“Sexually harassing behaviors” were plaguing the Utah National Guard two years into Maj. Gen. Michael Turley’s command, according to more than a quarter of the troops who were surveyed then.
And 1 in 5 said they saw “racially harassing behaviors” in their unit — Utah’s Joint Force Headquarters, which included senior leaders from both Utah’s Army and Air National Guard.
These “climate survey” findings and others show there were widespread concerns about the environment created by Turley’s leadership in the fall of 2021, two years before he was relieved of command last September. The survey responses were obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through a public records request.
And now Rep. Jefferson Burton, a retired Army general-turned-politician, wants to give the governor more power to fire the state’s top military commander.
“Some of you are aware of some of the challenges we had in the recent leadership with the adjutant general,” Burton told the House Government Operations Committee, referring to his successor, Turley.
Last August, after a U.S. Army Inspector General investigation ended with a “substantiated finding” of misconduct, Gov. Spencer Cox placed Turley on paid leave. The general was relieved of command the following month.
While the governor’s office was aware of the Army’s two-year inquiry, Jennifer Napier-Pearce, a spokesperson for the governor, said in November that Cox was prevented from taking action earlier because the inspector general declined to share its information.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rep. Jefferson Burton, R-Salem, at the Capitol building in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023.
Under Utah law, the governor-appointed adjutant general may be terminated before the end of their six-year term “for cause.” Burton’s bill would change that portion of code to eliminate the six-year term and say that the adjutant general “serves at the pleasure of the governor.”
Amending the law will “make it more easy for the governor to remove someone who’s not behaving appropriately,” Burton said, “and I think that’s a long time coming.”
‘Presence of sexually harassing behaviors’
Two years before Turley was removed from command, records obtained by The Tribune show the governor’s office also received complaints about Turley’s leadership. Anonymous guard members alleged in two letters that the then-adjutant general made violent threats, mishandled sexual misconduct cases and was “responsible for a hostile and unhealthy work environment.”
After receiving the letters, which asked for an investigation, the governor’s office told The Tribune in November that it asked Turley to commission a command climate survey of his subordinates and report back. The results “were largely positive,” Napier-Pearce said, adding, “The governor directed Gen. Turley to make improvements based on the survey results.”
When asked what those suggestions were, Napier-Pearce said Monday, “I don’t have specifics on private conversations between Gov. Cox and Gen. Turley.”
While the governor’s office has so far denied requests for additional records detailing its investigation, The Tribune has obtained the results of the command climate survey through a public records request to the Utah National Guard.
In the fall of 2021, and two years into Turley’s command, the Guard performed what the service calls a Defense Organizational Climate Survey, according to the records. The guard polled 95 members of Utah’s Joint Force Headquarters, or the unit in the state’s military that included senior leaders from both Utah’s Army and Air National Guard — simply, the troops most likely to interact with the guard’s commanding officer.
Seventy of the surveys were returned — about 74% of those polled submitted answers to an array of questions about the “climate” of the unit.
The survey identified both weaknesses and strengths within the organization. The vast majority of guard members who responded said they felt the organization was cohesive and individuals within the unit were engaged and committed. They praised the unit’s senior noncommissioned officers.
But the survey also found potential issues within the organization, including lower numbers of members saying they had a good work-life balance, and just 69% of participants thought treatment in the organization — especially pertaining to promotions and discipline — was fair.
The results also identified three “Highest Unfavorability Ratings.” Of the 70 respondents who completed the survey, 31% said they had high or moderate stress levels, 29% said there was a “presence of sexually harassing behaviors” in the unit, and 20% said their unit had “racially harassing behaviors.”
Three service members also said they “agree” or “strongly agree” that “In my unit, reporters of a sexual assault allegation would be blamed for causing problems,” and two agreed that reporters would be discouraged from moving forward with the report.
Under similar questions addressing sexual harassment reports, those responses rose to five and three, respectively.
