Marine Hornet CO fired for playing ‘bad cop’ too often

Lt. Col. Wade Workman would play “bad cop” to hold his Marines accountable, one member of his squadron said, but an investigation determined the former squadron commander should have yelled less and listened more.

Workman was fired as commander of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 on Dec. 28 after a 3 ^rd Marine Aircraft Wing command investigation found he had created a hostile work environment. Marine Corps Times obtained a redacted copy of the investigation through a Freedom of Information Act request.

“Lt. Col. Workman has engaged pilots and maintainers on several occasions in a confrontational way,” the investigation found. “This had led to a reluctance on the part of squadron personnel to engage with him about aircraft maintenance or flight issues. This may not meet the strict definition of berating behavior, but it clearly has negatively affected the squadron’s culture of trust.”

Workman was the fourth commander in the aviation community to be fired in 2016, a year when the service’s aviation crisis hit full boil. He declined to comment when contacted by Marine Corps Times on Thursday.