A key Army commander in the U.S. war against the Islamic State has been reprimanded by the Pentagon for steering a defense contract to a firm run by two of his former classmates at West Point.
Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard, who as the Army's deputy commander for operations in the Middle East oversaw the training of Iraqi forces, was formally reprimanded in February after a three-year investigation by the Army's inspector general, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act.
An Army review board is considering whether to strip him of his rank as a two-star general before he is allowed to retire this year.
The investigation into Pittard began in 2011 after an anonymous whistleblower alleged that the general had "abused his authority by awarding lucrative renewable energy contracts to his friends" while serving as the commander of Fort Bliss in Texas, the documents show.
The tip prompted separate probes by the Army's inspector general and its Criminal Investigation Command. The FBI also became involved, culminating in the federal conviction of one of Pittard's former West Point classmates on wire-fraud charges in September.
Thomas Gregory Harris, a retired Army colonel, was convicted by a federal jury and sentenced to two years in prison.
A Section on 06/22/2015