THE CHARACTERIZATION OF ARTIFACTS AS “REDUNDANT” IN RAINCROSS GAZETTE ARTICLE SPARK OUTRAGE
The following statements/claims made by the leadership of the Museum, as reported in the article, have raised some concerns, including:
The museum's written statement, however, says: "There are no current plans to dispose of any aircraft or artifacts...The Museum has no plans to close the Archives." (emphasis added)
Questions have been raised about the noncommittal qualifiers ("current" "no plans") which have not been reassuring to many of the concerned community members.
This statement also directly contradicts allegations made by many attendees of the meeting wherein the future of the museum was discussed.
Lemire acknowledged that "at a volunteer meeting, a member of the Executive Committee made statements that were taken to mean that excessive artifacts would be eliminated," but emphasized that any deaccessioning would follow "the high standards of the American Alliance of Museums" and that donors would be contacted. He reiterated: "We have no intentions of deaccessioning any aircraft in our collections." (emphasis added)
Again, the "no intentions" is another phrase that lacks commitment.
It has been reported that the American Alliance of Museum had scheduled a reaccreditation visit/process for November of 2025, which appears to be put on hold for the time being.
When asked about a sitting board member's public statement that board members are "never informed of any of the executive committee's decisions," Lemire responded that personnel matters couldn't be shared widely because "at least one board member, and one or two others, have consistently breached board confidentiality by leaking confidential information to staff and others. Personnel matters must be kept strictly confidential under California law."
Which California law? As far as we can tell, California law requires boards to keep certain personnel matters confidential — such as employee discipline, evaluations, or private records. But it does not prevent boards from keeping members informed about decisions more broadly.
"We're right across from a national cemetery, and families regularly donate boxes of military items," Dada said. "Museum professionals evaluated our collections and found significant redundancies - 82 pairs of identical boots, for example. They said the mission should drive the collection, not the other way around."
As one source put it: “If you counted all the boots — flight boots, combat boots, mukluks, riding boots, service dress shoes, shower shoes, sports shoes, male and female from 1917 until yesterday — we might have near 82. But they are not the ‘same.’” This testimony makes clear that what was dismissed as redundancy is actually a rich record of military life across more than a century.
The inspection was scheduled with only thirty minutes allowed, and in practice less than an hour was spent. One person had museum experience but could not join the tour, being too frail, and the rest had no curatorial background. The walkthrough lasted about twenty minutes, covered only a small portion of the collection, and yet concluded the artifacts were “redundant.”
Counting and evaluating 82 pairs of boots alone would have taken longer than the entire visit.
The board will vote on hiring a new executive director at its November meeting, scheduled for Nov. 21. That person will inherit an institution in transition, with significant community attention on how they approach collections management, board governance, and community engagement.
The Board meeting is November 20 - NOT the 21st.
Rumors swirl around the identity of the new director - it will surely shed light on the museum's intentions.
As always, we welcome corrections to anything posted here. This is all opinion, no allegations are being made - we just are concerned citizens who have nothing to gain but everything to lose if the museum's purpose and meaning are fundamentally altered.
11/11/2025
First, thank you to all our veterans! We appreciate your service.
There has been so much happening, its been hard to keep up! First, there was an error in previous reports of the date of the next Board meeting - it is actually November 20, 2025. We also have had several media outlets contact us, which is great!
There has been one unofficial statement issued by the Board's secretary which, in my opinion, was lacking in substance, clarity, and transparency. When I requested more information, including copies of the minutes of the meetings, I was met with silence.
Thank you for your support - good things are coming! Never give up!
11/5/2025
We have a lot going on behind the scenes! While most of it cannot be posted publicly at this time, please rest assured that action is being taken and strategies are in place. We are not resting on our laurels!
A few things:
The next board of directors meeting is on November 13, 2025. We'll have more information about the museum's plans after that meeting.
If you are a member of the museum, and you are interested in obtaining the minutes taken from board meetings, consider asking for a copy if you feel so inclined.
Note: Organizations that file Form 990 (which includes the Museum as a 501c3 charity) will find that Part VI, Line 8 asks whether they contemporaneously document meetings or written actions undertaken during the year by its governing body and each committee with authority to act on behalf of the governing body. March's Filing answered "YES" to this question. (Check out the "investigation" page of this website for access to the google drive, which contains records and filings)
If you have donated an artifact to the Museum and want it back, please click the link in the yellow box on the home page of this website to fill out the form. This isn't a guarantee you'll get your artifact back, but it helps to have a list compiled.
