MADISON - Critics on Wednesday blasted the appointment of Ken Black as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, saying he was involved in many of the agency's recent problems.

The Veterans Affairs Board fired Secretary John Scocos on Tuesday, blaming him for a host of financial and communications problems at the agency he had led since 2003. Board members voted 5-0 to name Black as the next secretary.

But many of the problems cited by the board in ousting Scocos happened while Scocos was serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserve and Black was acting secretary. Nonetheless, board members praised Black, who joined the agency as a division administrator in 2005, as a skilled leader and downplayed his role in the problems.

The Wisconsin Veterans Home at King overspent its budget by roughly $700,000 during Black's tenure as acting secretary. Black requested a Department of Justice investigation into the spending, but the probe showed he was not always in the loop and some of his statements to investigators were contradicted by several other employees.

The leader of the home, Commandant Bill Crowley, also says Black fired him in August with an e-mail that went to all employees. Black has refused to comment on that claim or explain why he fired Crowley, who was later reinstated by Scocos.

"This just doesn't seem to add up, does it? It doesn't to me. I don't think it can add up to most observers of this whole situation," said Ray Boland, who served as the department secretary from 1992 to 2003 and supported Scocos. "They are appointing the person to be secretary who has taken actions that are very questionable."

Other critics were less diplomatic.

"Have Board members read the Department of Justice report? Either Ken Black was incompetent during the period he served as acting secretary, or he lied to Department of Justice investigators when he told them he was unaware of what happened," said Kevin Kavanaugh of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which advocates for veterans wounded in combat. "And now they make him the secretary?"

Board member Jackie Guthrie defended Black, who had a long career in the U.S. Army and previously worked for Alliant Energy. She said he was the only candidate for secretary and "a logical choice."

"We felt he has not only the management and leadership skills but also the background of everything that's gone on in the agency to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible," she said.

For his part, Black told The Associated Press he would work with the board and veterans groups to "turn the organization around." He refused to take questions.

One of Black's first moves as secretary was to fire the agency's No. 3 official, executive assistant Mike Trepanier. Trepanier said he expected to be fired but was surprised he was immediately locked out of the agency's computer system.

Black's appointment came after board members berated Scocos for the DOJ report that found no criminal wrongdoing in the overspending at King but "a series of inadequate or absent communications, miscommunications and assumptions made at every level within the agency."

"The report paints a picture of disarray at the very highest levels of the department," board member Peter Moran told Scocos.

Board members praised Black for asking for the investigation, bringing problems to their attention, and holding Crowley accountable by firing him. But they downplayed findings that raised questions about Black's statements.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about since I don't have the report in front of me," Acting Board Chair Marcia Anderson told reporters when asked about Black's role.

Black told investigators he was unaware of the roughly $400,000 spent on a prescription drug packaging system and related storage for the King home's pharmacy, two of the purchases he asked DOJ to investigate.

Other officials, however, told investigators that not only had Black been "thoroughly briefed" about them, he ordered them to "get it done," the report found.

"Acting Secretary Black's claim that he was personally unaware or any plan or need to purchase the packaging and storage systems is directly contradicted (by other testimony)," Assistant Attorney General Paul Barnett wrote in the report.

Ralph Beck, the state commander of AMVETS, said Wednesday that Black's firing of Crowley and the board's firing of Scocos were both unfair.