While it’s unclear how many women were included in the survey, 38% reported a presence of sexist behaviors within the organization.
Before disclosing the responses, an “overview” of the report cautions, “Careful deliberation should be taken prior to making any management or disciplinary decisions based solely on the survey results.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maj. Gen. Michael Turley salutes as Taps is played at the Memorial Day Ceremony on the steps of the Utah Capitol Building on Monday, May 29, 2023.
It’s unclear what allegations the military was investigating — it reportedly did not share its final report with Cox, who said in an August statement he put Turley on leave “based on the information” provided to him by Army investigators.
At the January committee meeting, David Peterson, who identified himself as a defense attorney for Turley, said while speaking against the bill that the former adjutant general “was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate among other allegations,” and claimed Turley was “exonerated.”
Burton pushed back on that assertion, saying, “There were three allegations against the individual, one of which was founded by the Department of the Army Inspector General inspection. The other two were tabled just because the one that was founded was serious enough to warrant his removal.”
In the first anonymous letter guard members sent to Cox in September 2021, writers said they also planned to file a complaint with the U.S. Defense Department. That letter accused Turley of creating “a hostile and unhealthy work environment.”
It said Turley allegedly “routinely” made threats of physical violence against his subordinates in the guard, using phrases such as “‘I will shoot you in the face,’” and “‘there will be bodies in the street.’” Writers also said there were “several cases of inappropriate sexual behavior where General Turley has chosen to gloss over or fail to address the problem head on.”
“He talks a good game and even makes videos about how ‘it starts with me’ and how we all need to do our part to set a proper culture, but his actions fall short,” the letter said.
That’s a sentiment echoed by former Capt. Corrinne Galland, who contends her January 2022 sexual assault complaint against a superior officer was mishandled.
Rising reports of sexual assaults
According to data obtained by The Tribune through a public records request, sexual assault within the Utah National Guard has trended upward, part of a similar pattern nationwide.
The number of reported sexual assaults in the state forces jumped from three in fiscal 2021 to 18 in fiscal 2022. Thirteen were reported in fiscal 2023.
The National Guard Bureau — which administers National Guard units in all 50 U.S. states, as well as Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Guam — reported a 22% increase in sexual assault reports in fiscal 2022, rising from 704 in 2021 to 856. That reflected “the largest percentage increase recorded over the history of the program,” the report states.
The Utah National Guard does not include in its annual report how many women are serving in the force, and a woman has never led the organization. News releases from the guard over the past several years tout numerous female firsts.
It saw its first woman Army National Guard brigadier general and its first woman chaplain in 2021. In 2022, the Utah Army National Guard saw its first woman promoted to chief warrant officer 5.
The first-ever female general in the Utah National Guard, Brig. Gen. Christine Burckle, was appointed to the rank in 2016. When she retired in 2019, Burton told The Tribune that Utah had the lowest rate of female participation of any state guard unit in the country.
Sexual assault and harassment can compromise a National Guard unit’s readiness to face conflict, the survey report says. And Burton told The Tribune in an interview that Turley’s alleged inappropriate relationship could cause mistrust among the service members he led.
“If you’re in a position of authority, you shouldn’t engage in these activities with people who are your subordinates,” Burton said. “It’s just not fair because there’s always the question of: Did that person feel coerced?”
But Burton also doesn’t think Turley’s conduct signals that the Legislature needs to put more accountability measures in place, such as additional vetting of adjutant general candidates, saying, “This was, in my opinion, an aberration.”
The 10 House committee members approved the bill unanimously, and it will move on to be considered by the full body. Afterward, the Senate, then Cox will need to sign off on it.
Napier-Pearce said the governor’s office supports the bill.
“In [the adjutant general’s] case, you’re in a state position, and so you have to answer to your boss,” Burton told The Tribune. “It’s just intuitive. It makes total sense. And we just need to clean that up in the code.”
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