WASHINGTON — A two-star Army general faulted for failing to properly investigate sexual assault and other accusations against a colonel on his staff will be retired at one-star rank, the Army said Wednesday.
The decision by Army Secretary John M. McHugh comes more than a year after Major General Michael T. Harrison was suspended from his duties as commander of Army forces in Japan.
His case has been cited as evidence of why sex-crime victims say they don’t trust the military to protect them, despite efforts by senior Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, to make commanders accountable.
In March Congress rejected an effort to strip commanders of the authority to prosecute cases, especially those related to sexual assault, and hand the job to seasoned military lawyers.
An Army inspector general’s investigation report released in April said that in March 2013, when a Japanese woman accused the unidentified colonel on Harrison’s staff of sexually assaulting her, Harrison waited months to report it to criminal investigators, a violation of Army rules.
By retiring one rank lower, Harrison will lose a substantial amount of retirement pay.