Arizona’s top National Guard officer on Friday released a package of reforms and training protocols designed to improve discipline and combat corruption documented by a Pentagon agency’s investigation.
At the direction of Gov. Jan Brewer, Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar announced more than two dozen new initiatives that he described as “catalysts for broad, systemic program change.”

A Department of Defense agency’s report on corrupt conduct in the Arizona National Guard says the state military organization suffers from lax discipline, unethical behavior by commanders, a failure to assist victims of sexual abuse and many other problems.

Gov. Jan Brewer released the report on Thursday, announcing with it that Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar, Arizona’s adjutant general, is preparing to retire this year after three decades of military service.

The 107-page National Guard Bureau assessment contains investigative findings from a team of military officers commissioned by Brewer after an Arizona Republic series in October documented extensive criminal and ethical violations that whistle-blowers blamed on failed discipline and a corrupt culture.

The report verified newspaper accounts of fraud, fraternization, sexual abuse, assault and numerous other crimes, along with favoritism and inconsistent discipline. However, it also concludes that commanders overall are trying to address misconduct and “have been working diligently to improve their practices.”

In a statement released with the report, Brewer declared, “It is clear that the Arizona National Guard is not ‘broken.’ The findings are not an indictment of the Arizona National Guard, nor its leadership. … Nonetheless, significant concerns were identified, and they will be remedied.”

Brewer added that the level of wrongdoing is “unacceptable,” and she directed Salazar to submit a plan for reform by May 17. “I have depended upon his leadership of the Arizona National Guard,” she added, “and will look for him to provide a steady hand and wise counsel as he transitions to planned retirement.”

However, Lt. Col. Paul Forshey, who recently retired as the National Guard’s top lawyer, or JAG officer, said the report represents a clear indictment of Guard leadership as unethical. He said he was interviewed by investigators, is aware of others’ testimony and has read the report.

“How the governor can reach the conclusion she has is beyond reason or logic,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Salazar declined comment. The report says he “acknowledged there was an ethical leadership issue” when interviewed by team members, and in January published a new conduct code for the Guard.

However, that code restricts whistle-blower activities, barring discussion of internal matters with the media. Guard members contacted on Thursday declined comment because they feared retribution.

In a letter to Brewer, Salazar described the latest assessment as “comprehensive,” adding, “In general, I concur with the majority of findings and recommendations … I believe the report shows that we are on the right track but that there is more that we can do.”

The investigation was conducted by Maj. Gen. Ricky Adams and a team of officers who interviewed 35 witnesses and pored over military records between November 2012 and February. The review team found significant weaknesses in accountability, the reporting of misconduct, administrative actions, military justice and command ethics.

Findings and recommendations were submitted to Brewer by Col. Christian Rofrano, chief counsel for the National Guard Bureau based in Virginia.

Among the key points:

Senior leaders in the Guard have engaged in ethical misconduct, especially sexual relations with subordinates, that “clearly violated” military regulations. “This misconduct created the perception that leadership lacked the moral high ground to take appropriate steps when disciplinary matters arose.”

Full-time soldiers and airmen who committed serious wrongdoing rarely suffered military punishment. Instead, they were allowed to quit their jobs and remain in the National Guard. “Thus the misconduct would continue to permeate the good order and discipline of the organization.”

Prior to 2009, the Arizona Guard did not conduct military courts-martial because of a shortage of funds and a lack of judges. Systemic problems blocked commanders from meting out severe non-judicial punishment.

Victims of sexual abuse said their complaints were neglected or covered up. “Identified victims of sexual assault and harassment stated that they had been victimized twice: Once by the perpetrator and once by the leadership that was unable to address their needs.”

Ethical and criminal violations were “prevalent” among non-commissioned officers who abused their authority and committed fraud that included recruiting graft and forgeries of military records.

The recent culture of the Arizona Guard “did not encourage members to report misconduct,” and those who did were hindered by retaliation from above. “They were specifically told to ‘get on board’ or ‘quit making waves.’” That problem was exacerbated by “a lack of trust in the inspector general and legal offices,” which are supposed to protect victims and whistle-blowers.

Because the Guard does not track civilian criminal cases involving personnel, some soldiers and airmen accrued three or four drunken-driving convictions with no military consequences.

The report recommends new disciplinary policies and procedures, a revision of the Arizona Code of Military Justice, additional training in ethics and leadership, assignment of an advocate to work with victims of sexual abuse or reprisal, and greater coordination with civilian law enforcement.

