We depend on the Ohio National Guard for keeping us safe in a variety of ways. Their official responsibilities include responding to domestic emergencies, overseas combat missions, counterdrug efforts, reconstruction missions and more. For many of us, our first exposure to their work came a couple of years ago when members of the National Guard sprang into action to help our community deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when they were assigned to duty at Second Harvest Food Bank.

But Ohio’s National Guard is facing some challenges, as evidenced by just one brigade having two soldiers arrested on separate domestic terrorism charges in less than a month. That prompted news outlet military.com to ask whether there were leadership problems or welfare issues for the troops within that brigade. Military.com filed Freedom of Information Act requests for documents spanning four years. The intent was to look at the results of command climate surveys.

What military.com discovered was that for the Ohio National Guard’s 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, those surveys were either not being conducted or not being properly maintained.

“No documents were found that would be responsive to your request,” Chief Warrant Officer Four Janet Blain, the state’s FOIA manager, told military.com. “The FOIA applies only to existing records, and there is no requirement to create a record to respond to a FOIA request.”

These are congressionally mandated surveys meant to assess command’s performance and the culture of the unit. According to military.com, the reviews can sometimes lead to commanders being fired if systemic issues of poor leadership or sexual harassment are found.

The 37th is overseen by Maj. Gen. John Harris Jr., the state’s adjutant general. You may recall Harris’ name after the March incident in which he grabbed and shoved NewsNation national correspondent Evan Lambert when he was in Columbiana County reporting on the East Palestine train derailment.

Harris was in uniform and acting in his capacity as head of the state’s Guard contingent. An Ohio state trooper grabbed the general and pulled him away from the reporter.

Video taken of the initial exchange shows Harris arguing with the cameraman as Lambert delivers his live report. Harris later filed a statement saying he told the reporter he was being disruptive and began to offer assistance in relocating him. Harris states in his report that Lambert became enraged, so Harris responded by putting his hands on the reporter’s chest.

Lambert was forcibly removed and ultimately arrested and hauled to jail. Days later, the charges were dropped.

According to military.com, Harris has received a public scolding from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine but will be allowed to keep his job.

It sounds as though something is rotten in this institution on whom Ohioans depend — and that is doing work even now in places such as Iraq and Syria. Fixing it may require more than a public scolding. The National Guard Bureau must investigate, and should consequences be warranted, implement them immediately.

editorial@vindy.com