Greene dismisses military reports

COLUMBIA -- U.S. senatorial candidate Alvin Greene dismissed highly critical assessments of his military service Thursday, calling his supervisors in the Air Force and Army "ridiculous."

Greene, who The Post and Courier reached by phone at his Manning home, said he was passed over for promotions in the military and ultimately discharged involuntarily, but honorably, and claimed that only "the terrorists and the communists" are given higher ranks.

The records, obtained by The Associated Press, provide a window into Greene's past that he has refused to talk about publicly, including the three years he spent in the Air Force and his 2 1/2 years in the Army. The 18 pages of official Air Force documents show the veteran who has called himself an "American hero" was considered a lackluster airman at best.

Cited are Greene's mistakes as severe as improperly uploading sensitive intelligence information to a military server, and as basic as an overall inability to clearly express his thoughts and perform basic tasks.

The criticism of Greene's communications skills detailed in the Air Force's discharge papers is similar to what reporters have witnessed in interviews with Greene. He speaks in fragmented sentences and rehearsed sound bites, often repeating himself over and over.

Greene, 32 and unemployed, lives with his elderly father in the modest one-story home where he spent his childhood. He was virtually unknown when he won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in June.

Greene faces popular Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and Green Party candidate Tom Clements in November. DeMint's campaign manager and Clements both declined to comment on Greene's military record.

Greene said his military superiors in the Air Force and Army overlooked his contributions to the military.

"Those folks are ridiculous ... they only promote the terrorists and the communists. We need get rid of these folks," Greene said. He said he deserved a promotion at least because he received an undergraduate degree at the University of South Carolina.

Greene said his allegation that the military promotes "the terrorists and the communists" is based on the rank given to Maj. Nidal Hasan, the psychiatrist accused of gunning down 13 people at Fort Hood on Nov. 9, 2009.

"They dismissed my potential," Greene said. "They didn't care what I could do ... like I said, I didn't get a promotion after I got my college degree. There are very few enlisted troops that have college degrees. ... I was groomed and trained and educated."

Greene participated in Junior ROTC in high school and served the South Carolina Air Force National Guard from July 1995 to June 2002. From there, he spent three years in the Air Force, leaving after he was involuntarily, but honorably discharged. Next, he said joined the South Carolina Army National Guard in July 2006 and remained until February 2007 when he signed up with the Army. He served in Korea from June 2007 to July 2008.

For the second time in his military career, Greene was honorably, but involuntarily discharged from the Army in August 2009.

Among the details revealed by the AP in Greene's Air Force records are that Greene:

--Received adequate marks on a performance report in 2004, complying with standards and training requirements. But Greene's reviewer marked him as an ineffective leader who lacked organization and was "unable to express thoughts clearly."

--Greene is "usually capable of handling mundane tasks with supervision" but is "not able to adapt to any changes to daily routine," the reviewer wrote, also noting that Greene had received multiple disciplinary actions for failing to perform his duties.

--Was also written up for posting sensitive information on a military Internet server, a mistake that resulted in a three-day work stoppage. Records showed Greene was kept at Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter while the rest of his unit deployed after leadership "recognized his inability to contribute to the wartime mission."

--Greene protested the denial, writing that the reviewer "only concentrates on presenting a negative perception of me by making false statements of my character" and saying the reviewer and other airmen "create a hostile work environment."

--"Required a daily to-do list" to perform basic duties and had a "consistent inability to follow instructions or maintain basic job knowledge." Most seriously, the reviewer wrote that Greene would represent "a threat to others" because of his inability to grasp the basics of military training.

--Blamed his computer for a bad review, saying the machine "can often make it impossible for me to accomplish tasks in a timely fashion" and said another airman "cursed me out and told me I am wanted out."

Greene said Thursday that the airman who alledgedly cursed at him points to the problems in the military.

"That's unacceptable behavior," Greene said. "That's not an acceptable environment. We need to overhaul the military of those ridiculous folks and do things right."

The Air Force records indicate that Greene's performance wasn't viewed as entirely poor. A review in March 2004 gave him "good" marks for performing his routine duties and found his technical knowledge to be "adequate." His reviewer went on to call him a "decent person" and found that he complied with all training requirements.

Greene rebutted the negative aspects of that 2004 review by asserting that his supervisor arrived to work late, took extended lunch breaks and left work early. He said that supervisor and some of the airmen he worked with "create a hostile work environment that can often be difficult for me and fellow airmen to communicate and be productive."

In March 2005, his reviewers credited him with having communicated adequately with peers and acknowledged the professional way he addressed his co-workers and more senior airmen, always referring to them as "sir and ma'am." The same evaluation showed that Greene contributed to fundraising efforts for an annual holiday party and volunteered at the local Red Cross.

Army records obtained by The Post and Courier shed little insight, but the records do show he was promoted during his time in the Army. The records do not detail the reason for Greene's discharge, due to the provisions of the Privacy Act. Exceptions to the release of a soldier's discharge record is for bad conduct or dishonorable discharge imposed by a jury in a trial by court-martial.

Greene declined to provide the complete records himself.

Greene was promoted to specialist six months before his discharge. Greene said later Thursday that it wasn't a true promotion. He said he was returned to that rank after having been demoted in Korea. He refused to explain the details surrounding that demotion. Instead, he focused on his military honors.

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He was honored with eight awards -- routinely given to servicemen to recognize their consecutive service and completion of training courses. His awards include the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal and the Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.