General blames long deployments for improper relationship with female captain

Maj. Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby, Jr., middle, sits during a roundtable discussion with West Point officials at New York earlier this month. The United States Military Academy recognized the 1st Infantry Division during the visit and gave Fort Riley’s command team a tour of its facilities. Grigsby was suspended from his command at Fort Riley on Friday and then fired by the Army on Monday. (Photo courtesy Fort Riley Public Affairs)

More information about a former two-star general who was fired from his command of the 1st Infantry Division because of an extra-marital and “inappropriate relationship” with a female captain has surfaced.

“I do not want to make any excuses, but you can see from my record that I have been deployed [eight] times for a total of [six and a half] years — practically every other year since 9/11,” Maj. Gen. Wayne Grigsby wrote in his response to the April memorandum of reprimand that sealed his fate. “Due in large part to this frenetic schedule, I have been struggling with my family situation for a while, attempting to balance a military career and be the husband, father and grandfather I desired to be and what my family reasonably expected from me.”

Grigsby was caught having a relationship with a female captain on his staff.  According to information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Army Times, Grigsby continued his relationship despite warnings by his chief of staff and command sergeant major.

“Ultimately, I should have not confided as I did in a female subordinate, building a professional and personal relationship with her, bypassing the formal chain of command, and building a perception of favoritism towards that person,” Grigsby wrote.

The relationship had started to affect Grigsby’s decision-making, according to two inspector general complaints. Grigsby acknowledged that it crossed the line and was ultimately fired from his command of 1st Infantry on Sep. 26.

“Not only did you choose to engage in this inappropriate relationship, you also actively ignored warnings of your chief of staff and division command sergeant major regarding your public interactions with this captain,” former Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Dan Allyn wrote in the memorandum of reprimand. “In doing so, you placed your personal interest above those of the unit as it prepared for combat.”

© 2017 Bright Mountain Media, Inc.

All rights reserved. The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. which may be contacted at [email protected], ticker BMTM.

Author

Post navigation