An investigation uncovered no evidence that a platoon of soldiers stationed at Alaska's Fort Wainwright were given permission to use racial slurs without any repercussions on so-called "racial Thursdays," according to a report from the U.S. Army.
A brigade-level investigation involving members of the 2nd Platoon, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment at the base in Fairbanks was launched following a complaint filed March 11. By May 1, the investigation had been closed.
"The investigation concluded that the alleged practice of racially divisive behavior is not a sanctioned or formal event," Lt. Col. Alan Brown, public affairs chief for U.S. Army Alaska, said in a statement. "Evidence showed unit leadership did not participate, condone or encourage any of the practices alleged in the complaint."
A senior officer from Outside also reviewed the investigation. The report said many of the soldiers viewed comments about "racial Thursdays" as "just good-natured joking."
"Though 'racial Thursday' was not a sanctioned event within the platoon, the evidence does show that, in the past, some junior enlisted soldiers of the platoon engaged in racially insensitive activities and used the term 'racial Thursday' as part of those activities," the report said. "Regardless of the day of the week, if a soldier heard another soldier make a joke or comment of racial nature, the soldier would tell the offending soldier something like 'it must be racial Thursday,' or 'save that for racial Thursday.' "
In a March Army Times article, soldiers claimed "racial Thursdays" were a tradition in the unit. The report also quoted a soldier who said derogatory terms were used toward a Latino soldier, but the investigation concluded such terms were not used by any member of the command.
The Army said investigators did find two "unrelated" incidents in which soldiers used derogatory racial and religious terms toward other soldiers. The names of all the soldiers and officers interviewed during the investigation are redacted in the version of the report shared with Alaska Dispatch News.
In one instance, a Muslim soldier was driving an Army vehicle that went into a ditch, and two other soldiers reported hearing a staff sergeant use a derogatory term to describe the soldier.
"The derogatory term made the soldiers feel uncomfortable," the report said.
In the second instance, a soldier of Asian descent was made fun of for his appearance and intelligence, sometimes in the form of racial stereotypes. A staff sergeant admitted to insulting the soldier but denied using any racial terms.
Overall, 13 of 48 soldiers interviewed claimed they'd heard the term "racial Thursday" in the past but believed it was not longer practiced and didn't know its origin.
The unit investigated is the same unit that the late Pvt. Danny Chen belonged to. Chen, 19, shot himself in a guard tower in Afghanistan on Oct. 3, 2011, after allegedly being hazed for his Chinese ancestry during deployment.
"There has been no evidence to suggest that this current investigation is connected to the Pvt. Chen case," Brown said. "The soldiers involved in that case were identified, investigated and court-martialed. Since that time, the leadership has changed out at least twice, each time bringing a distinctly different command climate to the unit."
Brown didn't know if any specific training had been conducted after Chen's suicide but said soldiers are required to participate in equal opportunity training every quarter. Since the "racial Thursday" allegations, Brown said, the entire unit participated in education and prevention training.