The Fort Hood Commander has been ousted after troubling deaths and disappearances of 15 soldiers who have served at the military installment.
As the US Army has announced on Tuesday, Major General Scott Efflandt will no longer serve as the commander of the base. According to the statement, he will also not be in command of the Fort Bliss division.
Starting Wednesday, following the decision of Gen. Michael Garrett, Maj. Gen. John Richardson IV will assume the role of Fort Hood’s acting commander.
In the following days, the Army is also expected to announce the name of the new 1st Armored Division commander.
As the Army has also ordered, an “in-depth investigation into the chain of command actions related to Spc. Vanessa Guillen” will be carried out by Gen. John Murray.
This investigation will be independent of several other investigations that are already taking place at the military base and will be “more complete and comprehensive” according to the Army.
The decision to replace the acting commander of the military installation, which is one of the biggest in the country, follows after a series of troubling disappearances and deaths of Fort Hood soldiers.
The most recent case that shook the public involved the disappearance and death of a young soldier who claimed he had been sexually harassed at Fort Hood.
23-year-old Sgt. Elder Fernandes was reported missing, and later found hanging from a tree, after he opened up about the harassment he had been subjected to at the base.
According to Natalie Khawam, the family’s lawyer, who also represents the family of Vanessa Guillen, the Army police informed the family they had found a dead body some thirty miles away from the base and revealed that the deceased was hanging from a tree along with Fernandes’s backpack and ID.
As the family’s representative told ABC News, the young soldier became “very, very depressed” following exploitation at his workplace.
“I am saddened that another soldier who served the country has been destroyed by sexual assault and sexual harassment and this toxic culture in the military that exists,” Khawam expressed.
Replaced!