The Army has suspended a commander at a Wisconsin training base after portraits of President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been flipped to face the wall.
Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez, the first female commander at Fort McCoy, was suspended last week after the incident, according to a statement from the U.S. Army Reserve and the senior commander of the base. The statement noted that Baez Ramirez was suspended “for administrative reasons” and not for misconduct. The statement did not include any further information, except that the investigation into what it called “the Leader Board incident” was under review, and that Baez Ramirez did not order or support the removal of the portraits.
On April 14, the Defense Department posted images of the leader board at the base on X, showing where photos of Trump and Hegseth had been turned to face the wall. The DOD said it had launched an investigation into the matter.
The Army Reserve called it an act of vandalism, adding that it would ensure “that all legal and appropriate actions are taken in accordance with our commitment to upholding the highest standards of conduct.”
The Pentagon has been in turmoil in recent weeks amid a series of high-profile departures, including some top officials who were in Hegseth’s inner circle. The secretary, a former Fox News host, has broken protocol by using Signal, an encrypted messaging app, to communicate about U.S. military war plans in Yemen in at least two different group chats. Administration spokespeople emphasized that no classified information had been shared in those chats.
Hegseth has blamed “disgruntled former employees” for leaking information, though he did not deny reports about his use of Signal.
“This is what the media does,” he said earlier this week at the White House. “They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.”