gen. Grass contacted [Cray] last night and wants your war college position pulled. I am not going to fight it. My bag of chits are very low right now and I want to save what I have left for any pending larger/more critical decisions,” Baczewski wrote. “Hang tough and stay strong. I know that this is very difficult.”
In an interview, Baczewski defended Caputo, and said “personnel decisions are very hard.”
“I do not believe that case was mishandled,” he added. “I think Chris Caputo made a big mistake, but not a crime. I’m glad to see that the leadership gave him a second chance. My expectation is he’ll take full advantage of that.” (In a 2012 video celebrating Baczewski’s promotion to wing commander, he is seen hugging Caputo.)
Baczewski also disagreed with the characterizations of some of VTDigger’s reporting. He said he didn’t believe alcohol abuse was a problem on the Air base, and felt there was adequate oversight of social events during a 2013 deployment to Michigan that sources cast as a rowdy bacchanal.
“I believe we policed ourselves correctly,” he said. “Was there an outlier or two? Possibly. But nothing that was brought to my attention. I don’t think I’d do anything differently.”
Moreover, Baczewski cast the space hosting the Afterburner Club as a place for pilots to share family dinners during holidays, and where former President Barack Obama met Gold Star families. He did not dispute that it became an exclusive drinking space off limits to enlisted airmen, but said the social events hosted there built camaraderie and community.
Despite these disputed points, Baczewski made clear that he is reform-oriented.
“We are public servants, we need public trust, we have to regain that,” he said. “Anything that changes that culture and moves it forward is on the table.”
Baczewski is looking to project this stance in ways subtle and overt. While an Air Guard candidate might once have called on pilots to write flattering letters on his behalf or make visits to lawmakers, Baczewski has not taken such a route. Instead, he is almost always accompanied by his wife, Rebecca, and his former long-time representative, Martha Heath, in trips to the Statehouse.
“I find him a person of strong moral character with great integrity,” Heath said in an interview. “As I get to know him more and more as we travel to Montpelier, my positive impression of him continues to grow.”
Most starkly, Baczewski has often worn civilian clothes, not his Air Force uniform, as he lobbies under the Golden Dome. He said he was following military guidelines for retirees but would be in uniform for the Feb. 5 meeting.
KNIGHT
Col. Greg Knight proudly dons his military uniform in Statehouse visits, his 35 years of service condensed into a series of service ribbons and medals that adorn his chest. A visual resume, of sorts.
While Baczewski and Knight are both decorated officers, they came from different classes of the military.
Baczewski’s pedigree comes from his early status as an officer following an education at the U.S. Air Force Academy, while Knight earned his Bachelor of History from Johnson State College. Before joining the Guard as an enlisted soldier, Knight enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, then became a Burlington police officer. He also served as the chief liquor investigator with the Department of Liquor Control.
While Baczewski fought in the air, Knight was deployed on the ground, first to Ramadi, Iraq, from June 2005 to June 2006 as the battle captain for Task Force Saber, which was part of the Guard’s 172nd Armor Regiment. In this role, Knight tracked the location and status of all friendly forces, facilitated fire support, coordinated fighter planes in the skies, and called in MEDEVAC copters.
Knight was commissioned as an officer in 1997 upon completion of officer candidate school.
He’s earned a number of medals, including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Bronze Star, the fourth highest ranking award given for brave or meritorious action in a combat zone. In 2017, Knight earned his Masters of National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
Knight is unable to share his vision of the Guard or comment on his career to the press. Any active duty military member, like Knight, is severely restricted from engaging in political behavior and while Knight secured a waiver to run for adjutant general from the Army’s judge advocate general, he is expressly banned from conducting press interviews. Each day he visits the Statehouse he must take a day of leave, which has hobbled his ability to lobby.
Dan Pipes, Knight’s campaign manager, sees Knight’s roots as an enlisted soldier as a benefit, not a drawback of his candidacy.
“Greg will go into armories and to the air base and speak with people of all ranks very candidly to find out what needs to be improved,” Pipes said.
If Baczewski is focused on improving metrics and making efficiencies, Knight’s top issue is recruiting and retention. Knight served as deputy chief of staff for personnel and, currently is the human resources officer for both the Air and Army.
One story in VTDigger’s series focused on the Guard’s widespread practice of delaying the discharges of enlisted Guard members, which significantly compromised access to health and pensions benefits for hundreds of soldiers and airmen. The practice was most common on the Army side and, according to three sources, Knight effectively worked to end it after he became the deputy chief of staff for personnel.
“Others are going to chase the metrics, Greg is going to focus on the soldiers and airmen,” said Pipes. “Without people, the stats are immaterial.”
Sources tell VTDigger that the retention is currently a major issue at the Guard and that members are choosing to retire and give up accruing more benefits, a sign they would rather exit the organization than accrue additional benefits. The issue of retention was going to be the top priority of former Vermont Army National Guard Commander Brig. Gen. Michael Heston, who had planned to run for adjutant general this year but died last November after battling a rare form of pancreatic cancer. Heston felt he was made sick in Afghanistan by the open-air burn pits at his base. Heston’s widow, June, wrote a letter to lawmakers informing them that before his death, Heston urged Knight to run in his stead. The two worked together for decades, and shared a similar outlook on the Guard, she said.
“If Mike were still here, he would be supporting Greg,” Heston said. “I’ve seen Greg serve in multiple positions, and know how much he cares for the organization. Greg is ready to be the adjutant general.”