State Sen. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Phoenix, who recently called for legislative hearings, said the report “validates concerns I’ve heard from many Arizona Guardsmen.”

“There is a fundamental problem with the organization,” she added. “The governor needs a plan of action to repair it. The question is whether Salazar is the one to develop it.”

Findings released Thursday do not identify perpetrators but list more than 200 individuals accused of past military offenses. That includes a dozen Guard members who were given honorable or general discharges even after being convicted in a drug-smuggling conspiracy.

The report’s overall contents mirror earlier reporting by The Republic. Using Guard records, the newspaper documented drug-smuggling, embezzlement, substance abuse, paintball attacks on civilians, drunken driving and other offenses. It also described how soldiers and airmen who reported wrongdoing became targets of retaliation.

As part of its review, the assessment team surveyed Guard personnel. About half of the respondents described morale as high. Nearly half called for improved leadership ethics, especially regarding fraternization, abuse of authority and fraud. Forty-five percent said favoritism is apparent.

Four out of 10 soldiers and airmen said leaders do not adhere to core values of the military.

There are about 8,000 Guard personnel. Of 2,176 who completed the survey, 15 told of being victimized by an unreported sexual assault within the prior year; 79 told of sexual harassment; 158 said they were victims of discrimination; more than 400 reported racist or sexually offensive displays.

Investigators said they met with numerous victims of adultery between supervisors and subordinates. “Each story was compelling in its impact on the families and the units involved,” they wrote. “Most disturbing was the apparent lack of discretion exhibited by service members that blatantly violated fraternization policies.”

“Fraternization, when engaged in by senior leaders, lays the groundwork for harassment … and creates a permissive environment where misconduct can occur,” the report said.

A segment of the findings addressed Salazar’s decision to fire Brig. Gen. Michael Colangelo as head of the Air Guard last August after Colangelo dismissed two aviation commanders. A colonel in charge of Predator drone operations was ousted after his pilots allegedly collected $1.1 million in unlawful living expenses. A brigadier general was fired for his handling of a sexual-harassment incident involving the Guard’s only female F-16 pilot.

The Air Force inspector general found Colangelo culpable for abuse of authority. After Colangelo was fired by Salazar, he complained to Brewer. The National Guard Bureau report says Colangelo’s actions were not an abuse of authority because they had been approved by Salazar, military lawyers and Brewer’s staff. The report says that information was withheld from Air Force inspectors, causing them to reach an incorrect finding.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson has emerged as a focal point for national outrage over military justice since the placement there of a fighter pilot whose court-martial conviction for aggravated sexual assault was thrown out by his commander.
Lt. Col. James Wilkerson was transferred to Davis-Monthan amid a furor over the clemency decision following a sexual-assault verdict at Aviano Air Base in Italy.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base has emerged as a focal point for national outrage over military justice since the Tucson placement there of a fighter pilot whose court-martial conviction for aggravated sexual assault was thrown out by his commander.
Lt. Col. James Wilkerson was transferred to Davis-Monthan amid a furor over the clemency decision following a sexual-assault verdict at Aviano Air Base in Italy.

Former Arizona Game and Fish Commission Chairman Jack Husted’s abrupt resignation last week came as agency administrators were reviewing multiple sexual-harassment allegations against him by state employees, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic.
Female Game and Fish Department workers reported to a human-resources supervisor that Husted gave them surprise hugs and made inappropriate suggestions.

A French judge who has been asked to block the planned sale of 70 Hopi kachina masks heard legal arguments on Thursday, but announced that a decision will not be rendered until two hours before Friday’s scheduled auction.
Hopi leaders and an indigenous-rights organization known as Survival International claim the religious objects, known as “kachina friends,” are sacred possessions of the tribe that should not be on the market. In Hopi theology, the colorful costume art animates spiritual figures who visit tribal members during ceremonies.

Veterans Affairs officials in Phoenix plan to withdraw support for the Phoenix Veterans Day Parade, jeopardizing the popular event’s future amid controversy involving the federal agency’s longtime Arizona spokeswoman.
Paul Coupaud, acting public-affairs officer, said in an e-mail that the Phoenix VA Health Care System will no longer be a primary sponsor because of liability concerns and manpower issues. He added that it is unclear what level of support may continue.

Veterans Affairs officials in Phoenix plan to withdraw support for the Phoenix Veterans Day Parade, jeopardizing the popular event’s future amid controversy involving the federal agency’s longtime Arizona spokeswoman.
Paul Coupaud, acting public-affairs officer, said in an e-mail that the Phoenix VA Health Care System will no longer be a primary sponsor because of liability concerns and manpower issues. He added that it is unclear what level of support may continue.

