Army Secretary Fires 4-Star General Who Meddled in Promotion of Unfit Subordinate

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Army Secretary Fires 4-Star General Who Meddled in Promotion of Unfit Subordinate


Gen. Charles Hamilton, Army Materiel Command commanding general, provides keynote remarks during the Association of the U.S. Army Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, March 30, 2023. (Eben Boothby/U.S. Army photo)

Military.com | By Steve Beynon
Published December 10, 2024 at 1:46 pm

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth -- in a dramatic and rare move -- on Tuesday fired one of the service's top generals following an Army inspector general investigation that concluded he improperly intervened in the process for selecting senior commanders.

Gen. Charles Hamilton, who had been the head of Army Materiel Command, was removed after what officials described as a flagrant abuse of authority aimed at securing a leadership role for a subordinate officer who was found unfit for command and had an inappropriate relationship with the general, according to the IG report.

The move marks the first time in nearly 20 years an Army four-star general has been outright fired and comes after a Military.com investigation in March detailed how he attempted to intervene on behalf of the subordinate officer. The publication's report earlier this year immediately triggered both his suspension from the command leadership position and the inspector general probe.

"Based on the findings of a Department of the Army Inspector General investigation, the secretary of the Army has relieved Gen. Charles Hamilton of command," Cynthia Smith, a service spokesperson, told Military.com in a statement.

{snip}

[qazplm135]

1. Getting the Legion of Merit as a Major is crazy

I got it as a Lieutenant Colonel and even then it was a bit unusual.
To get it as a Major, you basically better have saved someone's life or done something amazing.

That's pretty brazen of that 4 star to do. As a retired JAG, I do wonder who his JAG was and why they didn't rein him in.