By AuxBeacon News Staff
[Editor’s Note: This is the fourth anniversary of the departure of Johnny Dean, the respected CAP National Operations Director.]
In 2012, the Georgia Wing Director of Operations was running a shadow command in which CAP pilots and flight instructors were threatened and intimidated not to report aircraft airworthiness, safety or fraudulent billing practices to their officially appointed CAP unit commanders. Multiple threats, some written and some audio, were brought to the attention of CAP Command and Safety officers.
In May of 2012, the abuse was brought to the attention of Johnny Dean, Director of Operations National Headquarters Civil Patrol as well as John Desmarais and CAP Chief Operations Officer Don Rowland. Dean’s official assessment of the notion that CAP pilots and instructors could not communicate aircraft violations to their appointed command staff is shown in the email below.
Within months of these communications, Lt Col Brett Slagle was removed from his position for cause and then later prohibited from serving in the role for a period of one year by then Southeast Region Commander Col Al Bedgood.
Unfortunately, the honorable Mr Dean was also pushed from his position by the one player at CAP National HQ who had the power to send clear messages regarding member reports of fraud, waste and abuse of authority.
From: Dean, Johnny [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 8:05 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: John Desmarais; Barry Melton; Al Bedgood
Subject: Re: “Operations Chain of Command”
Tonya,
You are correct and your DO is wrong. We will work to get these changes made.
Johnny Dean
Director of Operations
National Headquarters
Civil Air Patrol
On May 7, 2012, at 15:57, “Col. Tonya Boylan, CAP” <[email protected]> wrote:
Gentlemen,
I apologize for bothering you with this but I need your assistance in settling a difference of opinion between myself and my DO [Lt Col Brett Slagle]. He is of the opinion that there is an “operations chain of command” and that the subordinate Ops officer and the pilots report to him and not their echelon commanders.
The only place that I can find mention in any CAP document of an “operations chain of command” is in CAPP-211. Defining this term is a requirement at each level of achievement in the Operations Officer Specialty Track Study Guide but I can find no definition in CAPP-211, nor reference on the NHQ website or anywhere else.
If, there is such a thing, it needs to be clearly defined and CAPR 20-1 changed to reflect this dual chain. If, as I believe, there is no such thing (other than the incident command situation that temporarily exists on a mission), I would really appreciate the phrase being removed from CAPP-211 so that there isn’t so much confusion.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Regards,
Tonya R. BoylanCol Tonya R. Boylan, CAP
Commander
Georgia Wing Civil Air Patrol
Related Stories:
• Georgia Director of Operations to Step Down
• Georgia Wing Commander Commits Suicide
Wow! I see that your story that led to the thumping of Don Rowland and Brett Slagle has also enabled the return of Johnny Dean to National Headquarters Staff. He now serves as Deputy Director of Logistics with Gary Schneider and can be reached at Extension 262.
[link redacted]