col drinkwine 82nd abn wife
His other assignments include service in the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, the 1st Cavalry Division, the Joint Readiness Training Center, and the Army Legislative Liaison office. Senior staff writer Sean Naylor and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. The Brigade welcomed Col. Andrew O. Saslav and bid farewell to Col. Tobin A. Magsig. In the past five years, the Army saw only five reliefs per year among 961 battalion commander-equivalent positions in the Army, according to an Army spokesman. Helmick said that at the time he had been hearing about the FRG's ongoing dysfunction from "a host of different sources.". Nearly a half-million people …, Rachel Lynne Cushman is used to getting calls from Chinook Nation members worried about losing housing or having their power shut off. This is … Dela Cruz, in his statement, said that Leslie Drinkwine "does not influence who I talk to or what I say," but said he often worked to insulate her from "triggers" that would frustrate her. By Sgt. "After repeated instances, I believe it became difficult for [Leslie Drinkwine] to decipher the sarcastic and bitter response from those that were truly meaningful.". A report says the wife of Col. Brian Drinkwine, right, commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, has harassed soldiers and their families. He has served in various command and staff positions over multiple combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan throughout his career. Dela Cruz notes that several FRG advisers worked well with Leslie Drinkwine, but others did not. When you put it in writing, people really take you seriously.". During the review, the Drinkwines' defenders said that the friction in the rear detachment had come from the battalion level, not brigade level. Both he and Leslie Drinkwine declined comment about a copy of Helmick's investigative file obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Jeremy D. Crisp, XVIII Abn. Several of the people connected with the investigation also agreed to be interviewed by Army Times but, fearing reprisals, asked not to be named. Pam Wawrzyniak's statement said Leslie Drinkwine spotted her months later while driving on the road and pulled her truck in front of her to stop her. In March 2009, before the brigade deployed, all six battalion commanders serving under Col. Drinkwine's command went to his office together to talk to him about his wife. It was a mission shrouded in secrecy. ... Col. Drinkwine refused an interview request for this report. Leslie Drinkwine told her "all she wanted was for us to spend time with her" and "since she didn't have the relationship she wanted with us, she would make our lives hell, and she did," Amy Oclander's statement said. Helmick said that this recommendation was being followed. In her statement, Amy Oclander said the spouses were intimidated by Leslie Drinkwine, who blurred the personal with the professional, bullying them into social relationships with implied threats to their husbands' careers. "I do not know exactly what created this kind of fallout between the three ladies and [Leslie Drinkwine] but whatever happened, it has definitely created an unbridgeable rift," Dela Cruz says. Less than a year after playing a key role in the fight against the Islamic State, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division will soon … The FRG's tensions seemed particularly acute between the Drinkwines and the Jenios, crystallizing after a January 2009 FRG meeting in which Leslie Drinkwine scolded the FRG advisers, and Jenio's wife, Sherri, walked out of the meeting. The confrontation between Leslie Drinkwine and Jenio was emblematic of an environment within the 4th Brigade, particularly its family readiness group, that was so toxic that it triggered an investigation by a three-star general. According to a source close to the issue, the two were relieved of their posts after a racially insensitive slide appeared in one of their command briefings. "In that February time frame, it wasn't working, and that's why I had the investigation and I did what I had to do," Helmick said. Col. Drinkwine reportedly told the battalion commanders that their wives were in a subordinate relationship to his wife. According to the Army FRG handbook, an FRG is a commander's program, but commanders are not to participate in them directly and often delegate leadership roles to their spouses. That's when Leslie Drinkwine confronted the spouses of some of her husband's subordinates at the 82nd Airborne Division's annual silent auction and accused them of disloyalty, the report said. The investigation found no direct evidence that feuds within the FRG spilled over into the command and hurt careers, but a follow-on investigation has since been ordered to look into the matter. "I recommend that the 82nd Airborne leadership take action to ensure monitoring is in place for [Leslie Drinkwine]," Spillman said. Jump to. In March 2009, before the brigade deployed, all six battalion commanders serving under Col. Drinkwine's command went to his office together to talk to him about his wife. Col. Drinkwine said in his sworn statement that the tensions between his wife and the battalion commanders' spouses "in no way affected my judgment, or my assessments of their abilities and how I viewed them.". Leslie Drinkwine, in an interview with Spillman, denied that she had threatened to have the major relieved but conceded that she used profanity during heated conversations with him. ", Helmick said that while FRGs are by and large "a good thing," they can have "challenging dynamics" as the spouses of deployed soldiers eagerly anticipate information about loved ones. ", "It's important to note that on a couple of occasions, I believe I witnessed 'disrespectful' disagreement," Ivanoff said. In his sworn statement, Col. Drinkwine denies any wrongdoing by himself or his wife and attributes the FRG's dysfunction to "the inability of a few ladies to work professionally with one another." He said Leslie Drinkwine was driven by an intent to care for soldiers and their families and Col. Drinkwine was "one of the most dedicated officers I've ever met. