Army suspends general linked to sex-assault investigation

FILE: In this image provided by the Army, Maj. Gen. Michael T. Harrison Sr., left, commander of U.S. Army Japan and I Corps (Forward), stands aboard a craft near Tengan Pier in Okinawa, Japan, during a tour of some of the 505th Quartermaster Battalion’s facilities on Chibana Compound. (AP)

WASHINGTON – A two-star general who commands U.S. Army forces in Japan has been suspended from his duties for allegedly failing to report or properly investigate an allegation of sexual assault, the Army said Friday.

Maj. Gen. Michael T. Harrison was suspended by the Army chief of staff, Gen. Ray Odierno, and Army Secretary John McHugh, the Army said. It provided no details about the alleged sexual assault case.

Until the investigation of Harrison's role is completed, Maj. Gen. James C. Boozer will take his place in Japan, the Army said.

Harrison already had been selected to become deputy commander of the Army component of U.S. Central Command, based in Kuwait. That new assignment was publicly announced in February by the Pentagon, which said at the same time that Boozer would replace Harrison as commander in Japan.

Typically, an officer who has been suspended rather than relieved of command could be reinstated in his job if cleared of all allegations. But this won't happen in Harrison's case because Boozer already was scheduled to take over the command in Japan next week, which is sooner than the investigation is expected to be completed.

Harrison, a 33-year Army veteran, began his assignment in Japan in October 2010.

Amid increased political pressure to crack down on sexual abuse in the military services, the Air Force said Friday it is expanding the office responsible for sexual assault prevention and placed a female two-star general in charge.

Maj. Gen. Margaret H. Woodward, who ran the U.S. portion of the allied air campaign over Libya in 2011 and is one of the Air Force's brightest stars, is running the reorganized office. She will report to the vice chief of the Air Force.

The move won praise from the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., who called Woodward a "breath of fresh air."

The office previously was run by a lieutenant colonel, Jeffrey Krusinski, who was arrested in May and charged with sexual battery. That incident escalated public debate over whether the military was taking seriously the problem of sexual abuse.

The House is scheduled to vote next week on a defense policy bill that would take away the power of military commanders to overturn convictions in rape and assault cases. The legislation also would require that anyone in uniform found guilty of a sex-related crime receive a punishment that includes, at a minimum, a dismissal from military service or a dishonorable discharge.

McKeon said Woodward is well-suited to the challenge she is facing.

"I welcome her voice to this fight," he said.

The Pentagon estimated in a recent report that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, up from an estimated 19,000 assaults in 2011, based on an anonymous survey of military personnel.

An Air Force spokesman, Lt. Col. John Dorrian, said Friday that Woodward's office will be given additional resources, including a much larger staff than in its previous configuration. He said Woodward began the job this week.

Woodward entered the Air Force in 1983 with an aerospace engineering degree from Arizona State University. She has one master's degree in aviation science and another in national security strategy.

A command pilot with more than 3,800 flight hours, she flew aerial refueling aircraft and commanded air operations in numerous U.S. military operations, including the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As commander of 17th Air Force, based in Germany, she commanded the U.S. portion of the allied air campaign over Libya in 2011.

Most recently she served as the Air Force's chief of safety. She also oversaw an investigation of the sexual abuse scandal at the Air Force's training headquarters at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.