11/4/2025
A post from Patricia Sablak Korzec,
"Today I visited March Field Air Museum to get an update on a letter that was sent to individual board members over a week ago. It read:
Oct.25,2025: Dear Board of Directors,
"I am requesting access to all approved Minutes of the Museum's Regular Monthly Meetings, Special Meetings, and Annual Meetings from January 16-2025. These minutes are considered public record and should be accessible to all shareholders. As a current museum member I am considered a shareholder in this non-profit organization. I wish to review these in a timely manner and request access the week of Nov. 2,2025. I will schedule my visit to review these within the regular museum hours."
I was greeted by a friendly volunteer and the security person. The security guard went to get the person in charge "Christi" and returned with a post it note and told him to tell me Jamil Dada was in charge and to call him at this number. The guard sensing my dismay in not actually speaking to her offered to go and find her. She came, I introduced myself and we had a polite conversation. I explained that I was hoping for a reply today and gave her an overview of how the letter was sent out. I asked her to give another copy to Jamil Dada, then placed it in sealed envelope with his name and big "?" on it. She said he would be in on Thursday and he said to tell me the Board Attorneys would respond to me.
I will post the "official response" when I receive it.
The museum looked great, I took photos of some artifacts that some donors were concerned about and will keep stopping by regularly to observe the daily operations. I would like to encourage local museum members to stop by and keep an eye on the daily operations. While this "sale of artifacts" is still be expressed publicly by some board members, keep a lookout for empty spaces on walls and in cabinets as well as empty hooks. The museum is operating on a skeleton crew of staff and volunteers due to the recent layoffs and resignations and we can't expect them to carry any additional burdens. Please help in any way you can!
10/28/2025
An open letter from Katie Batcheller
It was October 2024 when it officially started for me. Jamil and the interim Director, Mel, called us in for an all-staff meeting regarding the removal of the previous interim director, Jarod. Jamil had proposed a question to the group, asking what we were looking for in a new director for the museum. Sherry raised her hand and said that the museum really needed someone with “project management skills and wasn’t going to try and fix things that weren’t broken”. Jamil, without hesitation, began to slam his hand on the table in protest, raised his voice to an unnecessary volume, and said “You don’t have the qualifications for this job”.
You could hear crickets. Everyone’s eyes opened wide and stared at the toxic ping pong game that now took place. Not only did that not have anything to do with what Sherry said, she, serving decades in the military and managing billion-dollar budgets for her department, has more than enough qualifications to run this museum. Naturally, she defended herself and said as much, ending with “I’m happy to show my resume.” Jamil kept interrupting her while slamming his hand on the table, getting louder and louder while denying her qualifications, ultimately saying to us all, but staring directly at Sherry, “If anyone sitting in this room doesn’t like what I have to say, you can get up and leave right now. I will accept this as your resignation.”
(But you may be asking yourself, why did Jerod get hired? Because Jamil screamed at then Director Greg, for reasons unknown to me, who then resigned shortly after this mistreatment).
This act of childish behavior came from the March Field Air Museum’s Board President. Someone that should be a leader, open to hearing constructive criticism from other board members and staff. Not someone that belittles a decorated veteran, a hard-working US citizen, and a dedicated mother.
The tone of the museum took a drastic turn for the worst. Constant toxicity from management regarding interactions between Jamil led me to file a complaint against Jamil with the State of California Civil Rights Department on November 24, 2024. While there was no movement on my case, as I was not the direct victim, I hope that it gave Sherry the courage to file her own complaint.
As a former employee of the March Field Air Museum, I will not tolerate the harassment and unnecessary termination of Sherry and her assistant, Karla. After speaking with Jeff, he said that the pressure they put on Jamil led him to re-hire Tyston, which is a small step in the right direction. But Karla and Sherry have done nothing to deserve this treatment. They are some of the hardest working individuals at that museum, and take great pride and care in their duties, going above and beyond that is in their job description to care for the museum. In my humble opinion, along with Jeff, they are two of the handful of people that hold the museum together. I will be happy to support them in whatever way that I can, and making this post to you is my start.
10/26/2025
We are working on submitting complaints, gathering information, and alerting everyone and anyone about the plans to destroy the museum.
ALSO - a MARCH for MARCH rally is being organized. Stay tuned!
10/25/25
Here are the most recent updates.
In a phone call today, VP Gutierrez confirmed the Executive Committee has hired a new Executive Director for the March Field Air Museum.
He did not give a name but said the individual was from the Nixon Library.
Gutierrez also confirmed Jamil and he were pressing forward with their original plan to remove the library / archives and sell aircraft and artifacts to fund the Dada Memorial Events/ Welcome Center.
Because of Dada and Gutierrez’s new plan for the March Field Air Museum the museum just lost $56,000. The donors decided they will not give to the museum unless those who were laid off and resigned are brought back and Dada and Gutierrez resign.
