Army General Relieved Of Command

After Army Investigation Into Unspecified 'Personal Conduct'

(AP) 
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.