WASHINGTON – A high-ranking US Army general has been demoted and forced toretire after being exposed for exchanging flirtatious text messages with asubordinate’s wife, according to a new report.
Major General Joseph Harrington, who once led the US Army Africa, is set tobe stripped of an star and retire as a one-star general, the last rank thathe served satisfactorily, according to USA Today.
The demotion came at the end of an Inspector General probe into over 1,000text messages that Harrington and the woman exchanged over a period ofseveral months.
Although the authorities said the texts were not criminal in nature, theydeemed them “not good examples of virtue and honor.”
Harrington tried to contain the damage to his reputation as a seniorcommander by issuing a passive apology, claiming he was not the one whostarted the “friendship-based” relationship.
“I made a mistake by responding to and entering into a private discussionwith a soldier’s spouse,” Harrington wrote. “While we both considered it afriendship-based conversation, it is clear that the discussion should nothave occurred. I hope others can learn from and avoid my mistake.”
The ruling drew criticism from activist groups, who said the IG was wrongin denying the criminal nature of the texts.
“It clearly was at minimum a violation of Article 133 of the UCMJ. And itmay be news to the IG, but violations of the UCMJ are crimes,” said DonChristensen, president of the advocacy group for military sexual assaultand harassment victims, Protect Our Defenders.link>
He was referring to an article of the United States Uniform Code ofMilitary Justice, which states “any conduct unbecoming an officer and agentleman” by military service members needs to be addressed in acourt-martial.
The Italy-based woman who was involved in the relationship saidHarrington’s texts were friendly at first but were followed by teasing andoblique sexual references.
The news comes amid official warnings by the Pentagon about growing sexualabuse within US military ranks.
Sexual assault in the US military has long been a massive problem, withservice members reporting more than 20,000 allegations of sexual assault atmilitary installations over the past four years.