The Heard Museum and the Museum of Northern Arizona have joined Hopi cultural officials in urging a French auction house to cancel the planned sale this month of about 70 ceremonial kachina faces, known to tribal members as “friends.”
In Hopi theology, kachinas are supernatural messengers depicted in fantastical costumes worn during religious ceremonies. There are several hundred spirit characters in the pantheon representing wildlife, plants, human qualities, weather and other facets of nature or society.

A longtime spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Arizona has been removed from her post, allegedly because she breached security by asking her husband to upload photographs of the Phoenix Veterans Day Parade onto a secure government website.
Paula Pedene, a 23-year employee with the VA Health Care System, is fighting her reassignment to the hospital library, claiming she is a victim of reprisal by current administrators for testimony she gave against former administrators who left their jobs amid federal inquiries, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic.

As Jared Loughner spiraled into schizophrenia, talking to phantoms and plotting an assassination, his mother and father struggled to control and confront the mental illness, according to newly released investigative reports.

On Jan.8, 2011, Loughner murdered six people and wounded 13, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, outside a supermarket near Tucson. His parents, Randy and Amy Loughner, have remained silent during the two years since while police, lawyers, psychologists, journalists and the media attempted to comprehend the mayhem and motivations.

On Wednesday, the parents’ story was publicly disclosed for the first time with the unsealing of approximately 2,700 pages of investigative records by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

The Loughners told deputies that Jared was an “outcast” and a “loner” who had alienated his friends, had been fired from jobs, was rejected by the Army and expelled from college. There were so many problems with Jared’s behavior, they told an FBI agent and deputy, that they restricted his vehicle privileges, hid his shotgun, urged him to get mental help and sought to take other precautions.

Even on the day of the shooting, the Loughners said they were so suspicious of their son’s behavior that they confronted him at the family home and chased him into the desert.

But the Loughners, amid a plethora of red flags, did not call police.

Records say, Amy Loughner was shopping when Jared walked up to Giffords, fired a round into her head, then calmly began shooting others in line at a meet-your-congresswoman event.

Loughner, who is now 24, was dragged to the ground and disarmed by witnesses. He was indicted on 49 felony counts and, after a legal battle over his mental competence, pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced last year to multiple life prison terms without the possibility of parole.

The depths of Loughner’s psychopathology have been spelled out in court hearings and documents. Until this week, however, the parents’ account to authorities remained sealed. According to interview transcripts, Randy and Amy Loughner recognized that Jared’s personality had become twisted in the months leading up to the bloodshed and took some measures to cope, but they were ineffectual.

During interviews at the house a few hours after the shooting, both parents struggled to explain their son’s descent into mental illness or increasingly disturbing behavior.

There were multiple warning signs:

Amy Loughner said Jared had been hearing voices for more than a year and talking back to them. “Sometimes you’d hear him in his room, like, having a conversation,” she noted. “I don’t know how to explain it. … Just laughing.”

Jared had been charged with two misdemeanors, one for possession of drug paraphernalia and another for spraying a cryptic graffiti symbol on a street sign.

Jared was fired from a series of jobs and had been unemployed for a year. His most recent position, at a clothing store, ended with termination. Randy Loughner told investigators his son’s behavior deteriorated after the dismissal.

Jared increasingly espoused conspiracy theories online and to acquaintances, claiming that police were out to get him, U.S. currency was fraudulent and that the government was controlling grammar and numbers. Randy told investigators his son kept journals containing coded “crap” about his political views. “You can’t read it,” he said. “… It’s in his own script or something.”

Troubling signs

Psychiatric evaluations confirmed that Jared Loughner’s mental-health issues began years earlier, when he was diagnosed and treated for depression in high school.

As early as 2007, perhaps unbeknownst to his parents, the young man attended a public appearance by Giffords and scrawled notes on correspondence sent to him by her office afterward. The messages, found in his safe: “Die bitch,” and “Die cops.”

Of all the indications, however, Jared’s behavior at Pima Community College stood out. Students and instructors complained repeatedly that he disrupted classes and frightened them, leading to five contacts with campus police.

Then, in late 2010, Loughner posted a video on YouTube in which he toured the college and described it as a “genocide school.” That incident, which led college administrators to expel Loughner, became a focus of discussion when investigators questioned the parents hours after the shooting spree.

Randy Loughner said the video dispute was about freedom of expression, adding that his son was “just too smart for his own good.” After Jared was expelled, the father added, anger and aberrant behavior seemed to grow worse.

