Senate Panel OKs Choice of Guard Chief

The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly recommended confirmation of Brig. Gen. Robert C. Thrasher as commander of the California National Guard, but only after ordering a legislative performance audit of the military group.

A 4-0 vote, with one abstention, sent Gov. George Deukmejian’s nomination of Thrasher to the upper-house floor for further consideration.

Acting two weeks after the widow of an Air National Guard flier, who was killed in a jet fighter crash, charged that the accident might have been prevented if the guard had not “covered up” investigative information, Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) requested the audit.

Thrasher, who denied the allegation, also said he had “absolutely no objection” to the audit.

‘Befuddling Testimony’

Roberti, who doubles as chairman of the Rules Committee, said a previous four-hour hearing produced ‘befuddling testimony to say the least” and many still-unanswered questions.

“Concerns have been expressed regarding management practices and overall administrative effectiveness, including the guard’s training program,” he said in a letter to Assemblyman Bruce Bronzan (D-Fresno), who heads the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.

At the same time, Roberti also asked Sen. Alfred E. Alquist (D-San Jose), chairman of the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, to conduct a separate guard study from a fiscal standpoint, “so it can be considered as part of the National Guard budget review.”

The guard is asking for $20.8 million in state funds for operations during the 1988-89 fiscal year that starts July 1. State funds in the current fiscal year amount to $20.1 million. The guard’s total annual budget is about $364 million, including federal funds.

Sent to Floor

The Senate panel Wednesday also recommended confirmation of Deukmejian’s appointment of former guard commander Willard A. Shank to serve as a member of the Public Employment Relations Board. A 5-0 vote sent it to the floor.

Thrasher’s salary as state adjutant general is $73,872 a year; Shank’s salary would be $76,079 a year.

Toni Jordan, widow of the Air National Guard flier killed in the jet fighter crash, earlier urged the committee to reject Thrasher’s appointment and also investigate the entire guard organization.

On Wednesday, Jordan cried, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, as she sat in the front row of the hearing room while the roll was being called on Thrasher’s appointment.

She had argued that allegations of mismanagement and safety violations at the Fresno Air National Guard unit were “covered up” by the guard and the Air Force in 1986.

If remedial action had been taken, she contended, the accident that killed her husband, Maj. John Jordan Jr., 39, a weapons system officer, and Capt. Wesley Deane, 27, the pilot, might not have happened.

Crashed in June

Both fliers were assigned to the 144th Interceptor Wing at Fresno when the crash occurred during a low-altitude maneuver last June.

An up-from-the-ranks guardsman who enlisted 30 years ago, Thrasher denied the charge, saying, “I know of no cover-up. If I knew of any cover-up, I would certainly take action.”