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Gold9472
08-13-2005, 12:01 PM
Senior general is relieved of duties at commander of key Army training organization

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--armygeneralreliev0809aug09,0,2729727.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

(Gold9472: There are rumors circulating all over the internet that he was part of a "Military Coup". I can't confirm that obviously, but I thought I'd mention it.)

By ROBERT BURNS
August 9, 2005, 1:31 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- The Army, in a rare disciplinary act against a four-star officer, said Tuesday it relieved Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes of his command after a Pentagon investigation into unspecified "personal conduct."

Byrnes, a native of New York City, was relieved as commander of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command on Monday by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker, according to a brief statement issued by Army headquarters at the Pentagon.

In that post, Byrnes oversaw all Army training programs and the development of war-fighting guidelines. It operates 33 training schools and centers on 16 Army installations and is headquartered at Fort Monroe, Va. Among the command's responsibilities is to oversee Army recruiting and initial recruit training.

"The investigation upon which this relief is based is undergoing further review to determine the appropriate final disposition of this matter," the Army statement said.

Although disciplinary action against general officers is not uncommon, it is extremely rare for a four-star general to be relieved of command. Byrnes held the position as commander of Training and Doctrine Command since November 2002. Before that he was director of the Army staff at Army headquarters in the Pentagon.

Byrnes' tenure at Training and Doctrine Command was already coming to a close, since his successor had been named _ though not yet confirmed by the Senate _ and Byrnes had not been nominated for another post. He was expected to retire.

A spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Bryan Whitman, said the investigation involved "matters of personal conduct," but he would not say more.

Other officials said the matter was investigated by the Defense Department Inspector General and the findings were now being considered by senior Army officials to determine whether further action should be taken.

Among the four-star general or flag officers to have been relieved of command in recent years was Navy Adm. Richard C. Macke, sacked as commander of Pacific Command in 1995 for remarks he made about the case of U.S. Marines accused of raping a 12-year-old Japanese girl, and Gen. Michael Dugan, who was fired as chief of staff of the Air Force in 1990 for comments to reporters about planning for the 1991 Gulf War.

Army officials said they were not immediately able to cite the last time a four-star Army general was relieved of duty.

With the departure of Byrnes, the deputy commander of Training and Doctrine Command, Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones, has been designated the acting commander, said Army spokesman Paul Boyce.

The spokesman said it was an Army policy not to release information about specific allegations in an investigation of an Army officer.

In April the Pentagon announced that Lt. Gen. William Wallace had been nominated for four-star rank and assignment as commander of Training and Doctrine Command, to succeed Byrnes, but he has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. There was no public indication at the time that Byrnes was under investigation.

Gold9472
08-13-2005, 12:04 PM
Four-star general sacked
Investigated for alleged sexual misconduct

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/09/general.relieved.ap/

Wednesday, August 10, 2005; Posted: 1:41 p.m. EDT (17:41 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an extraordinary move, the Army sacked a four-star general who was the subject of a Defense Department investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, an official said Tuesday.

Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes, commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command, was approaching retirement when the decision to relieve him of duty was made by the Army chief of staff, Gen. Peter Schoomaker.

The Army announced no specific allegation against Byrnes, but a senior official said it involved unspecified sexual misconduct. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the allegation.

Disciplinary action against officers is not rare, but it is extremely unusual in the case of a four-star general. An Army spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, said records from the General Officer Management Office show no cases in recent history in which a four-star general has been relieved of duty for disciplinary reasons.

Byrnes, 55, a Vietnam veteran, ranked third in seniority among the Army's 11 four-star generals.

A two-sentence statement issued by Army headquarters in the Pentagon said Byrnes had been relieved of his position. It gave no reason except to say, "The investigation upon which this relief is based is undergoing further review to determine the appropriate final disposition of this matter."

A spokesman at Training and Doctrine Command, Harvey Perritt, said Byrnes was unavailable to comment.

In his position as commander of Training and Doctrine Command, Byrnes oversaw all Army training programs and the development of war-fighting guidelines. The organization operates 33 training schools and centers on 16 Army installations and is headquartered at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Byrnes had been commander since November 2002.

