A lieutenant colonel relieved of his post as head of the Warrior Training Center at Fort Benning, Georgia, was not authorized to wear the Ranger and Sapper tabs displayed on his uniform, a base spokesman said Thursday.
Lt. Col. Gerald H. Green III, a member of the National Guard in active service with the WTC, was removed from command Oct. 9 and is under investigation, the base said in an Oct. 24 news release.
Members of the unit identified "concern about the Ranger tab, specifically," Benning's chief spokesman, Gary Jones, said Thursday — a concern that was "brought immediately to leadership both within the unit and at the post level, and appropriate steps were taken, which resulted in Lt. Col. Green being removed from command."
Jones would not comment on the subject of the ongoing investigation, but questions have been raised about other decorations Green is shown wearing in his official photograph, which was obtained by Army Times from a person familiar with the case.
A request by Army Times for publicly releasable portions of Green's records, including his official photo, was denied by a National Guard Bureau spokesman, who cited the ongoing investigation.
Attempts to contact Green were unsuccessful. He is still at Benning "performing administrative duties" unrelated to his WTC post, Jones said Thursday.
The WTC offers pre-Ranger and other training primarily for Army National Guard soldiers. Thomas Siter, who served as deputy commander under Green, has taken over the unit until the Guard selects a new leader, according to the Oct. 24 release.
Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence, relieved Green of his position, according to the release.
Green took command of the unit July 9. A news release announcing his arrival identified him as a Ranger- and Sapper-tabbed engineering officer with three war-zone deployments and a Bronze Star Medal, among other decorations.
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
