Army investigators are looking into a Stryker Brigade soldier’s allegations of racist behavior by some members of his unit. A U.S.
The allegations were outlined in a story posted today to the Army Times’ website. The story cites an NCO with the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright.
According to the Times’ story, the staff sergeant says soldiers with the platoon created a weekly opportunity to racially slur fellow soldiers during a weekly event the sergeant says was known as “Racial Thursdays.”
The Times story says he was informed when he showed up for duty with the platoon that Racial Thursday is, quote, “a tradition” with the unit.
The sergeant says it allowed soldiers with the platoon to, quote, “say any racist remark you want without any consequences” to soldiers who’ve been designated as the recipient of that week’s derision.
The Times story says the sergeant had served 10 years in the Army, and asked not to be identified. The NCO told the Times that he’d filed an equal opportunity complaint against his platoon leader, who he said encouraged participation in “Racial Thursdays.”
U.S. Army Alaska spokesman Lt. Col. Alan Brown says officials with the platoon’s brigade launched an inquiry into the allegations last week after receiving an “informal complaint” about the behavior.
Brown declined to talk on tape, but he said in an e-mail that, “The command is extremely sensitive to any complaints that involve equal opportunity or discrimination and will investigate every allegation.”
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
