Army Fires Four-Star General Over Alleged Improper Attempt to Get Female Subordinate Screened for Command

Army Fires Four-Star General Over Alleged Improper Attempt to Get Female Subordinate Screened for Command

I have taken it upon myself to report on the various failings of the U.S. military during the Biden Administration in everything from the military’s embrace of DEI culture to recruiting woes to problems with Navy shipbuilding and operations:

• Navy Drag Queen Recruiters – Definitive Evidence that the Military has Lost Its Way
• Pentagon Burdens Warfighting Commanders with New Transgender Policies for Military Personnel
• In Attempt to Boost Recruiting, U.S. Army Secretary Shuffles Deck Chairs on the Titanic
• U.S. Coast Guard Making Drastic Cuts, Citing Recruiting Woes
• Delays with New Strategic Nuclear Missile Submarine Program Could Damage National Defense, GAO Reports
• Deployed Navy Disaster: Damaged Fleet Oiler in Middle East Cripples Aircraft Carrier Operations

I don’t really enjoy reporting on these major problems, but they exist and need to be seriously dealt with by the incoming administration.

Here’s a quick example that encapsulates everything wrong with our present military in five seconds:

Our woke they/them military is at it again. We’re screwed. pic.twitter.com/PnzXfeqc7U

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 30, 2023

Despite the above problems, not to mention the leopard pantsuit (sorry to ruin your day), I am optimistic.

But there is a kind of problem I have yet to report on; one that I am sure has existed in the past in some form but probably not so egregiously and not so cluelessly handled by the perpetrator.

The case involves an Army four-star general who has been fired for improperly trying to rig an Army command screening process so that the general’s favored subordinate, who he happened to have an inappropriate relationship with, got command when she didn’t deserve it.

As some of my Twitter peeps say, buckle up!

From Task & Purpose: Army fires 4-star general for improper influence in subordinate’s selection for command:

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth has fired a four-star general — one of just 12 in the entire service — following an investigation into accusations that he attempted to use his position to push a subordinate officer’s promotion forward, Task & Purpose has confirmed.

Gen. Charles Hamilton was relieved as the commander of Army Materiel Command, a position he had been suspended from during the investigation. The probe focused on whether Hamilton tried to pressure Army officials into promoting a lieutenant colonel that he mentored. Task & Purpose is not identifying the lieutenant colonel because there is no evidence she violated any Army policies.

“Based on the findings of a Department of the Army Inspector General investigation, the Secretary of the Army has relieved General Charles Hamilton of command,” the Army said in a statement.

Now, I had the privilege, in the latter years of my 31-year Navy career, as a Navy active duty Captain, to be appointed to about a dozen promotion and command selection boards, which were all held at the Navy Personnel Headquarters in Millington, Tennessee, from about 2002 to 2008. During every one of those boards I never saw one thing that even remotely hinted at undue influence or anything remotely wrong. Keep that in mind as we continue.

And, I would not bring up the race of the two officers involved, but Task & Purpose reported it because it was the General’s key defense in trying to explain away his actions:

Both Hamilton and the female junior officer are Black, a fact that Hamilton has said in the past was a factor in his mentoring the officer. However, he has maintained that he did not interfere in the promotion process, and he claimed in a letter to Wormuth that the selection process for battalion commanders “fails to account for the psychological effects that systemic bias, discrimination, and overt racism can have on prospective officers.”

Okay, I have to throw the penalty flag on that one. At least as of 2008, at least Navy promotion and command selection boards had one mission: to select the best possible people for the few promotion and command slots that were available. Race was not an issue, and we were not even allowed, while voting during board proceedings, to see pictures of the potential selectees, so it was literally not an issue. Of course, some people knew a given candidate personally, and so of course knew what race they were, but I do not ever remember that coming up once in board proceedings, ever.

So was General Hamilton innocent? Was he improperly fired? From Task & Purpose on the Army IG’s findings:

The Army Inspector General’s office concluded that Hamilton had “improperly advocated” for the lieutenant colonel to be selected for command, according to a redacted copy of the investigation obtained by Task & Purpose.

“The net effect of adding [the lieutenant colonel,] an officer not certified ready for command, to the order of merit list ultimately caused concern in the force,” the investigation found. “This deviation from an established process, at the behest of Gen. Hamilton, uprooted trust in the program from not just the affected population, but across the Army.”

