Supervisor’s ‘Tied to Tree’ Remark to Black Captain

The U.S. Army has reopened an investigation into a Black female U.S. Army captain and Adjutant General (AG) officer who alleged that her supervisor, a chaplain superior, remarked last year about having her “tied to a tree.”

In April, Military.com broke the story of the remark purportedly made towards Tatyana Jordan, 30, of Columbia, S.C., while she was helping patch a hole in an office while at work last year at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Jordan alleged that on Aug. 13, 2025, her supervisor, Chaplain Maj. Edward Blackledge, told her the following: “You need to focus on getting that spreadsheet done before the meeting or I’ll need to tie you to a tree and beat you.”

Blackledge later described the remark as a “joke” that didn’t land, as part of congenial humor he routinely had with officers. However, in a statement he made later on that was obtained by Military.com, he said he did “not recall making” the remark in question.

“I’m not denying that I said it, but I do not recall making that statement,” he added. “I do recall telling CPT Jordan, in jest, that I would have to punch her in the face if she did not complete a specific project on time. I may have made the alleged statement during the same conversation.”

Military.com learned Tuesday that the Army reopened a 15-6 investigation into Jordan’s claims and the alleged actions of Blackledge.

The reopening of the fact-finding mission, conducted by an appointed investigating officer (IO) to discover any misconduct or improprieties, comes on the heels of a previous Equal Opportunity complaint not being initiated, and a previous 15-6 coming back as “unfounded” with results never originally shared with Jordan.

The male colonel who contacted Jordan on Tuesday said the following, according to correspondence shared with Military.com: “Good morning CPT. Jordan. I have been assigned as a 15-6 IO to ascertain facts concerning allegations against MAJ Blackledge for bullying, harassment, and counterproductive leadership.”

Military.com reached out to the Army for additional remarks.

‘Speaking Up Actually Matters’

The Army’s inaction caused Jordan to reassess her options.

In late 2025, she reached out for guidance to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), which represents in excess of 100,000 military personnel—including about 95% of whom are Christians.

A letter written by Jordan to MRFF on Tuesday and shared with Military.com showed appreciation for the reopening of the investigation, along with a huge sense of relief.

“I’m incredibly thankful to Maj. Gen. [Daryl O.] Hood, the Fort Jackson commanding general, for taking this seriously and reopening the investigation,” Jordan wrote. “That decision means more to me than I can explain. It gives me hope that maybe doing the hard thing and speaking up actually matters. Not just for me, but for every soldier who has sat quietly, afraid that nobody would listen.

“And through all of this, my husband and family have carried me in ways I can’t even describe. I could not have made it through this without them. I know this process is far from over, but I just wanted to pause for a second and say ‘thank you.’ Thank you for being in my corner. Thank you for advocating for my civil rights. Thank you for helping me find the courage to keep going.”

She also expressed appreciation to MRFF and its President and founder Mikey Weinstein, who she said helped her when “I felt completely defeated, overwhelmed and unheard, and you stepped in and reminded me that my voice mattered.”

“We salute the incredible courage and intrepidity of Capt. Tatyana Jordan,” Weinstein told Military.com on Tuesday. “She’s a true American hero in every way. Besides being an army officer and a wife and a mother of three, her courage stands out like a brilliant North Star.

“We here at the foundation have heard from innumerable members of the U.S. military who are women or men who love their women who’ve gone through something similar.”

He also praised Maj. Gen. Hood, who Weinstein said “did the right thing” after the Military.com story broke.

“The first day [Jordan] came back, the commanding general personally came to see her, commended her courage, made it clear he was going to have me at MRFF as her civil rights advocate coordinate with his SJA [Staff Judge Advocate], a female full colonel…and that he intended to reopen the investigation,” Weinstein said.

What Led to the Reopening of the 15-6

Jordan was commissioned via Army ROTC at Virginia State University in May 2018 and has since been stationed in Hawaii, in addition to being a platoon leader for basic training. She came to the Chaplain School in January 2025 as active duty and served as a force management officer.

The alleged August 2025 incident caught her off guard considering the rapport she had developed with Blackledge up to that point, including the chaplain superior praying over her daughter when her lungs collapsed during a medical procedure about a month into Jordan’s tenure at Fort Jackson. As Jordan described, she and Blackledge had “a good working relationship.”

In the aftermath of the purported incident and Blackledge’s remarks, amid different efforts to properly report the incident in a thorough manner but failing, Jordan told Military.com that she was willing to risk her career for a cause bigger than herself.

“This is something I will never forget,” Jordan told Military.com in April 2026. “This was not said in isolation. It was said by a senior leader, in uniform, in a professional Army environment.

“As a Black woman, that statement carried a weight far beyond the words themselves. It evoked a deeply painful and violent history in this country: lynching, racial terror, and the dehumanization of people who look like me.”

Weinstein told Military.com on Tuesday that as a Jewish Air Force veteran, he experienced antisemitic remarks from superiors decades ago. One such superior made a remark affiliating Weinstein with “being good with money.” Although he later apologized, Weinstein felt “embarrassed and humiliated.”

He wants current service members facing similar situations to reach out to MRFF if necessary to get assistance.

“These are not jokes. … You don’t tell an African-American woman in the ruby red southern state of South Carolina that you’ll be tying her to a tree and beating her because, in the history of the South, that happened many times to African Americans,” Weinstein said. “And after they were beaten, being tied to a tree, they were usually lynched on it.

“So, we command the Army. We certainly commend our client’s incredible bravery. And we commend the media, specifically Military.com. … We eagerly await the results of the new 15-6 investigation.”