Tennessee Air National Guard Officials Penalized Over Viral Dinosaur Puppet Video – By Riddhima Kanetkar (ibtimes.com) / April 19 2018
The United States Air Force has levied tough punishments against three members of the Tennessee Air National Guard for dishonoring the military traditions during a re-enlistment ceremony after a video of it went viral.
The Tennessee Air National Guard colonel who led the ceremony was demoted and forced to retire after a senior noncommissioned officer (SNCO) recited her oath using a dinosaur puppet.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Major Gen. Terry M. Haston, the adjutant general for the Tennessee Guard also said the SNCO, Master Sgt. Robin Brown whose videotaped ceremony created a blaze online, was removed from her full-time job with the Tennessee Joint Public Affairs Office along with facing several other administrative actions.
Additionally, Haston said, another Tennessee Air National Guardsman, an unidentified SNCO, who videotaped the entire event was also removed from his job as a unit first sergeant along with being reprimanded; however, it was confirmed that the unidentified SNCO will stay in the Guard.
The names of the officers involved were not disclosed by the Air Force officials but Brown could be identified in the video as she said her name out loud as part of the re-enlistment oath.
The director of joint public affairs for the Tennessee Military Department, Randy Harris, however, refused to name the other airmen who were punished.
A spokesman for the joint public affairs office for the Tennessee National Guard, William Jones, further confirmed that the re-enlistment ceremony was official and said since Brown’s children were not part of the ceremony, the video was made for them to watch later.
According to a report in Air Force Times, Haston said about the incident, “I am absolutely embarrassed that a senior officer and a senior NCO took such liberties with a time-honored military tradition. The Tennessee National Guard holds the Oath of Enlistment in the highest esteem because that oath signifies every service member’s commitment to defend our state, nation and the freedoms we all enjoy. Not taking this oath solemnly and with the utmost respect is firmly against the traditions and sanctity of our military family and will not be tolerated.”
“The Tennessee National Guard leadership as a whole is appalled by the actions of these individuals, which do not represent our nation’s service members nor the airmen and soldiers of Tennessee,” he continued.
Chief Master Sgt. Ronald Anderson, the command chief master sergeant of the Air National Guard, also expressed his dismay on Tuesday.
He said, “Many of you have sent me FB messages or commented on FB threads, clearly that same video has struck a nerve within our community ― rightfully so. This act in no way represents who we are as a force.”
In the video footage that went viral online, Brown can be seen wearing a dinosaur puppet on her right hand and has the puppet mouth her words as she recites the oath.
The re-enlistment ceremony took place on Friday and by Saturday the video was posted on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page and went viral.
https://www.facebook.com/AirForceForum/videos/934187223421585/