GRAHAM
A third candidate, retired Lt. Col. David Graham, hasn’t served in the Guard in two decades, and lawmakers and Guard sources say he has a slim chance of pulling out a victory.
Graham, who lives in Grand Isle, has served in a variety of military positions, including assistant chief of staff for Civil Military Operations for the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. There, he helped a program, “Operation Mountain Lamb,” where 26,000 pounds of donated school supplies were sent to Afghanistan.
Graham volunteered for two tours in Afghanistan as a senior American officer and chief analyst, civil/military operations in Kabul. In addition, he served for six years as an assistant professor of military science at the University of Vermont ROTC program. He was also a staff officer with the Army Reserve Headquarters overseeing reserve units in New England.
In an interview, Graham said he is best positioned to lead the Guard because he has directly experienced the plight of both part-time reserve and full-time members.
“I’ve been through the whole thing, soup to nuts,” Graham said. “I understand that the traditional guardsman has a hard time balancing a civilian career with guard deployments, and must make serious family sacrifices. I know how the organization works, and how to strengthen it.”
VERMONT’S ADJUTANT GENERAL PROCESS
While some might think the election for adjutant general, like so many others, could turn political, neither Team Baz or Team Knight have uttered an ill word towards their competitor, publicly or privately.
The election process is different in other ways, too. Vermont is the only state to elect its adjutant general through a legislative vote, a process that requires military leaders to lobby lawmakers and sometimes educate them how the military works. Many lawmakers, including a crew of more than 40 freshman and some veterans as well, know very little about how the Guard operates, what its problems are, and how they can be fixed.
“I can’t even tell you if a corporal is higher than a major,” said Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, chair of Senate Government Operations. “Most of us have little knowledge of how the military runs, what is required to run it effectively.”
A cadre of House and Senate members recently echoed White’s frustration with the Adjutant General election process to Seven Days, calling it “bizarre,” “weird,” “chaotic,” “degrading” and “a free-for-all.”
“Process?” Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, recently asked incredulously during an interview with VTDigger. “We have no official process.”
While many lawmakers are clamoring for a new method for vigorously vetting candidates, there’s no consensus over what, exactly, it would look like. Efforts to change the selection process have stalled in the past several bienniums, including establishing minimum criteria for the candidates and creating a review and nominating board.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott supports a vetting process of adjutant general candidates similar to the background review of judicial candidates, which gives him final approval. Some lawmakers, however, want to retain final selection power should the process be changed.
Others want to either delay the election so as to conduct better vetting this year, or reform the process before the scheduled election later this month. (Both prospects, however, seem unlikely.)
In the likely case that the process remains unchanged for 2019, a bicameral vote will occur on Feb. 21. The election requires a majority to win even with multiple candidates. While candidates must submit to be on the ballot seven days in advance of the vote to be considered, a candidate can also be nominated by a lawmaker on the day of voting.
GRECO
While there have been few, if any, dark horse candidates to emerge for adjutant general over the years, Greco, a longtime activist opposed to the Air Guard’s impending F-35 basing, will challenge the three male candidates. She announced Friday she would formally enter the race next week.
During a late January meeting of the Women’s Caucus, a group of female lawmakers in the House and Senate, Greco, a retired Air Force colonel and leader of a group opposing the F-35, made the case that the next adjutant general must be a woman who can “rid that organization of its toxic environment.” During the meeting, Greco did not explicitly said she would run, and she called on lawmakers to conduct a national search for a qualified female leader, a process they would not have the time or resources to conduct. On Friday, Greco announced she is in the running.
As Greco defined an ideal adjutant general, it was difficult not to notice that her requirements closely matched her own resume.
“Early on in my career I was assigned to an organization whose responsibility was to investigate and report on racial and sexual discrimination and harassment,” Greco said in her remarks, before contending that the next adjutant general must be a female (check) and a colonel or a general (check) who has faced sexual harassment in the military (check) and would have no qualms with aggressively taking on the entrenched organizational power structure (check).
According to Senate Secretary John Bloomer, a candidate can get on the ballot by informing the Secretary of State’s office within seven days of the vote. A write-in campaign is also allowed, though the candidate would have to be formally nominated by a lawmaker from the floor on the day of the vote.
“The honest to God truth is I don’t want to be adjutant general,” Greco told VTDigger after her presentation. “But if someone nominated me, I would not say no. I would do it for the women inside the Guard. I’ve served my country, I’ve served my city [as South Burlington city councilor]. I guess I could do the trifecta and serve my state, too.”
After Greco’s presentation, some lawmakers expressed interested in Greco’s comments and her potential candidacy. Yet few interviewed felt they knew enough about the candidates yet, including Greco.
“We know nothing, we have no context for weighing and evaluating these people,” Sen. Alison Clarkson said after the meeting.
Some lawmakers are turning to colleagues with more expertise in the Guard, like Reps. Sullivan and Tom Stevens, D-Waterbury. As the new chair of the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs, Stevens has been holding hearings with Guard leadership and answering basic questions posed by lawmakers.
“We are plumbing the Guard for basic information on who they are, what they do, and what their story is. Guard 101 and 201-type stuff,” Stevens said. “We are marching forward steadily, making sure lawmakers understand the nuances of the Guard. People want to know that they are supporting the right candidate, and asking the right questions. It’s big deal. But at the end of the day, I’m not vetting candidates. My committee is not vetting candidates.”
Stevens is not ready to concede the authority to appoint the adjutant general to the governor, but he agreed the selection process is flawed.
“Something needs to change,” he said.
Colin Meyen contributed reporting.