{"id":109028,"date":"2021-01-04T17:55:39","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T22:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=109028"},"modified":"2021-01-04T17:55:39","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T22:55:39","slug":"warning-signs-totally-ignored-in-sf-cols-case-prior-to-his-armed-standoff-with-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=109028","title":{"rendered":"Warning signs totally ignored in SF Col’s case prior to his armed standoff with police"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Army Times<\/a> is reporting an update on the case of Colonel Owen Ray.<\/p>\n

Complaint about Green Beret colonel\u2019s \u2018overreactions\u2019 was dismissed months before police standoff<\/h3>\n

An inspector general complaint about an Army Special Forces group commander\u2019s alleged overreactions and berating of subordinates was dismissed months before he was accused of domestic violence and engaging in an armed, two-hour standoff with police near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, on Dec. 27.<\/p>\n

The IG complaint signals that at least some leaders were aware another officer had raised doubts about the Green Beret colonel\u2019s temperament. It also raises the question of whether officers earmarked for greater authority are properly held to account by investigations from within their own chain of command.<\/p>\n

Former 1st Special Forces Group boss Col. Owen G. Ray, 47, was suspended from his latest role as chief of staff for I Corps after he was arrested and charged by Pierce County prosecutors with two counts of felony harassment, one count of kidnapping, two counts of assault and one count of reckless endangerment.<\/p>\n

The charges stemmed from a night that court documents alleged involved Ray hitting his wife, grabbing a pistol and rifle from his gun locker and threatening to kill police if they attempted to arrest him.<\/p>\n

\u201cCol. Ray\u2019s decorated career as a soldier is a testament to his service to our country,\u201d Jared E. Ausserer, an attorney with Puget Law Group representing Ray, said in a statement. \u201cHe understands the seriousness of these allegations and hopes to take advantage of services and counseling to better himself as husband and a father, in hopes that [he can] get back to his family that he loves more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

But prior to the Dec. 27 incident, concerns about Ray had already been raised in an IG complaint made by a Green Beret officer who served under him at 1st Group. Ausserer declined to comment on the complaint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always say \u2018see something; say something,\u2019 but the Army has to do something too,\u201d said the now-retired officer who made the complaint and asked to remain anonymous to protect his new career. \u201cAt the end of the day, this is a failure on the leadership in the SF channels.\u201d<\/p>\n

A substantiated investigation could have sparked a range of actions, from anger management counseling to relief of command, the officer explained.<\/p>\n

However, 1st Special Forces Command\u2019s IG office returned the complaint as \u201cnot substantiated\u201d this June, according to records reviewed by Army Times.<\/p>\n

One month later, Ray was elevated to be I Corps\u2019 chief of staff, a coveted role that often leads to the general officer ranks. Before being suspended, though, Ray was not in a promotable status, according to I Corps.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleged Ray created a toxic command climate by setting expectations that everyone should act like him, which meant putting work before all else, even family relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe exacerbates this expectation by shaming people in public and berating them,\u201d a statement submitted with the original complaint reads. \u201cAdditionally, he regularly overreacts on little information and has emotional outbursts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ray pushed key staff to work 14-hour days and discouraged the complaining officer from carving out time in the evenings to be with his family for dinner, according to the statement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Much more at the source. Not surprising but still totally unsat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Army Times is reporting an update on the case of Colonel Owen Ray. Complaint about Green … Warning signs totally ignored in SF Col’s case prior to his armed standoff with police<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[220,359,232],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-floggings-will-continue-until-morale-improves","category-army","category-army-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109028"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109029,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109028\/revisions\/109029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}