A Black female U.S. Army captain and Adjutant General (AG) officer claims that her supervisor, a chaplain superior, made a remark last year that involved having her “tied to a tree,” with official documentation of the alleged incident showing different sides of the story.
Tatyana Jordan, 30, of Columbia, S.C., spoke with Military.com about remarks allegedly made towards her while at work last year at Fort Jackson. She came to the Chaplain School in January 2025 as active duty and served as a force management officer.
According to Jordan, on Aug. 13, 2025, her supervisor, Chaplain Maj. Edward Blackledge, instructed a religious affairs noncommissioned officer (NCO) to patch a hole in the office they all shared. The NCO was suffering from an injury to his arm or hand that made the project difficult for days on end.
Due to being unable to execute the task and cut into the drywall, Jordan volunteered to do it instead and said she would still complete her TRADOC (U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command) analysis for later that same afternoon.
That was when Blackledge allegedly said the following to her: “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.”
“This is something I will never forget,” Jordan told Military.com. “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."
The impact was immediate. I was shocked, humiliated and deeply disturbed that someone I thought I could trust and prayed over my daughter in the hospital would say something so egregious.
Jordan said that about one month after starting in the Chaplain School, her daughter’s lungs collapsed during a medical procedure, leading to her being transferred to a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). There, Blackledge prayed over her and Jordan acknowledged “a good working relationship” at that juncture.
Military.com reached out for comment on the allegations to both the Army and Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the latter of which deferred comment on the matter to the Army—which never responded to the inquiry.
"He then looked at me and said, ‘Oh, you know, I was joking, right?’ And I, still in shock, am looking, like, who the hell jokes like that? I was disgusted, just thoroughly disgusted," Jordan said.
Actions Following the Incident
Jordan said following the purported incident she went to see a female civilian human resources representative in her office.
“I was in tears,” Jordan said. “I just remember not even being able to communicate why I was crying, because I was just so overwhelmed. But once I calmed down and let her know what happened, she was disgusted. At that point, it was just me walking through the thoughts in my head, like, did this actually happen?”
She said the purported incident occurred around lunchtime, so Blackledge had left and then returned with food. He ate in the office, according to Jordan, who said “he never does." He was “trying to force conversation, but obviously I'm not wanting to talk."
She completed her assignment at around 1350 hours that afternoon.
“[Blackledge] was like, ‘Hey, before you leave, are you OK?’ And I'm just like looking at him, like, it didn't register in your mind that you just said something that was completely wild and uncalled for?” she said. “I know you know it, but you're OK with it.
“I didn't say that out loud, but obviously I'm thinking that in my head. I just walked off and I went to my car. I ended up calling my husband, and my husband was livid. He was ready to go to the police station because he made me realize, he just threatened to harm you.”
Investigative Measures
Jordan’s husband told her to do something about the alleged incident, so she delved into resources and different options.
The next day she reported the incident to Military Police (MP) to ensure there was official documentation and to protect her safety and that of her family which includes three children, a 4-year old and a 2-year-old set of twins. She also filed an Equal Opportunity (EO) complaint, which began processing it.
Despite the statement, she said MP characterized the incident as a "bad joke." She also called the Inspector General’s Office, but “IG wanted nothing to do with it.”
After I filed the complaint, it was like my life was ruined. I'm not being dramatic, it was really that bad. I was cut out of all communication that I needed to do my job because this is my supervisor that I filed a complaint against.
She then found out that rather than initiate an EO investigation, the 165th Brigade commander decided to initiate a 15-6—an Army fact-finding mission conducted by an appointed investigating officer (IO) to discover any misconduct or improprieties.
Duties of an IO, according to the Army itself, include gathering and sifting through all evidence, being thorough and impartial while doing so. They are also tasked with making findings and recommendations warranted by the facts, and to report such findings and recommendations to the appointing authority.
Statements Show Disparities
Jordan submitted a sworn statement to the IO in early September, as did Blackledge and the NCO who was in the room that August day, according to a copy of the investigative report obtained by Military.com.
In Blackledge’s sworn statement, he said he “never made racial jokes” or comments about any coworker in the U.S. Army or Institute for Religious Leadership.
He clarified that he made jokes about “punching in the face” or “humorous statements such as, ‘Who do I need to kick in the face to get this done?’” He asserted that it was always meant in a lighthearted or comical way to reduce tension and increase laughter, rather than done in an angry or threatening manner.
