A yearslong wait for answers
In 2015, Maryland National Guard Sgt. Bruce Weaver was forced to wear a heavy chain after he was accused of leaving a training event early. A National Guard Bureau investigator wrote that Weaver's superior had "selected the most humiliating punishment imaginable to use against an African American" soldier.
Paste BN reported about Weaver's case in 2021, then took further action to investigate whether similar cases existed. It requested the records from the U.S. government.
What Paste BN didn't expect: having to sue in federal court to force the documents' release. And waiting four years for answers.
👋 Nicole Fallert here and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers (that's you!). This week, we talk with investigative reporter Nick Penzenstadler about Paste BN's exclusive examination of discrimination within the National Guard.
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Guard confirms discrimination in its ranks
Paste BN's journalists have been waiting for answers since 2021. After submitting a Freedom of Information Act, Nick Penzenstadler, along with Paste BN Pentagon correspondent Tom Vanden Brook, set out on a yearslong quest to find out how many cases may be similar to Weaver's.
National Guard documents finally arrived at Paste BN this year through the FOIA. These, along with freshly filed lawsuits, show employment discrimination throughout the National Guard's ranks. They represent the most egregious cases that reach national leadership for corrective action – including the report on Weaver.
About half of the claims in the documents were substantiated by top-level investigators, meaning they were affirmed and led to some sort of reprimand – up to firing and a bar from reenlistment. After waiting years for their discrimination claims to be heard, some soldiers received the rare victory of years of back pay after they were passed up for promotion.
"It just shows the process is not working if it takes that long," Penzenstadler said. "Predictably, the National Guard missed FOIA deadlines. We appealed and hired outside counsel to get the records. A judge ordered to roll these records out, and just this year we received a crucial batch of high-level notices."
These notices from the National Guard's leadership are handed back to state commands, which are supposed to implement standards and guidelines. But that step doesn't always happen. This multi-layered process is one reason why these cases are so complicated and so slow to see justice.
The documents Paste BN sought came in two batches. The initial set of records provided a useful timeline for our journalists, but much of the official language was redacted. Then our reporters noticed some cases were missing, which Penzenstadler said they knew because of anecdotal evidence. Firsthand accounts that should have been detectable in the dossier weren't in the pages handed to Paste BN. So they asked the government for more – and the response provided a more complete picture.
"We knew by logic the documents didn't have everything," Penzenstadler said. "It's frustrating when you get documents and they're incomplete."
To fill out the official government reports, Penzenstadler and his team traveled across the U.S. to interview national guardsmen who were willing to share their stories.
"It was surprising how long and byzantine the process is for them," Penzenstadler said. "These people had monthslong harassment and discrimination and then waited years to finally get their complaints looked at. It's wild to think people had suffered indignities and then stayed on this path for years to get things right."
'Playing the long game'
Since publishing the project, Paste BN's investigative team has received resounding support from even more former service members. Several retired National Guard members reacted with sentiment like "finally" and "I knew this was a problem" upon the story coming out.
"This is core investigative journalism," Penzenstadler said. "It's hard to finish stories like this one because the military doesn't want the public knowing the ugly side. It was validating for members who see themselves in the stories."
The project reflects Paste BN's unique mission, too, Penzenstadler said.
"This story is a perfect example of how these problems span from Kentucky to Guam," Penzenstadler said. It speaks to the ethos of the newsroom that our journalists were given resources to seek answers over years.
"We play the long game at Paste BN," Penzenstadler said. "We break a lot of news, but we also have a whole staff dedicated to waiting out and digging out these stories. When I have reluctant sources, I am in the unique position to wait them out until they're ready to speak."
Thank you
Thank you for supporting our journalism with your subscription. Our work wouldn't be possible without you.
Best wishes,
Nicole Fallert