Army four-star “helps” lower ranker
Today’s weirdness: looks like an Army 4-star, Gen. Charles Hamilton, got seriously involved in manipulating the promotion of a subordinate.
Gen. Charles Hamilton, who oversees Army Materiel Command, spent about a month last year trying to pull strings behind the scenes for a female lieutenant colonel to breeze through the service’s Battalion Commander Assessment Program, or BCAP.
The interference became so egregious that the director of the Army Command Assessment Program, Col. Robert O’Brien, penned a memo chronicling Hamilton’s conduct on Nov. 1, immediately after the lieutenant colonel was deemed unfit twice in two assessment panels within 48 hours.
The lieutenant colonel’s first assessment panel was on Oct. 30 and was monitored by Hamilton. Monitoring the assessment panel is technically allowed, multiple Army officials familiar with the process explained to Military.com, but is abnormal.
By a vote of 0-5, the five panel members voted the lieutenant colonel as being uncertified for command, citing “counterproductive leadership.”
Hamilton immediately asked for the lieutenant colonel to be re-paneled, effectively getting another chance — an unheard-of move, according to some Army officials familiar with the process. Officers who fail typically have to wait a year to try again.
Between the first panel and the redo, Hamilton called three different panel members — Maj. Gens. Jeth Rey, Trevor Bredenkamp and Hope Rampy — to discuss the lieutenant colonel, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Military.com.
At noon, the second panel was complete. The lieutenant colonel was again found unfit for command, but this time in a 2-3 vote, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. She was found to have “ineffective” and “counterproductive” leadership qualities.
In January, the lieutenant colonel’s name was included on a command selection list — strongly suggesting she will take command of a unit soon.
Military.com is withholding the female officer’s name because it found no evidence of wrongdoing on her part. Military.com
So, no evidence of wrongdoing on the good colonel’s part – so at least it seems we are spared any “sleeping her way to the top” allegations. But his behavior – pressuring the board, contacting the board members, trying to influence its decision making, causing three boards till he got the evaluation he sought – is ‘way over the top. Is this unrequited love? Lust? Did she heroically save his puppy? Who knows.
Never have heard anything negative on him – but it’s probably a safe bet that Gen. Hamilton may retire soon, though.
Is this unnamed LTC nicknamed Kneepads?
She is now.
Knowing what little I do; GEN Hamilton may have only laid the foundation for the unnamed LTC to have a stressful–and abbreviated–stint as a battalion commander.
We all know that officers need successful commands at lower echelons to progress in rank and command assignments, so if the LTC was found to be “uncertified”, there’s probably good reason. If she succeeds as a battalion commander, there’s a chance of her making COL, but given the struggle to get a battalion, is there any chance of getting a brigade or similar command? If she fails as a battalion commander, she’s going to find herself under some level of duress as she realizes she’s in over her head, finds herself relieved of command, and retires as a LTC (or perhaps a lower rank if her service is deemed unsatisfactory).
LTC is a respectable rank for retirement (for a successful 20+ year officer). If your maximum potential is such, so be it. Serve in positions commensurate with your rank, and if command time is not counted amongst them, oh well. As an NCO, I’ll salute and call you “Ma’am” just as I would any battalion commander.
Regardless of my projections of the LTC’s future career, GEN Hamilton seems to have far overreached his “monitoring” authority. I could see a COL trying to influence the promotion of a LTC, MAJ, or even CPT. I could see an MG trying to see a COL or LTC get a command. A four-star general (O-10) pressuring those in the decision-making process to advance a LTC (O-5) is just…weird. Based on pay scale and level of authority alone, it would be akin to a Division CSM (E-9) calling a Battalion CSM on behalf of a SPC (E-4) to get them to reassess their promotion potential.
He would not be the first guy I’ve seen in a leadership role become fixated on a subordinate of the fairer sex and seek to improve her position while not engaging in any extramarital wrong doing. Unrequited love? Don’t know about that, but sometimes it almost seems like that, often younger, female reminds them of a daughter and they seek to be a work daddy making her life better…it’s happened on more than a few occasions in the civilian sector…
Maybe that’s all this is, or maybe they’re just really good at hiding what they’ve been doing which I’ve also seen.
In any event it’ll be interesting to see if the General does indeed decide to ride off into the sunset somewhat sooner rather than later after this event.
V O V,
Petraeus, for starters.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2012/11/18/paula-broadwell-and-gen-david-petraeus-initially-bonded-over-a-brisk-run-through-washington-dc/
Balls deep!