He acknowledged making statements routinely around staff, adding, “We have had many laughs during our staff syncs following such absurd statements.”
The difference in the recounting of events and sworn statements by both Jordan and Blackledge is related to the “tree” remark.
“I do not recall making the statement, ‘I need to tie you to a tree and beat you,’” Blackledge said in his statement. “I’m not denying that I said it, but I do not recall making that statement. 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.”
Blackledge added: I do recall that my ‘punch in the face’ comment statement did not receive the playful response I had expected. I recall an uneasy silence.
That "awkward silence” as he described purportedly prompted him in the moment shortly thereafter to clarify that he “was only joking” and that he would never “hurt” Jordan or the NCO.
In his sworn statement, the NCO said he wasn’t in the room during Blackledge’s alleged comments. He did, however, say that Jordan asked him if he heard the remarks about the tree, to which he replied he hadn’t.
The NCO added that he didn’t think such a remark was “intentional” on Blackledge’s behalf, adding, “[He] seemed to be very comfortable with myself and Capt. Jordan and used bad ‘dark’ jokes around us.”
Change of Scenery
Weeks later, Jordan found out that the 15-6 result came back as “unfounded.” She also claimed that the brigade commander never informed her of the results when they were finalized.
“To this day, I have not been provided a detailed explanation of how this conclusion was reached. … Had the HHC (Headquarters and Headquarters Company) commander [of the USA IRL] in the U.S. Army not called me and told me over the phone that it was unfounded, I wouldn't have known,” Jordan said.
Jordan also said that during the investigation, she was moved to a G3 OIC (Officer in Charge) role due to the friction between her and Blackledge. She alleged that after she took on the new role, the chief of staff wrote a memorandum allowing communication between her and Blackledge in the midst of a no-contact order.
“I thought that was insane,” she said. “I was genuinely afraid to sit in the same room as this man.”
Things became worse, according to Jordan, with incendiary remarks towards her due to her belief that others in her vicinity were privy to what happened between her and Blackledge, and the investigation.
“It got to a point where I was like, I can't work here anymore,” she said. “I was afraid to go back just because of aggressive words, threats. ... I was not safe, and I can't function in an environment when I'm not safe. So, I requested to be reassigned.”
She got her wish and has been working reception at Fort Jackson since February.
The 'Hill I'm Willing to Die On'
Jordan was asked why she’s deciding to come out publicly about this now, roughly eight months after the alleged incident.
“I am coming forward because this is bigger than me,” she said. “This is about leadership, accountability, and the kind of environment we are allowing to exist within our ranks. Soldiers deserve better. Leaders must be held to a higher standard.”
Late last year, following the findings relayed within the 15-6, Jordan surveyed her options. It led to her reaching out for guidance to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), which represents in excess of 100,000 military personnel.
“After exhausting internal channels and being left without meaningful recourse, I reached out to MRFF because I felt completely helpless,” she said. “MRFF advocates for the constitutional rights of scores of thousands of service members and provides support to those facing religious harassment, abuse of authority, and leadership misconduct. This is exactly what my family and I needed.”
MRFF President and founder Mikey Weinstein told Military.com that the Fort Jackson Chaplain School has always been a “hot spot” for these types of complaints, saying Jordan’s “hardly the first chaplain” or non-chaplain enlisted or civilian personnel from there to seek assistance from the organization.
Jordan wanted “to give the Army a chance” and let the investigation unfold before going to the media or through other avenues, he said.
“You don't tell a subordinate anywhere, particularly in the U.S. military, that you're going to tie them to a tree and beat them,” Weinstein said. “But least of all, a Black woman in a military installation in a ruby red state like South Carolina because that happened a lot there in history.”
Jordan commissioned via Army ROTC at Virginia State University in May 2018 and has since has been stationed in Hawaii, in addition to being a platoon leader for basic training—the latter of which she called “the most rewarding assignment of all.”
Today, she said she’s willing to risk her entire military career to go public with what she alleges occurred at Fort Jackson. She said she’s received support from military colleagues.
“This is the hill that I'm willing to die on,” Jordan said. “There is nothing OK about threats of violence, racial violence in the military or anywhere in the world for that matter. We can't allow this type of environment to exist in the Army. It's not OK, our soldiers deserve better."
"It’s bigger than me and coming forward with this will hopefully empower soldiers who have experienced similar circumstances to speak up," she added.
