Officials within the army confirmed on Thursday, September 23 that allegations against Brig. Gen. Amy Johnston had been made, accusing her of manifesting counterproductive and toxic leadership.
Pending the outcome of the subsequent investigation, Johnston has been placed on special duty and the Principal Deputy Chief, Michael Brady, will serve as the acting chief in her absence.
Sources, who have remained nameless, have revealed that the suspension came about after a command climate survey. The survey reinforced a complaint made against Johnston, with 97% of those working within the Public Affairs department citing workplace hostility.
Johnston has been in the job for over two years, having joined as Chief of Public Affairs in April 2019, a role which involves running all communication, strategies and policies involving the US Army.
Most notably, Johnston was involved in the communication response after Spc. Vanessa Guillen went missing at Fort Hood and was later tragically found dead. An investigation report subsequently stated that the response was not effective. In fact, this even became somewhat of a case study for an improvement drive within the Army Public Affairs sector.
However, Johnston was not directly targeted by the investigation and her name was only mentioned twice in the report as she provided communication advice to Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt.
Efflandt reportedly reached out to the Pentagon for advice on public affairs during the Guillen tragedy, only to receive ‘two different directions of advice’ from Johnston and another employee.
We now await the results of the current investigation into Johnston’s leadership and the accusations of toxic behavior. Principal Deputy Chief, Michael Brady will continue in an interim leadership position until the investigation is complete.
