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1-star fired for inappropriate relationship

HELENA, Mont. — Brig. Gen. John Del Toro, assistant adjutant general of the Montana Air National Guard, was relieved of his command last month because of an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, a National Guard spokesman said Monday.

Del Toro was relieved of his command May 6.

Maj. Tim Crowe, public relations officer for the Montana Guard, said Monday that the Guard’s commander, Brig. Gen. John Walsh, based his decision to relieve Del Toro on a “substantiated complaint” in a report by the inspector general of the Secretary of the Air Force.

Crowe says the report found Del Toro had been involved in “an unprofessional relationship with a subordinate member of the Air National Guard.”

The Independent Record reported Crowe’s remarks on its Web site Monday afternoon.

Crowe did not indicate what the relationship entailed, how long it had been going on or the rank of the subordinate.

“After receiving and reviewing the Secretary of Air Force’s inspector general report, I lost confidence in Gen. Del Toro’s judgment and ability to command the Air National Guard,” Walsh said Monday in a statement. “As members of the Montana National Guard, we are required and expected to maintain a higher level of standard and conduct.”

The inspector general of the Secretary of the Air Force began the investigation into Del Toro in November at the request of the Montana National Guard, and the allegations were substantiated in March, said Air Force spokesman Capt. Tom Wenz.

According to the National Guard Bureau, Del Toro began his career in 1981 as a student at the Undergraduate Pilot Training center at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.

Del Toro became an instructor pilot and flight commander in 1983 and was promoted as squadron commander of the Montana Air National Guard’s 186th Fighter Wing in 1997.

Del Toro served as deputy director of the Joint Force Headquarters in Helena from 2005 before his promotion to brigadier general and his subsequent assignment to assistant adjutant general of the Montana Air National Guard in 2006.