Col. Kerry Proulx oversaw the 51st Mission Support Group since July 2016. (Air Force)
A colonel at Osan Air Base in South Korea was relieved of command earlier this year after investigators found she strongly and repeatedly leaned on base officials to build a dog park at her quarters.
Col. Kerry Proulx, former commander of the 51st Mission Support Group, also improperly allowed subordinates and one subordinate’s wife to pay for her meals, and did not always repay them, according to a commander-directed investigation report obtained by Air Force Times through the Freedom of Information Act.
Proulx was relieved April 13 by Col. William Betts, commander of the 51st Fighter Wing. At the time, the base said she was removed due to a “loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead,” but did not elaborate further. Proulx is now chief of the personnel division at Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted to AETC.
The report, dated Feb. 5, detailed a sustained and improper effort by Proulx to get a dog park built directly adjacent to her senior officer quarters, which began immediately after she took command in July 2016. It concluded she “wrongfully direct[ed] the use of government property to construct a dog park for her own personal use.” [Air Force Times]
You can read much more at the link, but this is just another example of how a senior officer some how became so full of their own self importance to risk their career over something as insignificant as a dog park. Even more incredible was that the former 7th Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Bergeson and other senior officers had to walk through this dog park each day and no one apparently called Col. Proulx to ask her why a dog park was being built over a major public access way:
Its construction also removed a public access way, requiring building residents and the commander and vice commander of the 7th Air Force at Osan — Lt. Gen. Thomas Bergeson and Brig. Gen. Lansing Pilch — to open a gate and walk through the dog park to get to the building’s stairs.
The investigator called Proulx’s explanation for why the dog park needed to be located there “illogical.”
“If the dog park was truly for all residents in the area, it would at least have the gate placed separate from the public stair top, it could have been made smaller and not block the public walkway, or it could have been built between” two buildings.
The next time I am on Osan AB I am going to have to walk over and visit this infamous dog park if it hasn’t already been relocated.
Good grief! Probably a blessing she killed her career over something this stupid though. Doesn’t bode well for her leadership ability.
And the base already had a dog park!
We didn’t even have one at ours, turned an old unused baseball field into the dog park, since it was already fenced in and funds weren’t available until “outer years”. Worked great, was up overnight, and cost almost nothing.
Flyingsword
6 years ago
Liz, unless they built something new, as of 2013 all Osan had was a dog run outside lodging. It was about 4 feet wide and 20 to 30 ft long. The kennel at osan was nice though…
Ole Tanker
6 years ago
Now, she can visit a “Working Dog” park at San Antonio everyday. Every rain cloud has a silver lining. The grass is always greener…in the dog park.
Liz
6 years ago
Thanks Flyingsword, I was just going by the article. It mentioned there was one at Seoraksan Towers. If that’s it, doesn’t sound like not much of a dog park.
guitard
6 years ago
Liz: “she killed her career over something this stupid”
She didn’t lose any rank and is still on active duty, so unless she was a serious candidate for promotion 1-star, this mostly just amounts to a lot of professional embarrassment.
HK
6 years ago
“Col. Kerry Proulx, former commander of the 51st Mission Support Group, also improperly allowed subordinates and one subordinate’s wife to pay for her meals, and did not always repay them, according to a commander-directed investigation…”
From the looks of her, she obviously didn’t need those extra free meals. The nerve of a Goodyear Blimp, full-bird Colonel availing herself of as much free food as she could get her greedy grubbers on! A travesty that doesn’t bode well for the rest of her command in terms of showing that sterling example of what an American fighting man/woman i supposed to look like.
liz
6 years ago
That’s true, Guitard…it’s a rare MSG commander that makes General.
I think the “meals” thing requires context.
Things are getting pretty ridiculous and I can see people going out to lunch in a friendly capacity and spotting each other once in a while, to be paid back…obviously it depends on how often she does this/if she spots them a lot also and buys them lunch, and so forth.
