One of many Army’s prime generals might have abused his authority and subverted the service’s course of for choosing senior management in what some officers have described to Navy.com as a conspiracy to prop up a subordinate officer who was deemed unfit for command.
A Navy.com investigation discovered that Gen. Charles Hamilton, who oversees Army Materiel Command, spent a few month final 12 months making an attempt to tug strings behind the scenes for a feminine lieutenant colonel to breeze via the service’s Battalion Commander Evaluation Program, or BCAP. This included immediately lobbying at the least three generals on the evaluation panel and efficiently pushing officers to let the lieutenant colonel get a second board two days after she failed the primary.
The interference turned so egregious that the director of the Army Command Evaluation Program, Col. Robert O’Brien, penned a memo chronicling Hamilton’s conduct on Nov. 1, instantly after the lieutenant colonel was deemed unfit twice in two evaluation panels inside 48 hours.
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“This was a stress marketing campaign. [Hamilton] has plenty of affect; this violated the integrity of how the most effective officers are chosen to run items,” one common with direct information of the state of affairs informed Navy.com on the situation of anonymity to keep away from retaliation. “This was irregular; it was unprofessional. He ought to have recognized higher.”
O’Brien’s memo on the incidents didn’t characterize Hamilton’s conduct, however painted a transparent image that the seasoned four-star commander went out of his method to put his thumb on the size to favor a subordinate who had been judged unfit for command, presumably skirting Army guidelines. O’Brien didn’t reply to a request for remark. It is unclear the place he circulated the memo, or whether or not senior Army leaders learn it earlier than Navy.com’s inquiry on the matter.
“The Army designed the Command Evaluation Program (CAP) to make officer choice for key command assignments as honest and goal as attainable,” Col. Randee Farrell, a spokesperson for Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, informed Navy.com in a press release. “We’re reviewing these occasions and can take acceptable actions to make sure the integrity of the CAP course of.”
Hamilton declined to reply to a number of requests for remark.
Beginning in at the least October, Hamilton on a number of events requested officers overseeing BCAP whether or not he may evaluation the peer and subordinate experiences for the lieutenant colonel. These experiences embody suggestions from troopers and Army officers who work with officers who’re about to be absolutely assessed at BCAP.
Navy.com is withholding the feminine officer’s identify as a result of it discovered no proof of wrongdoing on her half.
Hamilton reached out to Mike Arnold, the particular adviser to the Army Expertise Administration Job Pressure, and O’Brien in regards to the paperwork, in keeping with a number of sources with direct information of the state of affairs and the memo. Each of them declined to share these personal supplies with Hamilton.
The lieutenant colonel’s first evaluation panel was on Oct. 30 and was monitored by Hamilton. Monitoring the evaluation panel is technically allowed, a number of Army officers conversant in the method defined to Navy.com, however is irregular.
By a vote of 0-5, the 5 panel members voted the lieutenant colonel as being uncertified for command, citing “counterproductive management.”
Psychologists are concerned within the course of to evaluate the officer’s psychological state. After the primary failure, Hamilton took situation with the psychologist’s remarks in regards to the lieutenant colonel, saying they had been “too unfavorable” and will have biased the panel, in keeping with O’Brien’s memo. Nevertheless, the memo and sources conversant in the panel didn’t level to any specifics that Hamilton took situation with.
Hamilton instantly requested for the lieutenant colonel to be re-paneled, successfully getting one other likelihood — an unheard-of transfer, in keeping with some Army officers conversant in the method. Officers who fail usually have to attend a 12 months to attempt once more.
O’Brien granted the repanel “solely based mostly” on Hamilton’s request, in keeping with his personal memo. Nevertheless, Col. Townley Hedrick, chief of workers of the Command Evaluation Program, informed the lieutenant colonel she was being re-paneled on account of “technical points,” the memo added.
It is unclear what technical points would warrant a redo of an evaluation panel. The subsequent day, Hamilton referred to as Hedrick, thanking him for “taking part in an element” in re-paneling the lieutenant colonel.
Between the primary panel and the redo, Hamilton referred to as three completely different panel members — Maj. Gens. Jeth Rey, Trevor Bredenkamp and Hope Rampy — to debate the lieutenant colonel, a number of sources with direct information of the state of affairs informed Navy.com. Panelists are purported to be nameless to keep away from lobbying, one Army official defined, and are sometimes finalized simply hours earlier than a panel as a safeguard.
All through the morning of the second panel, Hamilton repeatedly despatched textual content messages and referred to as senior evaluation workers, together with Hedrick and O’Brien, asking about interview outcomes, O’Brien defined in his memo.
At midday, the second panel was full. The lieutenant colonel was once more discovered unfit for command, however this time in a 2-3 vote, in keeping with a supply with direct information of the state of affairs. She was discovered to have “ineffective” and “counterproductive” management qualities.
Hamilton inquired in regards to the outcomes a number of extra occasions all through the day till after 9 p.m. It is unclear when, if ever, the outcomes had been formally shared with him.
In January, the lieutenant colonel’s identify was included on a command choice checklist — strongly suggesting she is going to take command of a unit quickly. It is unclear whether or not she managed to get on a 3rd panel and at last handed or skirted what Army senior leaders have lengthy touted as a filtering course of to weed out unhealthy leaders.
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