Calls For Hearings Into National Guard Misconduct Continue

Another state legislator is calling for hearings into misconduct in the Alaska National Guard.

Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican, believes the hearings should occur when the Legislature reconvenes in January. He says to call hearings now would politicize the issue further, but that the Legislature must be involved in the reform effort. He called the abuse, which included sexual assault and fraud, profoundly troubling.

“In all my years of public service, this is one of the most appalling things I’ve ever seen,” said Stedman in a phone interview.

In an interview with the Alaska Dispatch News last week, Sen. Lesil McGuire, an Anchorage Republican, demanded for the Legislature to involve a special investigator. The idea has received pushback from Senate President and Wasilla Republican Charlie Huggins.