Smokes
6 years ago
Wasn’t in that position that long I think because I remember her photo posted here when she was appointed… anyway…
“another example of how a senior officer some how became so full of their own self importance”
Who are you and what have you done with GI? 😎
An Air Force colonel who was unable to handle the raging intensity of a Boy George concert last week in Kettering, Ohio, was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after attempting to rush the stage.
Col. Mark Eugene Muth, 57, assigned to the command surgeon general’s office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, was taken into custody Sept. 5 by Kettering Police for allegedly “causing a disturbance by shoving people in an attempt to get closer to the stage area,” according to the Dayton Daily News.
So, Liz. Got any good “Frankie Goes to Hollywood” stories to add? 😉
Liz
6 years ago
LOL I’ve got nothin’ 😆
Colonel Muth is a dentist.
Got to be a joke in there somewhere…
setnaffa
6 years ago
I always thought Air Force dentists were a little off… even after 40 years and 4 major surgeries to the general area where they piulled my wisdom teeth, their predictions have proven laughably false.
Then again, all but one of the bases I served at after Basic are gone, and the officers and 1st Sergeants who harrassed me are enjoying their eternal rewards–without any assistance from me!
Maybe there’s something corrosive about seeing bad teeth every day?
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XRASAQ7DWJFTHPE24OEZPM2SOA.png?resize=640%2C357&ssl=1)
Good grief! Probably a blessing she killed her career over something this stupid though. Doesn’t bode well for her leadership ability.
And the base already had a dog park!
We didn’t even have one at ours, turned an old unused baseball field into the dog park, since it was already fenced in and funds weren’t available until “outer years”. Worked great, was up overnight, and cost almost nothing.
Liz, unless they built something new, as of 2013 all Osan had was a dog run outside lodging. It was about 4 feet wide and 20 to 30 ft long. The kennel at osan was nice though…
Now, she can visit a “Working Dog” park at San Antonio everyday. Every rain cloud has a silver lining. The grass is always greener…in the dog park.
Thanks Flyingsword, I was just going by the article. It mentioned there was one at Seoraksan Towers. If that’s it, doesn’t sound like not much of a dog park.
Liz: “she killed her career over something this stupid”
She didn’t lose any rank and is still on active duty, so unless she was a serious candidate for promotion 1-star, this mostly just amounts to a lot of professional embarrassment.
“Col. Kerry Proulx, former commander of the 51st Mission Support Group, also improperly allowed subordinates and one subordinate’s wife to pay for her meals, and did not always repay them, according to a commander-directed investigation…”
From the looks of her, she obviously didn’t need those extra free meals. The nerve of a Goodyear Blimp, full-bird Colonel availing herself of as much free food as she could get her greedy grubbers on! A travesty that doesn’t bode well for the rest of her command in terms of showing that sterling example of what an American fighting man/woman i supposed to look like.
That’s true, Guitard…it’s a rare MSG commander that makes General.
I think the “meals” thing requires context.
Things are getting pretty ridiculous and I can see people going out to lunch in a friendly capacity and spotting each other once in a while, to be paid back…obviously it depends on how often she does this/if she spots them a lot also and buys them lunch, and so forth.
Wasn’t in that position that long I think because I remember her photo posted here when she was appointed… anyway…
“another example of how a senior officer some how became so full of their own self importance”
Who are you and what have you done with GI? 😎
The Air Force Hits Keep on Coming!
https://www.airforcetimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2018/09/10/do-you-really-want-to-hurt-er-arrest-me-air-force-colonel-apprehended-at-boy-george-concert/
So, Liz. Got any good “Frankie Goes to Hollywood” stories to add? 😉
LOL I’ve got nothin’ 😆
Colonel Muth is a dentist.
Got to be a joke in there somewhere…
I always thought Air Force dentists were a little off… even after 40 years and 4 major surgeries to the general area where they piulled my wisdom teeth, their predictions have proven laughably false.
Then again, all but one of the bases I served at after Basic are gone, and the officers and 1st Sergeants who harrassed me are enjoying their eternal rewards–without any assistance from me!
Maybe there’s something corrosive about seeing bad teeth every day?