I still can’t believe the billboard of a forehead on that woman.
V O V,
Daughter With Benefits… is icky to infinity.
Agreed, and when it goes that way it is deeply unsettling.
Ask Hunter about the stepmom porn.
The list is near bottomless.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Four-star-Army-general-relieved-of-command-over-2648883.php
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/01/air-force-busts-retired-four-star-general-down-two-ranks-coerced-sex/97356020/
Check out this list from 2013
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/01/20/sex-is-major-reason-military-commanders-are-fired
One of my former commanders ran off with his daughter’s best friend– neither his wife nor daughter were very happy about that.
Explosive zipper failure has destroyed many a command.
My favorite was the Colonel who took an arranged marriage with a local national despite already being married. Then went home like nothing ever happened.
You will note he was convicted on 15 charges including defrauding the government of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Former Army commander pleads guilty to charges of bigamy, adultery, fraud | Stars and Stripes
He was totally fairly punished. They made him retire with full benefits. You can see with deterrents like that in place nobody else would do it.
Too bad he couldn’t claim a brain injury. Then he could have had an excuse for doing all his thinking with the little head.
OK, that’s original.
40th Signal had a chaplain that convinced a local lady that he was a single CPT, here for intel training. Carried on a torrid affair for a few months until she found out who he was, she ended the adventure. He didn’t like getting cut off, so he posted her nekkid pics all over the interwebs. She found out, called the battalion commander. The aforementioned chaplain had recently PCS’d to Japan, with his wife and children. He was immediately recalled to sunny FT. Huachuca to face disciplinary action and dismissal from the service. Along with dismissal from his marriage.
Those who live in stained glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks.
Never, ever mess with Huachuca City women…
Amazing. Violating both temporal and religious laws. I don’t want to speak for God, but I would advise that guy to do some serious fence mending.
Deemed unfit twice in 48 hours.
Are they both hoping 3rd times a charm? I wonder what, if anything, the Lt. Col has on a 4 star General or if she has, as previously questioned, a certain skill set.
Perhaps the General also has “counter productive ” leadership skills.
So, she could instruct?
I’m reminded of the wise words of Mr. Willy Nelson:
“I’m gonna get me a bottle of tequila and find me one of them Keno girls that can suck the chrome off a trailer hitch and just kinda kick back.”
Although not all are as fun:
That’s a lot of stars and winged things for such little color.
My Spec 5 class A’s are prettier.
Maybe he got a waiver for a bad back that keeps him from wearing a full on billboard of ribbons.
I’m not up on all my awards, or what they may have been issued for as much as some of you, but it does seem by the time you make it to that rank of General, you would have quite a bit more than what he’s wearing.
Seems odd he missed one of the NDSM periods.
First thing I look for in a rack.
A more Bling Filled pic of The Gnrl here, ‘beans. Looks like he spent his career (?) as a Loggie (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And yeah, he’ll either be putting in his papers “to spend more time with the family”…or promoted to CJCS, for…reasons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_R._Hamilton
Wow. That’s quite a difference.
And the duffel bags under the eyes say a lot.
The lowest ribbon is the MSM. Appears he chose not to wear the “been there done that” ribbons.
The trend recently is that many senior officers wear their two highest rows of ribbons.
Which I can understand. We give out ribbons for everything now. A 6-year E-5 looks like Marshal Zhukov.
Agree. Seven years in combat arms assignments and I only had eight ribbons, a CIB and jump wings.
Humble-bragging now. Ike found it less trouble.
Well, it’s supposed to look like this:
All I can say is thank God the process worked. If the Army had let an effective and productive leader take over a BSB it could have made the rest of them look bad. The general’s timely interference prevented that from happening by knocking out somebody who might have been effective and productive. And that guy that got knocked out, he should be grateful. The things that he might have had to do to get promoted to Colonel would just not have been worth it.
?
911 emergency, I’ll bet…
“By a vote of 0-5, the five panel members voted the lieutenant colonel as being uncertified for command, citing ‘counterproductive leadership’”.
(The panel got it right the FIRST time.)
“The lieutenant colonel was again found unfit for command, but this time in a 2-3 vote, according to a source…”
(IMO, whoever the 2 GO’s are that gave her an “up vote” on the second look, it strikes me they did so to appease the 4-star – but should have rated her “0” on the second look to send a message.)
Here’s hoping GEN Hamilton is bounced out of uniform soon.
Oh, what the hell. Third board’s a charm.
Not corruption somehow, of course.
