Army officer relieved
of his battalion at Schofield
The Army has relieved a Schofield Barracks battalion commander of his command for “officer misconduct.”
Lt. Col. Eric Criner was commander of the 17th Corps Support Battalion, one of five battalions assigned to the 45th Corps Support Corps.
He was relieved of command two weeks ago. Soldiers in his battalion will leave for Iraq next month.
Troy Griffin, 25th Infantry Division spokesman, would not elaborate on the reasons for the sudden dismissal of Criner.
“Allegations against him (Criner) were investigated and it was found that an unfortunate set of events affecting the good order and discipline of the unit had occurred and he was removed in a routine administrative action," Griffin said.
However, in the Army when a lieutenant colonel is relieved of command for misconduct it generally means the end of his career in the military.
He was replaced by Lt. Col. Patricia Matlock, who was the executive officer for the 45th. Criner’s reassignment is pending, Griffin said.
Criner could not be reached for comment.
Criner was in command of the battalion, which includes a headquarters and headquarters detachment, a direct support maintenance company, a field service quartermaster company and harbor master detachment with two logistical support vessels and a high-speed vessel.
Part of the battalion did deploy to Iraq in January as part of the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Combat Brigade Team. Criner apparently did not deploy with those soldiers to Iraq.