Keesler Command Chief Sacked After Investigation Ordered by Training Wing Colonel

The command chief of the 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi was removed from his leadership role this week following an internal investigation into the senior noncommissioned officer, according to the Air Force.

Chief Master Sgt. Michael Venning was removed from his position on Monday by Col. Billy Pope, the 81st Training Wing commander. The senior noncommissioned officer had been reassigned earlier this summer as officials investigated him, a wing spokesperson told Military.com.

"Col. Pope temporarily reassigned Chief Master Sgt. Venning on July 30 to allow for a command-directed investigation to take place," Capt. Paige Skinner, a spokesperson for the 81st Training Wing, told Military.com in an emailed statement. "Col. Pope determined the findings of the investigation warranted the removal of Chief Master Sgt. Venning from his position."

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Skinner, in response to questions from Military.com, said, "There are no charges filed in this case" and added that a service member's administrative disciplinary history can't be released and is protected under the Privacy Act of 1974.

"In accordance with Air Force regulations, removal from a position for cause may be used as a basis to support subsequent collateral adverse administrative action in some situations," Skinner added. "We would be unable [to] provide information on nonjudicial punishment actions."

Venning entered the Air Force in 2000, according to his biography posted online. He had been in his role at Keesler since July 2023.

In his role, Venning advised "commanders and staff on mission effectiveness, professional development, military readiness, training, utilization, health, morale and welfare of the wing's 12,000 military and civilian airmen," according to his biography.

Prior to that assignment, he was the command chief of the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom and also served as the superintendent of the 422nd Air Base Group at RAF Croughton.

Venning could not be reached and did not respond to phone calls and text messages left at numbers associated with him in public records.

A command-directed investigation is an administrative probe and is described as "an extension of the commander's authority to investigate and to correct problems within the command," according to the Department of the Air Force manual.

Eric Carpenter, an associate professor of law at Florida International University who specializes in military justice, told Military.com in an interview Thursday that command-directed investigations often lead to administrative actions and, in some cases, can lead to separate criminal investigations, depending on the nature of the alleged actions.

But in any circumstance, depending on the findings, such investigations are often capable of harming careers. Carpenter also added that it's not easy to find many senior enlisted leaders with the experience to fill those leadership roles in the Air Force.

"Even though it's just an administrative action for that service member, that's crushing," Carpenter said. "Being taken out of a leadership role like that, when you're a senior leader, is pretty shameful."

Venning's firing comes after several major leadership changes across the Air Force in recent months.

Earlier this month, the commander of the 28th Force Support Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota was fired from his leadership role. In August, the 28th Operations Group commander at Ellsworth was also removed from his command.

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