Find UFOs, The Apocalypse, New World Order, Political Analysis,
Alternative Health, Armageddon, Conspiracies, Prophecies,
Spirituality, Home Schooling, Home Mortgages and more, in:
I'll be posting more later from a number of Army Officers comments regarding all this.
Four-star general fired; officials cite sexual misconduct
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 10, 2005
The Army has taken the extraordinary step of relieving a four-star general, with military sources citing sexual misconduct as the reason.
An official announcement yesterday did not specify why Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes, 52, was removed from his command of all soldier training and doctrine development, but two retired Army officers said it was for having an extramarital affair.
Adultery is illegal in the military, constituting conduct unbecoming an officer. The sources said they think the woman was not a subordinate of Gen. Byrnes at U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe, Va.
It is rare in modern times for the Army to relieve a four-star general. President Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who had five stars, over differences in fighting the Korean War. The first Bush administration fired Army Gen. Frederick Woerner Jr. in 1989 for not standing up to Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.
Gen. Byrnes, one of 11 four-star Army generals, was nearing the end of a three-year term at U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command when Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, relieved him of command yesterday after a Pentagon inspector general's investigation. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld picked Lt. Gen. William Wallace, a ground commander in the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, to succeed Gen. Byrnes. His nomination is pending in the Senate.
Gen. Byrnes faces the possibility he may retire at a lower rank, forfeiting tens of thousands of dollars in retirement pay.
Retired officers, who asked not to be named, said Gen. Byrnes had been under investigation for some time and had been in the throes of a divorce.
They expressed dismay at Gen. Byrnes, for whom a number of officers went to bat in 2002 when Mr. Rumsfeld threatened to end his career at lieutenant general.
Mr. Rumsfeld was upset at Gen. Byrnes for fighting proposed troop cuts being outlined by the defense secretary's aide, Stephen Cambone.
Then-Army Secretary Thomas White and top generals interceded and convinced Mr. Rumsfeld to keep him. Shortly thereafter, Gen. Byrnes won nomination to a fourth star and the TRADOC command.
"I'm damn mad," said a retired general who supported Gen. Byrnes. "People went to the mat to get him promoted. ... Now Rumsfeld can say, 'I told you so. I saw something you didn't.'?"
