Hey there Angry Planet listeners, Matthew here.
I want to take a minute at the top of the show because something strange happened during the recording.
The episode is about Vanessa Guillén, a US soldier who was murdered at Fort Hood in 2020. She also experienced sexual harassment while in the military. I spoke with ABC Special Correspondent John Quiñones about his new podcast, Vanished. It’s a good podcast that covers Guillén’s case in-depth and highlights the reforms the Pentagon instituted after.
We recorded the show on September 30, Guillén’s birthday. That morning, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered a long speech about his own military reforms. Many of the changes Hegseth has pushed through conflict with the changes that Guillén’s death ushered in.
As such, I thought it was important to get John’s reaction to Hegseth’s speech. Before we began recording,I told him I planned to ask him about this and he agreed to talk about it.
When I asked the question during recording, a public relations person from ABC jumped on the line and asked me to stop talking about Hegseth. I pushed back, but not hard enough.
The next day, ABC PR reached out via email to ask if I would cut this moment from the show.
I will not. It’s included here in full. I’m also dropping the paywall on this episode. I think it’s important that everyone hears this and I beg the indulgence of Angry Planet’s paying subscribers.
Further, I want to take a moment at the top to highlight the reasons why I brought up Hegseth’s speech. There’s a lot to it and, honestly, it demands its own episode.
But, first, let’s focus on Guillén. You’ll hear John mention that Guillén’s case forced the Army to change the way it deals with toxic leaders. Here are Hegseth’s thoughts on that same subject.
“Today, at my direction, we’re undertaking a full review of the Department’s Definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing, to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing. Of course, you can’t do, like nasty bullying and hazing. We’re talking about words like bullying and hazing and toxic. They’ve been weaponized and bastardized inside our formations, undercutting commanders and NCOs. No more. Setting, achieving, and maintaining high standards is what you all do. And if that makes me toxic, then so be it.”
I’ll also point out that the Army website for the “People First Initiative” that John mentions is no longer active.
Guillén’s case also changed the way the Army investigates sexual harassment. Here are the secretary’s thoughts on the current state of official internal military investigations:
“We are overhauling an inspector-general process, the IG that has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver’s seat. We’re doing the same with the Equal Opportunity and Military Equal Opportunity policies, the EO and MEO, at our department. No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complaints, no more smearing reputations, no more endless waiting, no more legal limbo, no more side-tracking careers, no more walking on eggshells.
“Of course, being a racist has been illegal in our formation since 1948. The same goes for sexual harassment. Both are wrong and illegal. Those kinds of infractions will be ruthlessly enforced.”
After the speech, Hegseth signed 11 memos that detailed these changes. I’ll link them in the show notes. The memos say that the military’s definition of “harassment” is overly broad, calls for the end of “anonymous complaints”—something Hegesth also said in his speech, and asks that investigations be completed quickly with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
I believe that is all important context for this episode. I also believe that Hegseth’s speech and the policy directives represent a regression in the American armed services. I will not pretend otherwise.
Who was Vanessa Guillén?
“The military sort of bungled the case.”
Primary documents make a good true crime podcast
The Fort Hood of it all
AWOL by default
Aaron David Robinson
An unsatisfying story of military infidelity
The TuffBoxx
How does a murder suspect flee so easily?
The failure of Army CID
“Things have changed.”
The “I Am Vanessa Guillén Act” and how it changes military investigations
The “People First Task Force”
Cecily Aguilar
Guillén’s sexual harassment case
An unpleasant interruption from public relations
Some parting words on Killeen
John’s important parting words
Listen to the All-New ‘Vanished: What Happened to Vanessa’ Podcast
What the Hell Is Going on at Fort Hood?
Body Of Missing Fort Hood Soldier Elder Fernandes Found A Week After Disappearance
