Rhode Island Adjutant Gen. Robert T. Bray, whom the governor has said is the public voice in emergencies, is no longer visible on the Rhode Island National Guard’s Web site.

Bray’s photo, welcome message and the entire “adjutant general” link under the organization heading on the Guard’s home page have been removed. Visitors to the Web site wouldn’t know that Rhode Island ever had an adjutant general, except for a year-old news release about Army National Guardsmen receiving the bronze star.

Is the Guard commander’s departure from the Web site a sign of changes to come? Reached on his cell phone at an Air Force senior leadership conference this week, Bray said tersely: “I have no intentions of leaving.”

So, why aren’t you on the Web site anymore? “I’m not leaving,” Bray said. He declined to comment further.

Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Denis Riel later wrote that the general isn’t leaving –– “His personal information was removed from the Web site in order to guard his privacy.”

Yet, other top officers in the Rhode Island National Guard still have their photos, bios and contact information on the Web site. Adjutants general in almost all other states, and even Guam, also appear with face and welcome messages on the Web sites for their National Guard.

Since January, the security-minded Bray has tightened access to the headquarters on New London Avenue in Cranston, where even public safety officials and at least one legislator, state Sen. Frank Ciccone, have had trouble getting inside.

Despite those privacy measures, those curious about Bray can find out more by visiting the main National Guard Bureau’s Web site, where his photo and biography are posted along with those of all other adjutants general.

--By Amanda Milkovits, Cynthia Needham, Katherine Gregg and Steve Peoples
Journal staff writers