The Army Inspector General Office’s investigation came after it received an anonymous complaint in December 2023 alleging that Hamilton and the lieutenant colonel were having an “inappropriate, fraternizing, and likely sexual relationship,” the investigation says. Investigators subsequently found that although Hamilton and the lieutenant colonel had an “overly familiar relationship,” there was no “definitive evidence” that the two had a sexual relationship.

[emphasis added here and further in this post]

Okay, I wasn’t there, but this relationship was, at least, “inappropriate.”

[T]he day after Military.com first reported in March that Hamilton allegedly pressured Army officials to select the lieutenant colonel for command, the DOD Inspector General’s Office referred the matter to the Army Inspector General’s Office for investigation.

On March 22, Wormuth suspended Hamilton and removed the lieutenant colonel’s name from the command selection list, according to the investigation.

Did you get that? The general allegedly forced an Army command selection board to select this lieutenant colonel for command even though she was not certified for that, after likely sleeping with her. But he did nothing wrong! Racism! Oh wait:

Investigators found that Hamilton and the lieutenant colonel had communicated via personal email; Hamilton masked her name in his contacts; the two of them had attended an event together in St. Louis, Missouri, but their travel was not officially documented; and the investigation uncovered an email that implied an “inappropriate and prohibited” relationship between them.

“The investigation did not find definitive evidence of a sexual relationship between Gen. Hamilton and [the lieutenant colonel], however, we found several indicators of an overly familiar relationship between them,” investigators determined. “While the available evidence could not prove a sexual relationship, the preponderance of evidence led us to conclude there was a prohibited relationship and that [the lieutenant colonel] received preferential treatment as a result.”

Disgusting. But it wasn’t just “allegedly” strong-arming the command selection board:

Hamilton awarded her the Legion of Merit when she was a major, according to the investigation. Such awards are usually presented to retiring colonels or one-star officers after they complete assignments with significant responsibilities.

“Gen. Hamilton’s direct actions to assist [the lieutenant colonel] began with awarding her an impact Legion of Merit and culminated with his request for an exception to policy to certify her ready for command to the Chief of Staff of the Army,” the investigation found. “Gen. Hamilton provided [the lieutenant colonel with several advantages he did not provide to other officers.”

Oh, and as far as that accusation that he just did it to help her overcome “systemic racism”?

“The evidence did not support Gen. Hamilton’s explanation that he advocated for [the lieutenant colonel] to illustrate his concerns with systemic bias and unfairness in the [command selection] process,” according to the investigation.

Investigators found that Hamilton asked to sit in on the lieutenant colonel’s Army Comprehensive Talent Interview as part of the [command selection] process. Ultimately, he didn’t observe any of the other candidates’ interviews “that would have assisted him in making observations to Army senior leaders as he had previously stated was the purpose of his visit,” according to the investigation.

So the Army IG says he lied to the command selection board by saying that he just wanted to “make observations to Army senior leaders” about the selection process: but then, he sat on on his sweetheart’s board, and only her board, got the board to pick her, then, mission accomplished, he peaced out.

There are other minor details further implicating the general, but you can see what happened easily enough.

The bottom line: General Hamilton was fired for using his four stars to get a female subordinate he had an improper relationship with selected for command over another, actually qualified candidate.

Thank God the system worked, but I would also say January 20th can’t come soon enough.

Sad story. This Army Four Star General was fired for trying to influence a command selection boards decision. Totally unsat. He also tried to use race as an excuse and seemed to imply the Army is racist even though he is a Four Star General. SMH https://t.co/yoLhPCsWE6

— Semperfi Virginia (@fi_virginia2) December 10, 2024

First Army 4 star outright fired in nearly 20 years. Gen. Hamilton flagrantly abused authority securing a leadership role for a female subordinate who was found unfit for command—twice. Hamilton said he had to intervene because he felt the process is racist. Oh, she had an… pic.twitter.com/0JtrVDSXs0

— Mark J. Kilbane (former Congressional candidate) (@Kilbanewins) December 11, 2024

The Army has fired Gen. James Hamiliton–who is black and woke–for influencing the command selection of a black, female LTC who he had an improper relationship with according to the inspector general. You can expect more woke generals getting the axe going forward. pic.twitter.com/LBCoj9FMzi

— David Crosby (@DavidCr61218954) December 10, 2024

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