Alaska National Guard officers fired, rehired

Gov. Sean Parnell ordered Brigadier Gen. Mike Bridges to rehire two officers he had fired. (Courtesy Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs)
Gov. Sean Parnell told Brigadier Gen. Mike Bridges to rehire two officers he had fired. (Courtesy Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs)

The acting top official of the Alaska National Guard fired two high-ranking officers last week but reversed the action a day later at the direction of Gov. Sean Parnell.

Brigadier Gen. Mike Bridges on Thursday asked for the resignations of Brigadier Gen. Catherine Jorgensen and Col. Edie Grunwald. Parnell’s spokeswoman Sharon Leighow tells the Alaska Dispatch News that the officers had applied for the same leadership job that Bridges is seeking.

She says by email that Parnell wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety on behalf of Bridges and directed him to rescind the terminations.

A federal investigation released Sept. 4 found ethical misconduct in the guard.

Parnell fired its adjutant general and the civilian deputy commissioner

On Thursday, Parnell said three others would be fired.

 

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications