The undercover investigation into a California National Guard officer focused on issues big and small — the colonel’s Dalmatian and the chaos the dog caused in a military building, as well as her drinking of another senior officer. handling of rear-driving crashes, and reports of low morale.
The California Guard’s inspector general conducted more than three dozen confidential interviews and pored over financial records and other documents. They came to a clear conclusion: Col. Lisa Nemeth, the target of the investigation, had acted unbecoming of an officer.
The verdict, issued secretly in 2022, jeopardized Nemeth’s plans to be promoted to general, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.
But then an extraordinary phone call from the Pentagon sparked a bitter cold war between the California Military Department, the Guard’s parent organization, and the Arlington, Virginia-based National Guard and Air Force. A survey found that power.
California believes this is related to the fairness and integrity of the military justice system and the broader requirement for the independence of all guardsmen in state affairs. Meanwhile, the California Guard is trying to clean house after a series of scandals that ended the careers of several generals and other top officers.
Left: California Guard Maj. Gen. Matthew P. Beavers. Right: Lt. Gen. Michael A. Rowe, former chief of the U.S. Air National Guard.
(California Defense Force/U.S. Air Force)
In June 2022, a phone call to Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, then adjutant general of the California Military Department, came from then-Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, commander of the Air National Guard of the United States and its territories.
“Normally, I don’t get involved in all matters of state, but this incident affects us, too,” Rowe said in a voicemail, a copy of which was reviewed by The Times.
Rowe went on to demand that Baldwin drop the findings against Nemeth and hire an outsider to reopen the investigation. Loh noted on the phone that Nemeth was about to join his team. He suggested that the guard bring a woman in for a new investigation, even though the lead investigator on the original case was a woman.
“I’m really asking you to reexamine the whole thing,” Lowe said.
Baldwin did not agree to Rowe’s request. That’s when tensions began to mount. Eventually, a conflict erupted when the Air Force inspector general based in Washington, D.C., overturned California’s findings and cleared Nemeth without further investigation, according to internal records reviewed by The Times.
The office has the power to overrule the state inspector general’s decisions, but California State Guard officials say that rarely happens.
A review of the case “revealed no conduct, decisions or omissions that seriously undermined Col. Nemeth’s character or status as an officer,” Inspector General Stephen Davis’ office said in a memo citing reasons for the revocation.
Among those outraged by the Pentagon’s move was Maj. Gen. Matthew Beavers, who will succeed Baldwin as California Guard chief in 2022.
“It is frankly puzzling why the Air Force Inspector General suddenly disagrees with all four substantiated claims,” Beavers wrote in a scathing memo to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. accusations, especially in the absence of any new evidence.
“This superficial dismissal of this substantiated allegation violates fundamental norms of good discipline within military command while setting a new and disturbing precedent.”
Beavers, who wrote the memo in response to an inquiry from The New York Times, said the “fragile logic” used by the Air Force inspector general to overturn California’s findings undermined his efforts to reform an organization beleaguered by scandals involving senior leaders. s hard work.
“When the Air Force Inspector General neglects and/or willfully refuses to uphold established ethical standards, as is clearly the case in this case, my ability to effect positive, meaningful changes to good order and discipline is compromised,” Beavers wrote. weaken.
Rowe retired earlier this month. He declined to comment, and Nemeth did not respond to an interview request from The Times. The U.S. Senate confirmed Nemeth’s nomination to the rank of brigadier general in May, but the National Guard did not respond to inquiries about whether her promotion had been finalized.
At the time of his nomination, Nemeth was serving as an Air National Guard advisor to the commander of Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, according to the Department of Defense.
Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said Rowe’s call had no impact on Davis’ decision to overturn the findings against Nemeth and that he didn’t even learn about the call until much later.
“That’s not part of their calculation at all,” she said.
In his letter to Beavers, Davis said evidence from California’s investigation did not support the charges against Nemeth and that because the case has been open for more than two years, “completing the investigation is the right course of action.”
The 19,000-member California National Guard has dual state and federal missions, including responding to earthquakes, wildfires and other emergencies in the state at the direction of the governor, and assisting the U.S. Armed Forces in emergencies at the Pentagon’s activation . The National Guard Bureau serves an administrative role and oversees the Guard’s staffing, training and equipment needs.
A series of embarrassing incidents involving Guard leaders in recent years has fueled perceptions that senior officers who break rules can get away with punishment.
They include a top general who received only a warning letter after asking subordinates to perform personal errands for him, take his mother shopping and complete part of his cybersecurity training. After the Times reported the story and conducted a second investigation, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Margram was removed from office.
