Inside Jennifer-Ruth Green's military records

PLUS: Expect more Indiana political ads to flood the airwaves starting next week.

Flying is key to Jennifer-Ruth Green’s still-evolving political brand. The Black Republican who is trying to turn Indiana’s 1st Congressional District red for the first time in nearly 100 years—challenging Democratic incumbent Frank Mrvan—graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2005 as one of just 15 Black female cadets in a class of 919.

Her intention was to become a pilot but she didn’t pass her flight training, according to military records, and transferred into special investigations, which “identifies, investigates and neutralizes criminal, terrorist and espionage threats.” By 2009, she was a captain stationed in Iraq, part of a unit responsible for turning over the provisional government to the Iraqis. “It was a treacherous time,” she said.

Her job, in part, was to conduct site visits at the national training center, Iraq’s FBI equivalent, evaluating their facilities and law enforcement curriculum. Her military evaluations praised her for evaluating 24 Iraqi intel course syllabi, something that expedited “curriculum development by months” and “professionalized agent training.” She “personally advised [the] Iraqi equivalent of [the] FBI Academy Director,” according to military records I obtained.

Green’s mostly stellar military record took an unexpected hit in early 2010, according to military records. In an evaluation of her performance spanning from March 15, 2009 to Dec. 15, 2009, she received a “does not meet standards” rating in leadership skills, professional qualities, and judgment and decisions. The evaluation centered on “two instances of lacking judgment while deployed; handling your weapon and wandering away while at a [forward operating base].”

In the first case, she was given a letter of counseling for loading her weapon inside a military facility. The second more serious incident occurred in September, according to her military records, when she and a small group of officers visited the national training center. She left the group to climb into a cramped guard tower where Green says an Iraqi serviceman sexually assaulted her by grabbing her breast and exposing himself.

She said she was advised not to report the assault by a staff sergeant, who was also a military equal opportunity representative. He told her that “if American leadership complained to Iraqi leadership, they would continue to see women as liabilities and limit their ability to serve….”

The poor evaluation, which was performed by someone who was not in Iraq with Green, affected her ability to rise in the ranks and in 2012 she was removed from active duty as part of a larger force reduction, according to her records. Green has appealed the evaluation, citing supporting letters from her superiors stationed in Iraq. Her direct supervisor, a senior agent in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, wrote in her appeal that she “did an outstanding job in her duties; I did not question her leadership, judgment or professional skills.”

In 2017, she joined the Indiana Air National Guard. She now serves as a lieutenant colonel and commander and chief information officer. She has received consistently high evaluations.

“I’m a survivor of sexual trauma in the military, and I am being forced to discuss it publicly for the first time because Congressman Mrvan or his supporters obtained — either illegally or by egregious error — military records describing my sexual assault as well as performance reviews, and peddled those records to the media with the intent smear me and my military career,” she wrote in a statement to POLITICO. “The performance review being pushed to discredit my leadership is false.” (Green has not contested the authenticity of the documents, which were obtained by a public records request and provided to POLITICO by a person outside the Mrvan campaign.)

“After reporting my assault against the advice of officials in my command, my career was intentionally derailed. I appealed the findings with the military and the issue is settled. I have unquestionably progressed as a military member, promoting to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and successfully completed a command tour,” Green wrote in her statement to POLITICO. “As I have always, I will move forward and succeed despite obstacles such as this thrown in my path.”

FOR YOUR RADAR

• The League of Women Voters will hold its secretary of state debate Monday at 7 p.m. Broadcast details here.

• The Indiana Debate Commission will hold its U.S. Senate debate next Sunday at 7 p.m.You can watch here.

• On October 21, we'll get one final look at how Indiana candidates have fared in their fundraising down the home stretch. That's when their pre-election campaign finance reports are due at noon.

BRACE FOR HOOSIER POLITICAL ADS

In the state’s competitive secretary of state race, Republican candidate Diego Morales is expected to be up on the air with his first ad next week, according to his campaign. According to her campaign, his Democratic opponent, Destiny Wells, will also be on the air soon. Jeff Maurer, the libertarian running, did not immediately respond to IMPORTANTVILLE regarding whether he would air an before the general election.

In the U.S. Senate race, Republican Sen. Todd Young has booked at least $1.45 million worth of ads. His Democratic opponent Tom McDermott Jr. shot an ad recently, according to his campaign, but it’s unclear when and where it will run.

A good baseline to determine the relative health of his campaign? In 2020, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Woody Myers went on the air in the last week of the campaign with a $10,000 buy.

IMPORTANTVILLE READS

“Battle lines drawn in three-way race for House Republicans' No. 3 spot,” by NBC's Allan Smith and Scott Wong

The House Republican leadership race generating the most buzz inside GOP circles isn’t whether or not Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will be elected speaker should control of the chamber flip after this fall’s election.

Rather, it’s a three-way battle further down the pecking order featuring two Republicans who, perhaps more than anyone else in this Congress, have carefully worked to mold the House GOP’s future, and a third who counts a powerful Republican leader as an ally.

Battle lines are already being drawn in the contest to see who will serve as the GOP whip in the next Congress, the No. 3 position in House Republican leadership. Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP’s campaign arm; Jim Banks of Indiana, chair of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus with more than 150 members; and Drew Ferguson of Georgia, the current chief deputy whip handpicked by the current GOP whip, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, are all vying for the job. Each contender seeks to brandish his chances by fundraising and campaigning for members across the country in the closing weeks of the 2022 midterm election campaign.

...

In conversations with more than a dozen GOP lawmakers, aides and operatives, Emmer and Banks appear to be the top two contenders, though Ferguson is not being written off. In many respects, the choice will boil down to rewarding Emmer for helping Republicans exceed expectations in the 2020 cycle by picking up 15 seats and recognizing that he also has built up relationships — and fundraised for — members and potential incoming freshmen this term, or turning to Banks, an ambitious three-term congressman who, from his perch atop the Republican Study Committee, has sought to craft a Donald Trump-inspired policy and messaging agenda for the party.

IMPORTANTVILLE TAKE: If Banks doesn’t win the whip race, a top Hoosier Republican consultant told me, look for him to kick the tires on a Senate bid to replace Sen. Mike Braun should he ultimately run for governor.

“Pence and His Group, Pushing Conservative Causes, Keep a 2024 Dream Alive,” by The New York Times' Kenneth P. Vogel

As he travels the country publicly backing Republican candidates and conservative causes ahead of the midterm elections, former Vice President Mike Pence has also been quietly huddling with donors and building a political operation that could serve as a springboard to a 2024 presidential campaign.

Mr. Pence held a retreat with donors and allies at a Utah ski resort over the course of three days late last month that was organized by a nonprofit group he has used to highlight causes animating social conservatives. Those priorities include restricting abortion access, expanding the role of religion in public life, barring transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports and fighting corporate social and environmental initiatives.

At the retreat, Mr. Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, mingled with major donors of the sort whose support would be critical to a presidential bid.