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 […]
By: Jasper Craven for VTDigger, November 28, 2018 As the Vermont National Guard has struggled to recruit new members, leadership has purposely delayed the discharges of hundreds of enlisted personnel over several years in an effort to project a false sense of operational readiness, according to documents obtained by VTDigger. Officials believe this practice, in […]
By: Jasper Craven, November 27, 2018 Five years ago, on Oct. 28, 2013, Lt. Col. Christopher Caputo appeared before a special session of the Burlington City Council to oppose two resolutions that could have prevented or delayed assignment of the F-35 fighter jet to the Vermont Air Guard base. Dressed in his Air Force blues […]
By Jasper Craven Nov. 26, 2018 On Jan. 4, 2014, a blue flag adorned with the image of an eagle was passed from the outgoing commander of the 158th Fighter Wing, Col. David Baczewski, to the new leader of the Vermont Air National Guard, Col. Thomas Jackman. Hundreds of airmen looked on as Jackman, a […]
By Jasper Craven, Mark Johnson and Anne Galloway Nov. 25, 2018 The storied history of the Vermont National Guard reaches back almost 250 years to the days of the Revolutionary War. Back then, the militia was known as the Green Mountain Boys. Today, the members of the Vermont National Guard still proudly call themselves by that same name. Their […]
By: Jasper Craven for VTDigger, August 13, 2018 When Gov. Phil Scott traveled to Washington on April 9 for a meeting at the Pentagon with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, the trip was not included on his public schedule, nor were there any indications his office had taken steps to publicize it. However, the following […]