4. Military-Industrial-Political Corruption

By Lisa Rathke for the Associate Press, published by Air Force Times, December 7, 2018 COLCHESTER, Vt. — The head of the Vermont National Guard on Thursday disputed the characterization of the Guard’s culture that was reported in a series of news articles that included allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct among some members. […]

By: Jack Thurston for NECN, December 6, 2018 Leadership of the Vermont National Guard reiterated a commitment Thursday to take seriously issues of sexual violence, alcohol use, and gender equality. The move follows bruising reports by an online news source that described allegations of serious culture problems within the Vermont Guard. “We are not a […]

By: John Banner Baird and Maleeha Sayd for Burlington Free Press, December 6, 2018 Maj. Gen. Steven Cray, the top commander of the Vermont National Guard, on Thursday faulted a news outlet for reporting unflattering articles about sexual misconduct and drinking on the base — but did not dispute the accuracy of the reports. A […]

December 7, 2018– Video by CCTV VIEW FULL PRESS CONFERENCE HERE

By Colin Meyn and Jasper Craven for VTDigger, December 6, 2018 Gov. Phil Scott joined Vermont’s top general Thursday to defend the Vermont National Guard’s response to sexual misconduct and other bad behavior outlined in a series of articles published over the past two weeks by VTDigger. “As we have seen throughout time in many areas and in many […]

By Jasper Craven for VTDigger, December 4, 2018 The New England chapter of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has commenced an investigation into the Williamstown Lutheran Church’s pastor, Calvin Kemp, who was the subject of a recent VTDigger report that detailed allegations of sexual misconduct by Kemp in his role as a chaplain at the Vermont National Guard. […]

By: Jasper Craven for VTDigger, Dec. 2, 2018 From an early age, Heather King understood the challenges of being a woman in the military. Decades later, she said she faced the perils of working while female in the Vermont Air National Guard. King comes from a long line of military members. Her father was a […]

By Mark Johnson for VTDigger, Nov. 30, 2018 Gov. Phil Scott said Friday he was “concerned” about published reports of excessive drinking, sexual harassment of women and inflating troop numbers within the Vermont National Guard. At the same time, the governor announced the head of the Guard is leaving. Reacting to a six-month investigation by VTDigger, the […]

By: Jasper Craven for VTDigger, November 29, 2018 In the summer of 2013, members of the Vermont Air National Guard attended a week-long camp at the Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Michigan, a few miles from Lake Huron. ir Guard Command Chief Brian Marchessault saw the deployment as a way to boost morale and […]