A former adjutant general of the Utah National Guard who was placed on administrative leave two years ago after an Army investigation has retired as a lieutenant colonel, defense officials confirmed.
“An Army Inspector General Investigation substantiated the allegation that Maj. Gen. Michael J. Turley engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate,” said Army spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith. “He will retire as a Lieutenant Colonel (O-5/L TC), which was determined the last grade in which he honorably served. We consider this matter closed.”
No further information about the investigation or the substantiated allegation against Turley was immediately available on Thursday.
Turley retired at the lower rank following an assessment by the Army Grade Determination Review Board, said Keith Garner, deputy director of public affairs for the Utah National Guard.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced on Aug. 17, 2023, that Turley was under investigation by the Army Inspector General’s Office.
“We have not received a copy of their report, but based on the information conveyed by the [Department of the Army Inspector General], Maj. Gen. Turley was put on paid administrative leave,” Cox said in a statement at the time.
On the day of Cox’s announcement, USA Today reported that the investigation had determined that Turley had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate soldier, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
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Task & Purpose has asked Cox’s office for a statement in response to the news that Turley had retired as a lieutenant colonel.
When officers are demoted, it is customary that defense officials announce their ranks have been lowered to the last grade that they served honorably or satisfactorily. An extreme example is former Army Maj. Gen. James Grazioplene, who was busted down to second lieutenant after pleading guilty in a civilian court to sexually abusing his daughter when she was a child.
This practice is typically used in cases in which service members try to retire and facts and evidence of misconduct earlier in their careers come to light of misconduct, said retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham, a former military attorney.
“Their misconduct, then, taints everything they did afterwards,” said VanLandingham, a law professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.
Such demotions are rare but not unheard of, she said.
“It allows for the Pentagon to say: Hey, look, you don’t deserve to have this rank in perpetuity in retirement, and you don’t deserve the pay,” VanLandingham said. “It’s a huge pay cut for the rest of your life in your pension because you did not honorably serve.”
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