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March, 30, 2015

Dear Governor Hassan, Senate President Morse and Speaker Jasper,

I am writing to express my concern about potential complaints against the New


Hampshire National Guard and the troubling sexual assault conviction of a senior
Guard member.

An article published in last Sundays Concord Monitor documented in great detail


the story of Ray Valas, who was the New Hampshire Army National Guard
commander until his arrest last May of child sex trafficking for soliciting sex from
a 15-year-old.

I am deeply concerned that early warning signs about this case were ignored and
Guard leadership mismanaged the entire incident. Furthermore, I am concerned
that according to the Monitor, the office of the Governor is now refusing to
answer relevant questions about other complaints that it has received about the
Guard.

Valas was convicted of the heinous crime, and is currently serving 15 years in
federal prison. Prior to his arrest, Valas had received at least one, and potentially
two other, letters of reprimands that instead of raising alarm bells, were allegedly
ignored by his superiors, including Major General William Reddel, New
Hamsphires Adjutant General.

These complaints led two well-respected retired colonels to write Governor


Hassan raising concerns about why Valas had not been discharged before his
conviction given his history of questionable behavior. According to Colonel Jim
Moody, a former supervisor of Valas, Valas should have been discharged from
the Guard many years ago.if this were any other officer or enlisted soldier, that
individual would have been separated from the Guard.

Additionally, the Colonels also raised serious concerns about Guard members
facing retribution for whistle blowing involving potential misconduct by superior
officers. They highlighted the case of Col. Jeanne Jones, the first basic-branch
female officer to make Army Guard colonel in New Hampshires history. Col.
Jones was selected for mandatory retirement after reporting alleged infractions
by former chief of staff Col. Scott Manahan. Col. Jones lawyer has alleged that
Major General Reddel deliberately altered a retention boards selection criteria to
force her retirement three months after she reported Manahans alleged
infraction. According to the Monitor, Col. Manahan has been removed from that
post and is no longer an active member of the Guard.

Having served in the National Guard for 35 years, including several years at the
Pentagon re-writing the sexual assault regulations for the entire National Guard, I

am very troubled by these developments and the perceptions that they have
created. New Hampshire Army National Guard members should not fear the
possibility of career ending retribution if they report the misconduct of superior
officers. Furthermore, Guard leadership should hold senior officers with a proven
history of misconduct to the same standards as junior officers.

New Hampshires Adjutant General is a state employee who reports directly to


the Governor and serves as Executive Head of the Adjunct Generals
Department. The concerns that were brought forward about the management of
the Guard raise serious questions that must be addressed. New Hampshire state
government has a responsibility to fully investigate these allegations to get a
better understanding of the facts and to restore public confidence in
the Adjutant Generals Department. I hereby request that a full and impartial
investigation be launched, and that the results and findings are made available to
the citizens of New Hampshire.

Sincerely,


Scott P. Brown, Colonel, JA, MD ARNG (Ret)
Rye, NH

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