Top General Sacked In Sex Probe

In an extraordinary move, the Army sacked a four-star general who was the subject of a Defense Department investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, officials 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, reported The Associated Press.

His defense attorney, Lt. Col. David H. Robertson, told The Washington Post the allegation against Byrnes involves an affair with a civilian. Robertson emphasized that the allegations do not involve more than one person, and that person is not "anyone on active duty or a civilian in the Department of Defense."

Byrnes has been separated from his wife since May 2004; their divorce was finalized on Monday, coincidentally the same day he was relieved of command, Robertson said.

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."

Disciplinary action against officers is not rare, but it is extremely unusual in the case of a four-star Army 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 has been relieved of duty for disciplinary reasons.

Byrnes, 55, a Vietnam veteran who entered the Army in 1969 as a second lieutenant, ranked third in seniority among the Army's 11 four-star generals. He was set to retire in November, after what some sources say was an unblemished career.

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, Va. 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 picked 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.

Removing Byrnes from his office is likely to be the end of his punishment.

"Usually there is no incentive to bring criminal charges, because they are taking his career and flushing it down the toilet," Neal A. Puckett, a military defense lawyer in Alexandria, told The Post. "There's not much more that you can do to a high-ranking officer like that. His legacy is ruined."