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — At the end of 2020, California had lost a record 1.6 million jobs during the pandemic. Stephen Decatur/4th BCT/82nd ABN DIV PAO June 9, 2009. English: U.S. Army Col. Timothy McAteer, foreground right, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 82nd Airborne Division, presents the Shield of Sparta award to Anne Guden during her husband Command Sgt. "I literally spent every other night on the Iridium phone with my Rear D or [wife] discussing the latest issue vice focusing on the OEF fight," Jenio said in his statement. Dela Cruz says in his statement that Leslie Drinkwine called on him Nov. 18 to reprimand several other spouses because she was "being slandered" by them. Um, the colonel’s wife who treats the O-6 parking spots as hers? Fort Bragg's commander has barred the wife of an 82nd Airborne Division combat officer from most involvement on the home front after a report said she's been undercutting morale. ... Erich's joined by his lovely wife, Jenn and their three children, Twins Andrea Mollie and Evan Jenn. One of Drinkwine's battalion commanders, Lt. Col. Frank Jenio, said Leslie Drinkwine threatened to have him fired during a heated phone conversation last year. "I spent more time discussing FRG and how bad things are and how bad things are in the brigade, and it begins to affect our marriage," she said. Eventually, the colonel came into the house, tried unsuccessfully to calm his wife, and they left, Pam Wawrzyniak told the investigator. Helmick said that by then it had become evident that Col. Drinkwine's commanders had tried to "verbally coach and teach [Drinkwine] without too much success.". "At best, we want a functioning organization to be able to assist families, not cause rifts and problems.". . The slide, a parody of a motivational poster, was a picture of a white coach with his arm around the shoulder of an African-American football player with the title "Reinstate Slavery.". In January, less than a year later, Jenio and his command sergeant major Herbert Puckett were relieved of command while deployed in Afghanistan by Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the 82nd Airborne's commander. Roy Cooper on Friday rejected a bill that would compel the state's 115 K-12 public school districts t…. In his report, Spillman credits the brigade's rear detachment commander, Maj. Fred Dela Cruz, with tempering Leslie Drinkwine's influence with "good military judgment." The source said Jenio had given his command staff general guidance to include humorous slides as a stress reliever in the daily morning battle updates. Above, Drinkwine thanks family readiness group volunteers in June 2009 for helping to prepare FRGs for 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regument, for deployment. Leslie Drinkwine had been a leader of the unit's family support group, but investigators said her flare-ups with other spouses have been demoralizing. By Staff Sgt. At the following month's meeting, Lt. Col. Jenio tried to sit in, but Leslie Drinkwine ejected him. Both Col. and Leslie Drinkwine declined to be interviewed for this story. Col. Drinkwine's superiors eventually became involved. His unit, 4th BCT of the 82d Airborne Division, is the first " modular brigade augmented for security force assistance " … Dr. Drinkwine would often use the threat of "telling Brian" when she had a disagreement with a family member or soldier, he said, and Col. Drinkwine made matters worse by giving the impression that she had influence over him. The next day, she sent an e-mail to several support group leaders, both officers' wives and paid staff members, characterizing her dispute with other women at the auction as "an ambush from hidden domestic insurgents.". The battalion commanders, aware of the hostility within the FRG, met formally with Col. Drinkwine in March 2009 to discuss it. 82nd Airborne Divarty Change of Command From COL Eric M. Johnson to COL Michael D. Owens. A spokesman for ARCENT described the action as a "holistic review of both the situation in Afghanistan and back at Fort Bragg," and declined to provide further details until the review is complete and delivered back to 18th Airborne Corps. Lt. Col. Kelly Ivanoff, in his statement, likens the resistance to a "mutiny." FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Lt. Col. Frank Jenio was hit by an ear-splitting hourlong tirade from his commander's wife, Leslie Drinkwine, complaining about the roster of his battalion family readiness group. Leslie Drinkwine later told Spillman she had been upset at the time because she had just been struck by her 7-year-old autistic son. Drinkwine leads 3,500 men in the 4th Brigade Combat Team, which has been in Afghanistan since August. In a copy obtained by a public records request, names but not ranks were redacted. Fort bragg's 4th BCT heads to Afghanistan . Leslie Drinkwine demanded she attend a predeployment luncheon, saying, "If you don't show up, I will have [Col. Drinkwine] hang your husband!" In it, he also alleges Jenio's ouster was "based on a personal vendetta and unethical influence" by Leslie Drinkwine. Joshua Stokes had been a squad leader in the 82nd Airborne Division for about a year when, as he prepared to transfer to his battalion’s headquarters in March 2015, a … As the fighting season drew to a close that fall, the battalion was spread across Helmand and Kandahar provinces. "Many of us also felt that the time we spent stressed about the relationship with her caused us not to have as much time and energy to respond to and involve ourselves with activities within our own battalions. A woman named Leslie Drinkwine is the wife of Colonel Brian Drinkwine, Brigade Commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team in the 82nd Airborne Division. The following day at 8 a.m., Leslie Drinkwine appeared unannounced at the home of Lt. Col. Mike Wawrzyniak and berated his wife Pam for about 30 minutes, reducing her to tears, the couple said in their statements. Um, . Since C…. For her part, Leslie Drinkwine told Spillman that one of the wives had "worked to undermine her" following the silent auction, and that she believed false information had been spread about her. Oclander, in the e-mail, concedes that the slides indicated a lack of sound judgment, but said "the punishment is not consistent with the crime" because of the personal issues between the Jenios and the Drinkwines. Army Times was able to make identifications independently. You have permission to edit this article. ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4 News) – According to officials with the 82nd Airborne Division, a paratrooper from Utah has died from injuries sustained in a non-combat vehicle rollover accident in Syria on July 21, 2020. Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is the primary fighting arm of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The support group's top paid staff member resigned in December 2008, citing a hostile work environment that made it impossible for her to do her job. Corps PAO. Afterward, he emerged from a conference room, red-faced and furious, a source who was present said.