Adjutant General Donald Dunbar of the Wisconsin National Guard resigned Monday after a detailed report from the governor implicated years of mishandled investigations into sexual assault and harassment cases within the National Guard, according to a Cap Times article.
Governor Tony Evers released the 88-page report by the Federal National Guard Bureau Monday, calling for Dunbar’s resignation after faulty investigative practices within the Guard were discovered. The Wisconsin National Guard internally investigated these sexual assault and harassment cases, according to Cap Times.
“These internal investigations were deficient in a number of ways that adversely impacted commands’ efforts to properly support victims of sexual assault and hold offenders accountable,” the report released by Evers said.
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The report revealed the damage done by untrained staff and the lack of formal management in all the investigations by the Guard during this time period, the Cap Times said.
The Cap Times reported the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations conducted interviews with National Guard staff, personal visits to military installations and looked at more than 1,100 documents during their investigation.
Evers’ aides told The Cap Times the Guard had only 15% of the certified staff required by federal law when handling such allegations.
“I have ordered the Wisconsin National Guard to implement top-to-bottom changes to ensure a safe workplace … free of sexual assault and harassment and the fear they might face retaliation for reporting [it] … when it happens,” Evers said in a statement to the Cap Times.
Evers also ordered the Guard to submit their own plan for action to meet the demands detailed in the extensive report, which was briefed to Dunbar just two days before his resignation, the Cap Times reported.
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For now, Brigadier General Gary Ebben will take over Dunbar’s position until a new long-term chief is found, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
Overall, the report looked at 35 accusations from 2009 to 2019 and found one was not investigated, 12 were externally investigated and 22 were internally investigated. The 22 cases internally investigated were required by state and federal law to be investigated by the police or other trained outsiders, but Dunbar refused, according to the Cap Times.
