The head of the California National Guard, who has presided over a collection of scandals throughout the final 3½ years, will retire at the finish of the month, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s workplace confirmed Monday.
Maj. Gen. David Baldwin’s departure comes on the heels of a Times investigation that final month detailed the most up-to-date run of embarrassing episodes for the Guard, together with allegations in the officer ranks of abuse of authority, homophobia, antisemitism and racism.
Baldwin, who has led the Guard since 2011 as its adjutant basic and stories to Newsom, didn’t reply to an interview request. After Newsom’s workplace acknowledged to The Times that Baldwin was stepping down, the governor issued an announcement Monday evening thanking the basic “for his steadfast leadership and nearly four decades of committed service to our state and nation.”
The assertion additionally credited Baldwin for “pushing forward much-needed reforms to change the culture of the organization and better serve Californians,” and mentioned he was instrumental to the Guard’s efforts to coach Ukrainian army forces and supply that nation with protecting gear and medical provides.
Newsom’s workplace mentioned Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, who’s on Baldwin’s govt staff, will succeed him as a deputy adjutant basic and “the governor will consider appointing an adjutant general.” Beevers didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The 20,000-member Guard, a department of the California Military Department, which the adjutant basic additionally leads, serves a twin mission that features responding to emergencies in the state, corresponding to earthquakes, wildfires and civil disturbances, and helping U.S. armed forces in army operations abroad.
Upheaval has marked Baldwin’s tenure since early 2019, when a Times report disclosed inner complaints of reprisals in opposition to whistleblowers and allegations of a cover-up of misconduct in the management of the group. The complaints targeted on the Guard’s Fresno air base and included an incident by which somebody urinated in a feminine Guard member’s boots. Baldwin later eliminated the commander of the Guard’s air facet, Maj. Gen. Clay Garrison. The commander of the 144th Fighter Wing at the Fresno base was additionally eliminated.
In 2020, in response to a different Times report, Newsom’s workplace denounced the Guard’s choice to ship a army spy airplane to suburban El Dorado Hills, the place Baldwin lived, to assist civilian authorities monitor demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd. Baldwin mentioned the indisputable fact that he resided in El Dorado Hills, the place the protests have been small and peaceable, had no bearing on the deployment of the RC-26B reconnaissance airplane.
Last 12 months, Baldwin fired Garrison’s successor, Maj. Gen. Gregory Jones, and suspended Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Magram with pay as director of the air workers and reassigned him to human sources and humanitarian duties. Those actions adopted a Times report that Guard members have been involved that their superiors had readied an F-15C fighter jet in 2020 for a doable mission by which the plane would fly low over civilian protesters to frighten and disperse them. Baldwin denied that the jet had been ready for such a deployment, and he mentioned the strikes in opposition to Jones and Magram had nothing to do with the report.
Magram, who has been a member of Baldwin’s inside circle, is amongst the officers caught up in the newest spherical of turmoil.
According to interviews and a confidential report obtained by The Times, the U.S. Air Force inspector basic investigated Magram over complaints that he violated authorities guidelines by having subordinates ferry his mom on a procuring journey, carry out different private errands for him and full a component of his cybersecurity coaching. The investigation resulted in a letter of admonishment for Magram, the Guard instructed the paper.
After additional queries by The Times, nonetheless, the Guard mentioned a second investigation of Magram by a state inspector basic substantiated comparable allegations in opposition to him, and he awaits one other spherical of self-discipline.
The Times additionally reported that an inner inquiry substantiated allegations that Brig. Gen. David Hawkins made antisemitic and homophobic slurs, together with that Jews are unrepentant sinners and that homosexual marriage is a cause terrorists assault the United States. Hawkins obtained a letter of reprimand because of this, the Guard mentioned. Responding to a subsequent Times question, the Guard confirmed final month that Hawkins had resigned.
Hawkins instructed The Times that “those allegations are largely untrue,” and he particularly denied making the assertion about terrorist assaults. He mentioned he believed the allegations have been lodged by somebody who overheard and misconstrued a dialog he had with a chaplain.
Meanwhile, Col. Jonathan Cartwright, a Guard finance officer who was a candidate for basic, was arrested in March on suspicion of exposing himself to 3 girls at a restaurant in Arlington County, Va. Police booked Cartwright on a misdemeanor cost, however the case was dismissed Monday for lack of proof, in line with his lawyer, Karin Porter.
“He was falsely accused,” Porter mentioned.
An try to succeed in prosecutors late Monday was unsuccessful.
Interviews and Guard information reviewed by The Times present that different alleged acts of misconduct that occurred on Baldwin’s watch embody:
– A captain allegedly referred to a Latino sergeant as a “lazy Mexican” and harassed an African American soldier as a result of he was a “Black Lives Matter guy.” Another captain has been accused of asking a Jewish soldier if cigar ashes have been his “relatives.” Both captains allegedly falsified bodily health certifications for Guard members.
– A wing commander for the air facet of the Guard faces complaints that she used a army bank card to purchase cleansing provides for her canine and had underlings stroll the pet at work.
– The vice wing commander at the identical air station was grounded as a result of of a drunk driving arrest.
All of these issues have been the topic of inner investigations, a Guard spokesman mentioned. The standing of the inquiries couldn’t be decided Monday.
Current and former Guard members have blamed Baldwin for what they are saying is a widespread notion in the group that high-ranking officers who interact in abusive and unethical habits are shielded from important self-discipline.
“It’s a great thing that Baldwin’s gone,” mentioned Dan Woodside, a former Guard main who has publicly criticized the group’s brass. “He’s been there too long, and now there’s not enough top cover for these other commanders.”
Baldwin has denied shielding commanders from self-discipline. In an earlier assertion to The Times, he mentioned, “The bottom line is we have an effective system in place that deals with allegations of inappropriate behavior.”