An army major general with U.S. Africa Command has been relieved of his post due to involvement with alcohol and sexual misconduct charges, defense officials told the Associated Press.
Maj. Gen. Ralph Baker, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force, Horn of Africa, was involuntarily relieved of his post Thursday, and fined a portion of his pay by Gen. Carter Ham, the head of U.S. Africa Command, after an administrative hearing and review, officials said. Ham relieved him of his post after losing confidence in Baker's leadership ability.
Baker has appealed the administrative action to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, but since senior commanders have broad leeway regarding decisions to relieve subordinates of command, Hagel's decision may focus mainly on the financial punishment, say officials.
No details were released pertaining to the amount of pay Baker was docked.
The allegations brought against Baker involve harassment and inappropriate contact, said the officials, who were not authorized to talk publicly.
Baker took over the task force, which is based at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, last May, and was scheduled to leave the job soon.
He has now returned to Washington, and is temporarily serving as a special assistant to the director of the Army staff while awaiting Hagel's decision on the appeal.
Special assistant posts are often used as holding points for general officers who are being investigated or waiting for the results of an appeal, such as Baker, as well as for those who have been promoted and are waiting for their new position to open up.
Ham is scheduled to retire and turn over his command to Army Gen. David Rodriguez in a ceremony on Friday.
While Hagel has ordered a review of Franklin's decision, he told members of Congress that neither he nor the Air Force secretary is empowered to overrule Franklin, who is the commander of the third Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Baker is one among a string of general officers who have been officially reprimanded or investigated for possible sexual misconduct.
This has become an important issue that is now facing Congress, as many lawmakers have complained that military and defense leaders have not done enough to combat sexual assault and harassment in the military ranks.
Sexual assaults against women especially have become a big story as more and more come to light, with little being done by the military justice system to punish perpetrators of sexual violence.
A particular example of this is a recent decision by Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin to reverse the sexual assault conviction against Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, a former inspector general at Aviano Air Base in Italy, which angered senators, causing them to demand a harsh look at the military justice system.
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