Among the command's responsibilities is to oversee Army recruiting and initial recruit training, as well as operation of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, which is responsible for leadership development and the writing of warfighting doctrine. Coincidentally, the commander of the Combined Arms Center, Lt. Gen. William Wallace, was nominated in April to succeed Byrnes at Training and Doctrine Command.

Wallace has not yet been confirmed by the Senate for promotion to four-star rank, so the Army chose Byrnes' top deputy, Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones, to take over immediately as the acting commander.

Asked about the case at a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had little to say.

"It's something that's being handled in the proper channels, and it's not something that it would be appropriate for me to get involved with," he said.

Other officials said the matter was investigated by the Defense Department Inspector General, and the findings were now being considered by senior Army officials to determine whether further action should be taken.

Among the four-star general or flag officers to have been relieved of command in recent years was Navy Adm. Richard C. Macke, sacked as commander of Pacific Command in 1995 for remarks he made about the case of U.S. Marines accused of raping a 12-year-old Japanese girl. Gen. Michael Dugan was fired as chief of staff of the Air Force in 1990 for comments to reporters about planning for the 1991 Gulf War.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Gold9472
08-13-2005, 12:16 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dugan

In September, 1990, then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney dismissed General Dugan from his position after service of only 79 days for "poor judgment at a sensitive time." Dugan had made imprudent remarks on secret and diplomatically sensitive issues relating to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the United States' planned response. He retired from the Air Force on December 31, 1990.

Gold9472
08-13-2005, 12:29 PM
Sudden resignation of TRADOC Commander, Gen.

www.waynemadsenreport.com

There's much more to this story than a "sexual indiscretion." The sudden firing of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) Commander, four star General and New York City native Kevin P. Byrnes, one of only 11 four star generals in the Army, has much more to do with a policy dispute than an anonymous Pentagon-reported story about an alleged "extra-marital affair." Although Byrnes has recently been involved in divorce proceedings, Pentagon insiders report that Byrnes was fired for insubordination. Byrnes' firing fits a pattern of neocon demonizing of policy opponents by tossing out unsubstantiated charges from an "anonymous source." For example, when Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski was demoted to Colonel over trumped up charges over her role as commander of Iraqi prisons during the time of the prisoner abuse (and after she revealed the presence of Israeli interrogators in Iraqi prisons), the Pentagon spin machine, joined at the hips with neo-con think thanks and media outlets in Washington, cited a dated and totally unsubstantiated shoplifting accusation against her. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker, who Donald Rumsfeld hauled out of retirement to head up the Army after Gen. Eric Shinseki was fired and after no other active duty general wanted the job, relieved Byrnes of his command at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Byrnes had previous run-ins with the neo-cons in the Pentagon. In 2002, Byrnes was faced with being retired at Lt. Gen. after he clashed with then-Rumsfeld aide Stephen Cambone over proposed troop strength cuts. Then Army Secretary Thomas White, intervened on behalf of Byrnes and he received his fourth star. White was later fired by the Pentagon neo-cons.

What has not been reported is that recently, one of Byrnes' subordinate commands, Fort Rucker in Alabama, had been told to stand by for an influx of 50,000 military trainees -- a level the base has not seen since the Vietnam War. Byrnes' relief of command came on the heels of the Pentagon announcing that it might permit Spanish-language entrance examinations. Byrnes, who was in charge of Army training, would not only face recruits with lower education levels and past criminal records, but a lack of proficiency in English. Pentagon insiders report that it was Byrnes' policy disagreements with the Pentagon neo-cons over the new recruitment policies and the potential for calling up Army retirees and reinstating military conscription without adequate TRADOC funding that resulted in his firing. The personal misconduct charges were concocted by the Pentagon to cover up the fact that there are serious disagreements with Bush and Rumsfeld among the flag officer ranks in the military.

Byrnes was also associated with a group of officers who spent time at the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania. The Army War College has been a center of opposition to the war in Iraq and it is believed that Byrnes was recognized by the neo-cons as one of the unofficial leaders of a group of Army flag rank opponents of Bush's war in Iraq and potential military action against Iran.

Gold9472
08-13-2005, 12:31 PM
I wonder if he was about to come out publicly against some of the Administration's policies, and they discredited him before he could do that...