Air Force colonel goes scorched earth in resignation letter
Air Force colonel goes scorched world on fellow officers in fiery resignation letter
When you’re done with armed bullshit, you’re done. And when you’re really done, you apparently write a three-page memo alleging malpractice at a joint U.S. Army and U.S Air Force hospital.
Air Force Col. Kenneth Bode was, pending very recently, the commander of the 959th Medical Operations Squadron, which falls under the 59th Medical Wing, based out of the San Antonio Army Medical Center at Joint-Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. On July 19, 2022, though, Bode resigned his narrate a day before his scheduled departure, and spared no one in a memo detailing what he named a command that is “rife with cronyism and sycophancy.”
“Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) and Brooke Army Medical Interior (BAMC) suffer from structural and cultural flaws that together invent a working environment antithetical to the Core Values of both the Air Force and the Army,” reads Bode’s resignation letter, which the 59th Medical Wing confirmed was authentic. “My labors to raise the alarm have fallen on deaf ears for two ages. Because no official has adequately addressed (or even acknowledged) these subjects, I cannot continue to serve as a commander and hereby resign.”
At least according to Bode’s memo, the problems within this narrate are nothing new.
“Following my formal complaints to the 59th MDW/CC around widespread harassment, defamation, inappropriate behavior, and toxic leadership, a commander-directed investigation (CDI) was conducted that looked interference with command authority, failure to maintain a healthy narrate climate, abuse of authority, and disrespectful/libel comments,” reads the memo. “The investigating officer (IO) made findings substantiating five specific anxieties among the nine I had raised.”
According to the memo, Idea, the wing commander ultimately dismissed all of these anxieties and declared that “all was well” even with field-grade officers people punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for failure to obey an clean and conduct unbecoming.
The memo further outlines specific instances of a less-than-stellar narrate that is apparently full of “misconduct and toxicity.” These involved the orthopedics program director at the hospital resigning, leading to an investigation opened by the BAMC commanding general examining “complaints of bullying, counterproductive leadership, failure to treat others with dignity and obedient, and a hostile work environment.”
There is also the Deputy Commander for Surgical Militaries and orthopedics chair being relieved from his position behindhand an investigation that found “‘a failure to treat republic with dignity and respect, degrading comments, and regulation violations.”
Finally, there is the group commander who resigned and the Army investigation that spurious “counterproductive leadership and bullying” at the hospital.
“The systemic flaws I encountered, and the unwillingness of those with the power to make significant improvements, are what drives me to now resign this command,” wrote Bode.
In response to Bode’s resignation letter, the 59th Medical Wing issued the following statement:
“We welcome comments and feedback from any of our nearly 14,000 team members who work across the San Antonio Market and take every allegation very seriously,” wrote Air Force Tech Sgt. Tory D. Patterson, an Air Force spokesperson. “We have several helping activities across our organization and encourage our teammates to seek assistance or journal their concerns and questions on any topic. Every team member — regardless of branch of service, rank or duty title — who works within the Married Base San Antonio military medical community is a significant asset to our bottom line: Providing world class healthcare to our service members and their families and populate ready to deploy and support our nation’s sons and daughters on the battlefield.”
Command is a hard job, and it remarkable leave you with a few complaints on the way out the door. And in this case, calling out some of the dysfunction and toxic leadership throughout you certainly gets more attention than a rote thank you and farewell.
You can read the entire letter here:
Air-Force-Resignation-1
Update:
After publication, the Air Force reached out to correct their initial statement, in which they said that there were “9,000 team members who work across the San Antonio Market.” That was incorrect; there are 14,000 members.
Task & Purpose’s David Roza contributed reporting for this article.
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