Army disciplines 14 soldiers; slams Fort Hood failures
WASHINGTON — The Army on Tuesday said it has fired or suspended 14 officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, and ordered policy changes to address chronic failures of leadership that contributed to a widespread pattern of violence, including murder, sexual assault and harassment.
In a sweeping condemnation of Fort Hood’s command hierarchy, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy fired three top commanders and suspended two others pending a further investigation. He also ordered a separate probe into staffing and procedures at the base’s Criminal Investigation Command unit, which is responsible for investigating crimes on Fort Hood.
The actions come after a year that saw at least 25 soldiers assigned to Fort Hood die due to suicide, homicide or accidents, including the bludgeoning death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen. Guillen was missing for about two months before her remains were found.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, McCarthy said based on an independent panel’s review, he concluded that the issues at Fort Hood, including major flaws in the response to sexual assault and harassment, “are directly related to leadership failures.” He said he was gravely disappointed in the commanders there, adding, “without leadership, systems don’t matter.”
Gen. James McConville, the chief of staff of the Army, told reporters that he spoke to Guillen’s mother Tuesday morning and told her, “We are holding leaders accountable, and we will fix this.”
McCarthy also ordered a new Army policy that changes how commanders deal with missing soldiers. The panel found there were no detailed procedures for what commanders of small units should do if a soldier is missing, but not necessarily AWOL, or absent without leave. The new policy requires leaders to list service members as absent-unknown for up to 48 hours and to do everything they can to locate the soldier to determine if the absence is voluntary before declaring anyone AWOL.
The firings include Army Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, who was left in charge of the base earlier this year when Guillen was killed, as well as Col. Ralph Overland, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment commander and his Command Sgt. Maj. Bradley
Knapp. Among those suspended were Maj. Gen. Jeffery Broadwater, the 1st Cavalry Division commander, and his Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas C. Kenny. The administrative actions are expected to trigger investigations that could lead to a wide range of punishments. Those punishments could go from a letter of reprimand to a military discharge.
The Army did not provide the names of the other lower-ranking soldiers who face possible discipline.
The base commander, Army Lt. Gen. Pat White, will not face any administrative action. Asked about that, McConville said White was deployed to Iraq as the commander there for much of the year so wasn’t at the base. “Leadership is about presence,” said McConville.