Magram, a former Air National Guard chief of staff, is the fifth general since 2019 to resign, retire or be fired following an investigation by The Times.
In another case, Brig.-Gen. Gen. David Hawkins received a written reprimand after an internal investigation found he made anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks, including that Jews were unrepentant sinners and gay marriage was a reason terrorists attacked the United States. He resigned.
Former California Guard judge advocate Dwight Sterling said it was inappropriate for Lowe to ignore the chain of command in the Nemeth case and interfere with the state investigation.
“This is an attempt to hinder the proper conduct of the investigation. This is an attempt to cover up inappropriate conduct,” he said. “This senior federal official chose this official and didn’t want her misconduct to derail her career. Well, as a senior manager, you’re not supposed to do that. You’re supposed to respect the investigation.”
The legendary story of the 146th Airlift Wing in the Channel Islands, nicknamed the “Hollywood Guard” for its outstanding combat capabilities. Close to the film industry The company, previously based in Van Nuys, was launched after Nemeth took the helm in a June 2020 ceremony. Nemeth is a pilot who just joined the Guard. Honored by the organization As the first female wing commander in California.
The celebration was short-lived.
Staffing for firefighting engineers — a group of highly skilled pilots who fly C-130J tankers over fires in remote areas — dropped to critical levels. Most pilots work part-time in the wings and have outside jobs with airlines, and firefighting duties are largely voluntary. Some pilots believed Nemeth did not prioritize training for the dangerous mission, according to a California IG report reviewed by The Times.
According to reports, the commander of the 115th Airlift Squadron, part of the 146th Wing, resigned in July 2021 and told investigators that he dealt with pilots’ complaints about the wing’s leadership on a daily basis.
“The boys came to me furious and said they weren’t going to fly anymore… They weren’t going to volunteer for any more trips because as long as the leadership doesn’t care about them, then why bother? They care about this place,” according to transcript of his interview, he said.
Another firefighting pilot, whose name was withheld from the report, had a similar sentiment.
“It’s clear that (the program) doesn’t get the attention it deserves, not because it’s a glamorous mission, but because it … inherently presents risks that need to be mitigated,” the pilot said.
The report said wing leaders at one point discussed forcing pilots to participate in grueling missions because there were not enough volunteers, which some said led to overall burnout. According to the IG report, Nemeth did not inform Guard brass about the already severe personnel shortage.
“Colonel Nemeth was often seen as caring more about his own ‘report card’ than the morale and welfare of his airmen, an omission that reinforced senior leadership’s belief in this,” the report said.
Nemeth reportedly said she felt she was at a disadvantage because the pilots were not supportive of female officers.
But the report also points to other alleged lapses in judgment.
When Nemeth’s second-in-command, Col. Bill Green, was arrested in March 2021 on suspicion of driving while drunk and crashing into a utility pole, Nemeth fought to retain him and planned to put him in charge when she had to travel. He was grounded but was allowed to begin firefighting duty again two months after his arrest. Investigators concluded that Nemeth’s decision further weakened morale.
Nemeth was also accused of having subordinates care for her Dalmatian dog while at work, which investigators found disrupted operations and distracted people.
In one incident, the dog peed on the carpet during a meeting and a flight surgeon left to get supplies to clean it up, according to Beaver’s memo and investigative report.
In another case, government funds were used to purchase expensive pet cleaning supplies, including a carpet cleaning machine and two Dyson fans. Others on the base noticed this and brought their pets to work, the report said.
Dogs are not allowed except for official purposes, a rule that other senior officials find difficult to enforce, the report said.
“Enforcement is difficult when the boss brings her dog to work,” an operations commander whose name was redacted told investigators, the report said.
During the investigation, Nemeth said she was unaware of the rule and that her puppy made people “smile and laugh during scary moments,” the report said.
In his voicemail, Rowe seemed to suggest that complaints against her could be seen as reflecting bias against female commanders.
“I guess she went in and did some cleanup and now she’s getting a bunch of IG complaints,” Loh said. “This is about the third case in Guard State where women have made accusations about a toxic climate, and of course it’s been under the most scrutiny… Call me back, and if not, take a look at this case.”
The lead investigator, Inspector General Col. Shawna Pavey, declined to comment. The attorney involved in the investigation is also a woman, Charmaine Betty Singleton. She did not respond to interview requests.
In an email to The Times, California Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Brandon Hill dismissed suggestions that gender discrimination played a role in the case.
“In this matter, the overwhelming evidence to the contrary is untenable,” Hill wrote. He said Pavey had an “impeccable record” and had never had a case overturned in his decade as inspector general.
