Reforms for the Alaska National Guard

As Alaska National Guard service members and Veterans of other Military Services, we are very appreciative that legislators from both parties have expressed interest in National Guard reforms. We applaud Senators Lesil McGuire and Bert Stedman for their support of legislative hearings, and appreciate Governor-elect Walker’s outline of proposed reforms. While we can’t go back in time and prevent many heinous crimes from occurring, the legislature and administration can implement policy reforms that will prevent such crimes from occurring in the future and set up a means to make whole those who were harmed. We would appreciate your support of the following reforms:

• Appointment of a special prosecutor:

o Many National Guard veterans have urged the governor to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged crimes for which prosecution might still be possible. This is a key reform and we strongly support Governor-elect Walker’s pledge on the campaign trail to appoint a special prosecutor.

• Legislative hearings with witnesses testifying under oath:

o Senators McGuire and Stedman have proposed holding legislative hearings with witnesses testifying under oath. We strongly support the senators’ proposal and suggest that such hearings be held forth with and without delay.

• Establishment of an investigatory office with law enforcement authority, independent of the AK NG chain of command:

o Reports from individual victims and the National Guard Bureau Office of Complex Investigations report confirmed that in many instances when criminal acts like sexual assault were reported through the AK NG channels, these reports of criminal misconduct were never passed along to civil law enforcement for further investigation and/or prosecution as has been required by statute.

• Establishment of a safe reporting system, independent of the AK NG chain of command, for victims of sexual assault, witnesses of criminal misconduct, and other whistleblowers:

o Reports from individual victims and the National Guard Bureau Office of Complex Investigations report confirmed that reporting sexual assault within the Alaska National Guard chain of command frequently resulted in victims’ confidentiality being violated and perhaps even contributed to obstruction of prosecutions. There is also an overwhelming amount of testimony and evidence that reprisal actions were taken against those who reported acts of misconduct to the AK NG Chain of Command.

• An updated Alaska UCMJ:

o Alaska’s antiquated Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) lacks meaningful penalties for perpetrators of criminal acts specific to the National Guard and military service which are not otherwise addressed by Alaska Statutes. The legislature should examine other states’ UCMJs (many of which are more modern and effective than Alaska’s) and pass legislation establishing an updated UCMJ that will provide a process to penalize wrongdoers. The updated UCMJ also should include strong penalties for officials who violate sexual assault victims’ confidentiality.

• Appoint a non-serving Veteran to the position of Commissioner Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs:

o There needs to be a separation between the roles of Commander Alaska Army National Guard and Commissioner AK DMVA to provide oversight and help ensure the veracity of reports coming from the AK NG regarding issues. This additional oversight would go a long way to restoring trust in the AK NG and AK DMVA. The person appointed to such a role must have previous military experience and a proven dedication to the welfare of the citizens of Alaska.

• Establishment of a legislative committee to discuss and devise a plan to ‘make whole’ those that have been negatively affected by the criminal acts of AK NG service members:

o Part of the process of addressing misconduct of persons in positions of leadership and trust within the Alaska National Guard is to bring closure. In this we must care for and make as whole as possible the victims of that misconduct. This can be addressed in the following manners as well as others:

• Establishment of a medical and psychological treatment fund for ongoing care of the victims.

• Establishment of a medical retirement fund and board to determine eligibility of those victims who would have been eligible for military medical retirement had the AK NG leadership not denied such or otherwise interfered so as to cause the loss of or denial of such.

• Establishment of a fund to pay victims for financial losses caused by the misconduct of AK NG members without the requirement of filing suit against the State and National Guard.

By implementing these reforms, the legislature could bring some measure of justice to the victims. These reforms also would prevent a few bad apples from sullying the reputation of our National Guard in the future. We want to be proud of the Alaska National Guard again.