An Army brigadier general has been charged with forcible sodomy,
inappropriate relationships, and possessing alcohol and pornography
while serving as a senior commander in Afghanistan earlier this year.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, a deputy commanding general of the 82
nd Airborne Division, faces a possible court martial over the charges
handed down Wednesday.
In May, Sinclair was sent home to the United States in the middle of his
combat tour in Afghanistan, where he was serving in the southern
Afghanistan province of Kandahar as the deputy commander of logistics
and support for the 82 nd Airborne.
Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair, …
Sinclair was sent to the division's home base of Fort Bragg, N.C., so
allegations of potential misconduct could be investigated. At the time
of his return, base spokesmen confirmed that Sinclair was under criminal
investigation.
A news release by the Fort Bragg Public Affairs Office listed the
charges presented against Sinclair as including "forcible sodomy,
wrongful sexual conduct, attempted violation of an order, violations of
regulations by wrongfully engaging in inappropriate relationships and
misusing a government travel charge card, violating general orders by
possessing alcohol and pornography while deployed, maltreatment of
subordinates, filing fraudulent claims, engaging in conduct unbecoming
an officer and a gentleman and engaging in conduct prejudicial to good
order and discipline, or of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed
forces."
Few specifics about the allegations against Sinclair were released
Wednesday, but a Defense Department official said "several women were
the subject of Sinclair's alleged misconduct."
A former U.S. official who worked with Sinclair during his deployment in
Kandahar said he and other officials who knew Sinclair were shocked by
the news of the charges. He described Sinclair as being "very proactive"
and a "gregarious individual."
Sinclair remains at Fort Bragg, where he has been serving in a
placeholder position as a special assistant to the commanding general of
the 18 th Airborne Corps. A Defense Department official said
Sinclair was read the charges against him on Monday. Another official
added that Sinclair is not under detention at the base.
Sinclair will now face an Article 32 hearing, at which evidence will be
presented to a presiding officer to determine if his case should proceed
to a court martial. No date has been set for that hearing.
This past decade, Sinclair has served two tours in Iraq and was on his
second deployment to Afghanistan. He had also deployed as part of
Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
Army spokesman George Wright says that in the past decade there have
been only two Army general officers who have undergone courts martial.
In June, Brig. Gen. Roger B. Duff, a former commander of the 95th
Training Division, pleaded guilty to two charges of false statements,
two charges of conduct unbecoming, and seven charges of wearing
unauthorized badges, awards or ribbons. Duff was sentenced to two months
confinement and dismissal but, because of a pre-trial agreement, only
the dismissal could be imposed. Duff's sentence has not been finalized.
Prior to Duff's case, the only other court martial involving an Army
general officer was in 1999, when Maj. Gen. R.E. Hale pled guilty to
seven counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and one count of making a
false statement about an adulterous relationship. He was reprimanded,
fined $10,000, ordered to forfeit $1,000 a month in pay and retired as a
brigadier general.
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