MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The head of the Wisconsin National Guard said Monday that he intends to implement all recommendations made following an investigation into multiple reports of sexual assault and harassment.
Major General Don Dunbar was briefed Saturday on the probe by the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations.
“We intend to implement all of the recommendations,” Dunbar said.
The Guard has been shaken by recent allegations of officers brushing off sexual assault complaints and retaliating against victims for reporting incidents. Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin requested the federal investigation, the results of which were presented to Dunbar on Saturday. Evers got the report Nov. 25.
The allegations came to light in November 2018 when Master Sgt. Jay Ellis told Baldwin about half a dozen incidents of sexual assault or harassment within his 115th Fighter Wing security squadron that officers had done little to address. Ellis wrote in a letter to Baldwin that the culture in his unit treats sexual misconduct as “no big deal.”
That letter spurred a U.S. Air Force investigation that’s still underway.
State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican who is running for Congress in 2020, asked Dunbar in February for a top-to-bottom review of Guard protocols for handling sexual assault complaints. Dunbar refused to launch such a probe, instead outlining the protocols in a letter to Fitzgerald and stressing that the Guard has “zero tolerance” for sexual misconduct.
Fitzgerald was less than pleased with that response, and questioned whether the Guard follows its own policies.
Evers and Baldwin asked the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., to launch the review in March. The bureau complied, launching a review through its Office of Complex Investigations. Evers said he received a briefing on the findings on Nov. 25 but that he wanted to discuss the report with Dunbar before releasing it to the public. Evers planned to brief Fitzgerald and other legislative leaders Monday on the findings.
Ellis, the whistleblower who brought the sexual assault complaints to light, alleged in May that his commanders were trying to discharge him on trumped-up medical issues so he would be denied retirement benefits. Dunbar launched an investigation into Ellis’ allegations that is still ongoing. A medical review board last week found Ellis fit and said he could return to full duty.