“That totally set him over,” he said. “They didn’t like his video. ’Cause he’s always, his First amendment rights. He’s, uh, he’s too intelligent, you know? … He’s been angry because, uh, he feels like he — I guess he felt like he’d been harassed at school by the campus police or whatever … He’s always pissed at the pigs, is what he said.”

The Loughners told investigators they continued to support their son financially. But they made him take a drug screen, which he passed. They took away the video camera — a Christmas gift — and began restricting Jared’s access to a vehicle at night. They also hid his shotgun based on a recommendation from Pima College officials.

“They told us … if there’s any firearms in the house, that we should, you know, put them away,” Amy said.

“Did they say whether it was, uh, danger to himself? Or is he a danger to others?” asked the deputy.

“I think both,” she answered.

The Loughners said college administrators advised them in writing that Jared would not be allowed on campus unless he obtained a mental-health evaluation and clearance.

“We’ve recommended to him to go see — uh, we told him that he needed to see someone,” Amy told detectives. “His behavior is not normal.”

A detective asked, “Did he ever follow up on that?”

Amy Loughner answered, “No.”

The day of the shooting

When detectives began questioning Loughner’s parents on the morning of the shooting, they did not explain that murders had occurred or their son was a suspect. They merely launched into interrogations, and neither parent sought an explanation.

Late in the session, an agent asked Randy Loughner, “Do you know why we’re here today talking with you?”

Loughner said a neighbor had told him there was a shooting, and he “put two and two together. I’m not, I’m not both stupid,” he added.

Throughout interview transcripts, the Loughners are quoted in garbled sentences with unfinished thoughts.

When Amy Loughner was asked about her son’s anger, she responded: “Well, he angry ’cause of what happened (at Pima College). ’Cause he felt like some of the stuff they were teaching him was, uh, you know when he was writing. Or would make comments that, you know, freed, he would going off on his freedom of speech and that. That was the other thing that, right after that, he, uh, to, the, uh, um, um constitutional rights.”

She was asked if her son ever wanted to hurt anyone or wished they would disappear. Her answer: “He already did, uh, or are you saying that, asking about a person or something?”

Randy Loughner confirmed that he hid Jared’s shotgun in the trunk of his car, explaining: “I’ve had a bad feeling that he’s went. You know, I can’t say nothing. He’s 22 years old. I haven’t seen anything or I don’t know of any that he, of any. But that’s, you know, I don’t know.”

Detectives asked if Jared ever talked about how he might stop police from harassing him. “No,” Randy answered. “I tried to talk to him. But you can’t. He wouldn’t let you. … He wouldn’t communicate with me no more.”

Despite the parents’ preventive measures, and the escalation of Jared Loughner’s strange conduct, it is unclear why his parents confronted him on the morning of the shooting.

They told detectives they saw him arrive home with a backpack and something in a pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, so they decided to find out what he was carrying — what he was up to. They did not explain why their suspicions were aroused.

Nor did they mention that, according to a witness, their curly-haired son had recently shaved his head and eyebrows, creating the manic image that would loom as his mug shot was broadcast around the world.

Republic reporters JJ Hensley and Sean Holstege contributed to this article.

Amid an investigation of corrupt conduct in the Arizona National Guard, soldiers and airmen have been issued strict ethics guidelines that include restrictions on whistle-blower disclosure of agency information.

The “Code of Ethical Conduct” was published earlier this year by Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar during the early stages of an independent review of Guard discipline. That review was prompted by an Arizona Republicinvestigation raising ethical and leadership questions.

Matthew Benson, Gov. Jan Brewer’s spokesman, said the findings from that review are expected within two weeks.

The new ethics code, in a section subtitled “Protection of Agency Records and Information,” tells Guard members that “only designated individuals” may speak out.

Accompanying guidelines warn that “any release of agency information to the public or media must go through either the Public Affairs Office or the Staff Judge Advocate’s Office.”

The new code was issued Jan. 15 to all members of the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, which includes the Guard and the state Division of Emergency Management. It was accompanied by a letter from Salazar urging personnel to conduct themselves with honor and integrity — “sustaining a place where we are all proud to serve.”

The code advises Guard personnel that they must report alleged misconduct to commanders and stresses a “zero-tolerance policy toward reprisal” against whistle-blowers.

However, guidelines protect whistle-blowers only for communications to members of Congress or within armed-forces channels. Revelations to watchdog organizations or media are not covered.

The Republic’s ongoing reporting on corruption has been based largely on information from dozens of Arizona Guard members who say that the chain of command fails to combat wrongdoing and that complainants frequently are subject to retaliation.

