Missouri state senators said Wednesday the National Guard was too slow to act on allegations of Nazism, fraud and an inappropriate relationship in its ranks.
The separate incidents may not have much in common, but Republican Sen. Bill Stouffer said the guard’s response in each case needs to be investigated, the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.
“This is about the process and about the culture within the Guard,” Stouffer said during a Senate committee review of complaints about the Missouri National Guard. “This is not a vendetta against the Guard. There are things that don't seem right.”
According to the Post-Dispatch, guard officials waited nearly a year to act on allegations that Sgt. Nathan Wooten, a member of the state honor guard that participates in veterans’ funerals, was neo-Nazi. Wooten was fired from his $27,000 position, but has denied through his attorney any affiliation with the National Socialist Movement.
In a separate case, an investigation against Capt. Charity Summers, accused of fraud in connection with a grant program for military members, has been on hold for nearly two years.
The Post-Dispatch also reported that a third allegation involving claims of an inappropriate relationship by another guard captain was mishandled and remains in limbo.
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