The Military.com article mentions Psychologists being involved in the selection process.
“Psychologists are involved in the process to assess the officer’s mental state. After the first failure, Hamilton took issue with the psychologist’s remarks about the lieutenant colonel, saying they were “too negative” and could have biased the panel, according to O’Brien’s memo.”
Never heard of that. Must be new. I was not contacted nor interviewed by a Psychologists when I was selected by a Bn Command Panel.
Since there is a finite number on the list, her inclusion on the list means that a qualified LTC was left off the list. Using the analogy used by the anti-abortion crowd: A future General Patton may have had their career ended.
I hope she is placed in the secondary zone of the list to await a BN commander from the primary zone being relieved, spending the entire period waiting and never being called to command.
The psych eval is part of the BCAP process. The idea was borrowed from the SOF community and many of the Psychiatrists come over from SOF selection billets to support BCAP. They are a good thing. While serving as a panel moderator I did see one psych bring in an “oh crap” moment which had to be walked back. But overall they are of value.
We all know some commanders who need help.
He was just following the example set by our esteemed VP and her mentor.
4-Star clown. I guess the last time in his career he was held accountable was when he was a SSG? There is a 2nd award of the NCOPD ribbon on his uniform.
Also, someone needs to update that wiki page with his current career arc.
It would be interesting to do some Deep Research and find out where those two are, or have been together/adjacent to each other. With the possibility of “knocking boots”.
With friends like him, who needs enemas?
I’ll take nepotism for $1000, Alex.
“Not what you know, but who you blow” as said.
Guy needs to be hemmed up, big time. The command assessment program is one of the things the army has gotten right lately. I was skeptical until I went and sat as a panel moderator a couple years ago and led @110 blind interviews between panels and candidates. The panel has detailed info on what your peers and subordinate have said about you. If it was 0/5, the surveys must’ve hammered her and the panel rightly found her not ready for command. Nobody, least of all, some GO, has any business undermining this system. Dude’s behavior is contrary to everything the program says it is doing. Funny, the biggest joke by panel members (all promotable colonel, BG or MG) was that neither they, nor their predecessors, would have survived screening as CAP does. Clearly so in this guy’s case. I’m pissed.
Having experienced a crazed Bn commander in an Infantry battalion in Vietnam, this system sounds like a good idea. There was a rumor in that battalion there was a kiddy of several thousand dollars for the man who killed him. Every officer hated his guts. He was finally relieved for incompetence by the brigade CO and ADC-M, after three months in command.
Never saw a Bn. commander in RVN. Had three of them. One of them evidently didn’t like the way my platoon reentered the base camp after a patrol, so he made us go back out into the rain and do it over. And 4 or 5 company commanders.
Well, I didn’t see him frequently because I was out in the jungle covered mountains with my rifle company. But I had to talk to him on the KY-38 frequently at night, or when he flew over us in a Huey or Loach. Since he was my immediate superior, I had to deal with him more than I liked. I knew I was in for unpleasantness when the first thing he said to me on first meeting him on the FSB was, “I hope I am not going to have problems with you, like the other company commanders.” Thankfully, his replacement was one of the finest LTC’s I ever served with.
“….I had to deal with him more than I liked.”
Life at the bottom does have a bright side. More superiors, but less contact with them.
Update. The GEN has been suspended from his duties pending an investigation
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/03/22/army-4-star-who-pressured-panel-help-career-of-unfit-officer-suspended-facing-pentagon-investigation.html
A new way to center a beret?
Oh come on, let him have his fun, The teacher said he was the best and he wanted to show everybody.
Wonder if the investigation will do one of those “reduced to the last rank served at before the conduct unbecoming” punishments? We’ve seen a few high ranking idiots get busted one or two O-grades that way before. Then he gets to quietly retire at his last “good” rank. They did fix that loophole where they could still retire at highest rank held, right?
Yeah, the DoD updated rules on ‘demoted personnel retiring at highest grade held’ in the late 90s. The final straw was former SMA Gene McKinney as a retired MSG, authorized retirement pay as SMA.
The last grade satisfactorily served policy has me a bit confused. Why was former air force maj gen William Cooley retired as a colonel, when his misconduct was as a 2 star w/ no reported incidents as a brigadier general? Just seems the service secretaries have broad discretion on grade reduction where there is misconduct.
Me thinks there’s “Skullduggery” afoot, or affirmative action. I’d like to say time will tell.
He gettin’ investigated now:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/army-4-star-pressured-panel-221600532.html
Clown.