They also say reports filed with the federal inspector general, the Arizona Governor’s Office, the National Guard Bureau and members of Congress are typically referred back to Arizona Guard command. Many of the soldiers and airmen provided documentation for those assertions.

Experts on law and ethics said the new policy is confusing because it does not define “agency information” and therefore may be perceived as a free-speech violation.

“To the degree that there’s a mandate and you can’t talk to the press, that could be problematic,” said Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis who teaches and writes about whistle-blowing.

Tom Devine, legal director for the non-profit Government Accountability Project, which operates whistleblower.org, said Guardsmen are a hybrid of state and federal military, with the legal rights of neither.

“National Guards have been in a unique loophole to all whistle-blower protections,” Devine said. “They end up with the worst of all possible worlds.”

Richard Moberly, associate dean and a law professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said military organizations understandably require extra security, but that makes transparency and oversight problematic.

“There’s more reason for secrecy,” he said. “Of course, that allows for the ability to cover up.”

Moberly said military systems falter when personnel feel compelled to go outside the agency because a leadership culture is perceived as corrupt.

“Here’s where whistle-blower protections fail,” he added. “If the highest people in an organization allow misconduct to continue, or if you have a culture of closing ranks and the whistle-blower becomes an outlier because they question authority.”

Salazar, the state’s top military officer, has declined to comment to The Republic since October, when a series of articles exposed widespread criminal conduct, retaliation and lax discipline in a state Guard with about 8,000 personnel.

The series described repeated incidents of sexual abuse of high-school cadets, recruiting fraud, drunken driving, fraternization, assaults, embezzlement, cronyism and reprisal against those who reported misconduct.

Salazar previously acknowledged that the recruiting command had become corrupt but said misconduct, lax discipline standards and other leadership failures were addressed. He stressed the integrity of most Guard members and denied the existence of a rogue environment.

In November, Brewer assigned Maj. Gen. Ricky Adams to conduct a “full, fair and independent review.” An Arizona Guard spokesman said in mid-January that Adams had completed his interviews and was expected to submit an investigative report by month’s end. Since then, however, numerous officers and enlisted soldiers have reported additional interviews conducted by Adams’ staff. Adams declined to comment.

The Arizona review coincides with a national scandal involving sexual abuse and harassment in the military. Reaction to that scandal has included Senate hearings two weeks ago and an ongoing investigation of rapes at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

The Defense Department has estimated that there are 19,000 sexual-abuse incidents annually in the military, with one perpetrator in 100 held accountable.

Commanders from all military branches testified about reforms instituted to combat sexual misconduct. But some U.S. senators, troubled by a permissive atmosphere, have advocated changes in the way rapes are investigated, including possible civilian prosecutors and oversight.

Brewer has previously stressed that the review of Arizona’s Guard would be independent.

Maj. Gen. Adams is a member of the Oklahoma National Guard who works in his civilian life as an administrator with Oklahoma’s Department of Public Safety. He also serves as deputy commanding general with the Army Training and Doctrine Command in Virginia, which provides leadership instruction for soldiers.

Adams is working in Arizona through the National Guard Bureau, an administrative agency also based in Virginia.

Like Salazar, Adams ascended through artillery commands. E-mails obtained by The Republic show that when Adams first contacted Salazar about conducting the inquiry, his salutation read, “Hello, Hugo!”

Those e-mails also indicate that the Arizona Guard attempted to conduct an online survey during the past few months, asking soldiers and airmen to evaluate morale, leadership, integrity and stress.

Results have not been released. Records indicate the poll could be flawed if personnel chose to submit multiple entries.

Since the newspaper series was published in October, numerous soldiers and airmen have come forward with additional examples of misconduct and cover-ups.

The Republic sought documentation for many of those incidents under Arizona’s Public Records Law. In response, the Guard terminated a policy of releasing investigative files.

Legal advisers for the state agency announced that investigative records must be obtained under federal law, via the Freedom of Information Act. To date, the U.S. Army, National Guard Bureau, Air Force and Arizona Guard have not provided investigative materials.

Military documents obtained independently by The Republic show that Arizona Guard problems include numerous cases of recruiting fraud, part of a problem found to be epidemic in the military.

The Washington Post reported last year that about 1,700 recruiters were under investigation nationwide. Guard officials declined to comment or provide records on Arizona cases.

The Republic also sought an interview with Brewer and, in a letter, asked that she direct the Guard to provide investigative files as required by state law. Benson said the governor would not respond.