On Jan. 7, Lt. Col. Frank Jenio was briefing the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and a high-level delegation of U.S. senators.
Six days later he was fired. Jenio is now back at Fort Bragg, N.C., looking for a lawyer.
Maj. Gen. Curtis “Mike” Scaparrotti, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and Regional Command-East in Afghanistan, relieved Jenio, a former executive officer to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, of battalion command and fired his command sergeant major in the bargain Jan. 13.
The relief of a battalion commander is extremely rare in the Army. There are 961 battalion commander-equivalent positions in the Army, and there were an average of five reliefs per year during the past five years, said Army spokesman Gary Tallman.
Scaparrotti removed Jenio and Command Sgt. Maj. Herbert Puckett from their positions in 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, “after a 15-6 investigation was conducted and found that [the battalion command] team’s actions were of poor judgment which fostered a command climate that was not consistent with our Army Values,” said Lt. Col. Clarence Counts, a spokesman for Scaparrotti. He declined to provide any further details on what the investigation had revealed that warranted firing Jenio and Puckett.
Jenio, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., was replaced in command by Lt. Col. Guy Jones, who for the past two years has served as the operations officer for 2-508th parent brigade, the 4th Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. Puckett will be replaced by Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Guden, with Sgt. Maj. Steve Green serving as acting command sergeant major in the meantime, according to a message Jones posted on the battalion’s Facebook page.
“This unit is in good hands and has a new strong and experienced leadership team with plenty of experience,” Jones said. “We are a values based and professional organization committed to Army Values and this change reflects a continuous commitment to adhere to the highest standards of excellence while maintaining good order and discipline.” Two sources who were familiar with Jenio’s career — but not with the circumstances that led to his ouster — expressed shock that he had been relieved. Each source referred to him as a “rock star.” Jenio, who has a background in the 75th Ranger Regiment, had previously been the executive officer to then-Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal when the latter commanded Joint Special Operations Command, the secretive headquarters that runs the U.S. military’s most sensitive special operations missions.
McChrystal, another Ranger Regiment alumnus, is the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, meaning he is the senior allied commander in Afghanistan. U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw confirmed that Jenio had served as McChrystal’s executive officer, but was unable to provide the dates that Jenio held that position.
A series of photos taken Oct. 7 shows McChrystal visiting Jenio at his headquarters in Kandahar, the two officers apparently in high spirits. Such high-level visits were not unusual. On Jan. 7, six days before he was relieved, Jenio briefed a visiting congressional delegation that included Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Joe Lieberman (Ind.Conn.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), who were accompanied by McChrystal and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan retired Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry.
Puckett also served in the Ranger Regiment, including a combat jump onto Rio Hato air field during 1989’s Operation Just Cause in Panama.
Jenio and Puckett arrived back at the 82nd’s home post of Fort Bragg, N.C., Jan. 16, according to Maj. Brian Fickel, a spokesman for the division’s rear detachment. Contacted via e-mail, Jenio replied Jan. 21: “I am in the process of seeking counsel and do not desire to make any additional comments.” Puckett did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Neither Jenio nor Puckett has been charged with a crime, Counts said. Jenio’s battalion arrived in Afghanistan in August with the mission to train and mentor Afghan national police in southern Afghanistan. However, in December, British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, head of ISAF’s Regional Command-South, reorganized his forces and gave 2/508 responsibility for operations in Kandahar province’s Arghandab river valley. The authority to fire Jenio and Puckett rested with Scaparrotti, who simultaneously commands RC-East, the 82nd Airborne Division and Combined Joint Task Force-82 based in Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, “because all U.S. conventional forces in Afghanistan are administratively attached to CJTF-82 for discipli nary matters,” Counts said. (In a message posted on the unit’s Facebook page Jan. 21, Jones said the decision to remove Jenio and Puckett “was made at the highest levels of the Army.” After Army Times inquired about to whom this referred, a new version of the message was posted missing that sentence. “This action was not determined at the highest levels of the Army; it was done at the CJTF-82 level under the CG’s [commanding general’s] authority,” Counts said.) The operational chain of command for 2-508th was apparently less clear. Jenio was paraphrased in a Dec. 23 Fayetteville Observer article saying that his troops reported to a Canadian headquarters and that this was the first time a U.S. battalion had been under Canadian command since World War II. Col. Brian Drinkwine, commander of the 82nd’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, said in a Jan. 12 news conference — one day before Scaparrotti fired Jenio and Puckett — that 2-508th “worked under the direct tactical control” of Task Force Kandahar, which is commanded by a Canadian officer. But Counts said that Jenio’s “operational chain of command” ran through Drinkwine and then Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, head of the ISAF Joint Command in Kabul. Counts did not mention Task Force Kandahar or Carter’s RC-South headquarters.
Scaparrotti’s decision to remove the previous command team “was not quick or easy,” Jones said in a Jan. 17 memorandum addressed to the battalion’s soldiers and their families. “Only after many days of careful and thorough deliberation did MG Scaparrotti decide that the change was necessary and in the best interests of the Battalion and its Paratroopers.” But Jones made clear that the 82nd is seeking to keep the reason for the firings hidden from the public. “t is necessary the circumstances surrounding these events remain confidential between the Commanding General and the previous chain of command,” he writes. “It is important to [sic] that we as an organization now focus on the missions and opportunities of the future, and do not dwell unnecessarily on events of the past.”
