Defence Secretary Ash Carter has suddenly fired his top military aide citing allegations of misconduct, and referred the matter to the department's inspector general.
Defence officials would not provide any details about why Army Lt Gen Ron Lewis was removed from his job. A senior defence official said Carter learned of the allegations Tuesday night and later informed the inspector general. Carter was surprised by the allegations and met with Lewis on Thursday morning, said the official, who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
"I expect the highest possible standards of conduct from the men and women in this department particularly from those serving in the most senior positions," said Carter in a statement released on Thursday. "There is no exception." The firing severs a long, close professional relationship between Lewis and Carter, and sent shock waves across the Pentagon.
Lewis served as Carter's military aide earlier in his career, including when Carter was the deputy secretary of defence. And when Carter was tapped to become defence secretary earlier in 2015, he chose Lewis, then an Army one-star brigadier general, to move into the three-star aide job. Lewis had been slated for promotion to major general with two-stars but was quickly confirmed by the Senate for another promotion on June 23, after he started in the new job.
In his statement, Carter said that the Army may take any appropriate action against Lewis once the investigation by the inspector general is finished. Defence officials said they could not even broadly characterise the allegations or say whether they involve any criminal activities, because of privacy law. The defence official said Lewis was not arrested and no other investigating authorities are involved.
Kathie Scarrah, communications director for the Defence Department inspector general said the office has received the referral from Carter and will conduct an investigation. Lewis, who is from Chicago, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and later did three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a one-star he served as the head of the Army's public affairs office, until Carter asked him to become his senior aide.
Lewis has been reassigned and will be serving in the office of the vice chief of the Army while the investigation continues. The defense official said that Carter will select someone else soon to serve as his acting senior military assistant.