Tag: Ft. Carson

A command sergeant major tries to enforce a regulation and now she has to deal with this mess:

A Muslim soldier based in Fort Carson intends to sue the U.S. Army over allegations of discrimination and harassment that began shortly after she started wearing a hijab.

Spc. Cesilia Valdovinos, who has been in the military for seven years and has served in Afghanistan, converted to Islam in 2016. Since she started wearing her hijab, a head cover, at work, she has been subjected to name-calling, increased personal inspections and has been demoted, she and her attorney, Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation said. (……..)

After she returned, a command sergeant major of the 704th Transportation Battalion asked her to take her hijab off in a public place to show that her hair was in a bun underneath the scarf, per Army regulations.

Valdovinos, a culinary specialist, said after she removed the scarf, her hair fell out of the bun, making it appear that it wasn’t following code.
But Valdovinos said she was reprimanded for violating Army regulations for women’s hair even though she was in compliance.
Fort Carson officials declined to discuss whether Valdovinos was punished over her hair, saying it would violate Valdovinos’s right to privacy. But Zinn’s statement said the sergeant major acted appropriately by enforcing regulations for how women should wear the hijab.

Denver Post

You can read more at the link, but is anyone surprised that this hijab-gate controversy is happening after she was facing punishment for an inappropriate relationship which she was eventually found guilty of and demoted?

Here is a really cool story to read about this Veteran’s Day:

“After getting my masters I worked for the U.S Army at the department of state. I worked with an amazing diverse crowd from the United Nations,” said Kadhem. “Joining the Army always interested me. I wanted to serve the United States and wanted to belong to an organization that would make a difference, and for me that was the U.S. Army.”

While working at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Kadhem received her visa and moved to Washington, D.C.

In April of 2015, with the support of her Family and her father’s encouragement to join the Army, Kadhem enlisted in the U.S. Army as a unit supply specialist.

“My whole life I have never felt equal to men and in the Army I was able to liberate my body and mind by the equality they demonstrated,” she said. “I was 28 when I went through basic and advanced training. It was very physically challenging for me but I wanted it, so I pushed myself and it has changed my life in so many great ways.”  [Army.mil]

You can read the rest at the link.

It looks like the US Army has found themselves four more volunteers for the drawdown:

Four soldiers from Fort Carson are in custody after a home invasion.

Police said there was a disturbance involving four suspects, one of whom was armed with a gun, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 1100-block of Verde Drive in Colorado Springs.

“The suspect with the gun threatened to shot [sic] the family and was demanding property from the victims,” Colorado Springs police said. “After the victims refused to provide the property the suspects left, and threatened to return.”

Instead, police said, the suspects turned themselves in at around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Dustin Mincy, Mykal Hall, Aaron Hall, Roman Alred were arrested on suspicion of burglary, felony menacing and child abuse, police said.

The family of four, including two small children, were not injured, police said.  [Channel 7 News]

I would not be surprised if there is more to this story considering they turned themselves in right after committing the home invasion.

I am not sure how big Army can claim they are trying to weed out toxic leaders when they accept this as appropriate conduct for a battalion commander:

The commander of a Fort Carson helicopter battalion objected when subordinates talked about a toxic command climate, according to documents obtained by The Gazette.

“You want toxic? I’ll show you toxic,” Lt. Col. Tammy Baugh allegedly told soldiers in the 1st Battalion of the 25th Aviation Regiment, documents said.

A 263-page Army investigation report released under the Freedom of Information Act portrays Baugh as a foul-mouthed boss who belittled soldiers, threw things during a meeting and sometimes stormed out of battalion gatherings.

Baugh and the battalion’s command sergeant major were temporarily relieved in July, but later placed back in command despite the scathing report.

“Too many soldiers and leaders in the battalion, across all ranks, have been negatively impacted by her belittling, disrespectful and caustic interaction, and the results of that interaction have been detrimental to morale, effectiveness and climate of the organization and the morale and well-being of soldiers,” the report says.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read much more at the link, but this commander would throw flight schedules at people, cursing them out, and storming out of meetings.  It was so bad that the colonel that conducted the investigation recommended that she should be removed which the 4ID commanding general decided not to do for whatever reason.

So does anyone think that LTC Baugh would tone her act down a bit during a high profile investigation?  If you did you would be wrong:

In her statement, Baugh said her critics are slackers.

“It seems that those who cannot meet the standard have the loudest voice,” she wrote.

And the colonel denies that she belittled troops.

“I have made spot corrections,” she wrote.

I have been in units where senior leaders felt like they had to come in hard to change the culture.  Cursing I think people can live with, but if it is meant to belittle others that is where it becomes a problem.  I once saw a first sergeant in 2ID replaced due to cursing soldiers out in front of others much less throwing things at them.  In my experience it seems like senior NCOs get less the benefit of the doubt compared to a battalion commander or higher.  Also the storming out of meetings seems childish to me unless it was a one time thing to make a point.  However, it is her meeting so if she wants to storm out than so be it, but it does not set a healthy command climate.  I do have to wonder though that if she felt her staff was letting her down what had she done to properly train them to meet her standards?  I seriously doubt everyone in her unit, but her was incompetent.  For the most part if you tell people exactly how you want things done they will usually do it.

Anyway it takes something pretty big to remove a battalion commander like committing a crime or making inappropriate comments about women or gays.  She did nothing like this just demonstrated the toxic leader traits the Army has claimed it is trying to weed out. The 4ID commander may have felt since she did nothing criminal it may cause a bad precedent to remove her because of an investigation that began due to a poor command climate survey.  He may not want to send the message that soldiers can get rid of leaders they don’t like by giving poor ratings on a command climate survey.

In my experience I have never seen a battalion commander removed for toxic leadership if like this if everything claimed is true?  Than again I have never served under a commander who regularly cursed people out, stormed out of meetings, and threw things at people.  Has anyone else?

This guy is quite the weirdo:

The man arrested for allegedly offering to pay young women to watch him masturbate is a medical sergeant assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, Fort Carson officials confirmed Friday.

Sgt. 1st Class Duston Ridner, 43, from Austin, Texas, was arrested around 4:30 p.m. at North Academy Boulevard and Shrider Road, according to a news release from police. Colorado Springs police said there are at least 13 incidents in which a man drove a red pickup truck and offered to pay young women to watch him masturbate.

Ridner, who has been active duty military for 12 years, was arrested on suspicion of obscenity, a felony, and two misdemeanors: attempted indecent exposure and soliciting for prostitution, the news release said. Police did not say which of the 13 cases Ridner is accused in.

Police spokeswoman Lt. Catherine Buckley said she could not provide any additional information, including how police zeroed in on a suspect, because the case has been sealed by the District Attorney’s office.

According to information provided by Fort Carson, Ridner has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal with campaign star, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and earned the Special Forces Tab, Pathfinder Badge and Parachutist Badge.

The arrest comes after officers spent three weeks canvassing the city in search of a suspect and his red pickup truck.  [The Gazette]