# Senior Officers in the Army and Navy Relieved over Benghazi?



## Marauder06 (Nov 7, 2012)

I've gotten lots of spam-type chain letters recently saying the commander of AFRICOM, Carter Ham, and a Navy admiral whose name I can't recall at the moment were both relieved for trying to send in a relief force to bail out Benghazi.  I discounted it as conspiracy theory at first, but I'm seeing it from enough different sources that I'm wondering if some of it might be true.

Anyone have any credible sources on this one way or the other?


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## SkrewzLoose (Nov 7, 2012)

I think Chopstick posted a link to one in the Egypt/Libya thread.  I think at the time it was brushed off in much the same way you discounted it.  I haven't seen anything pop up recently.  I'll put the Google to use during class after my 2 hour lunch break.


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## Karoshi (Nov 7, 2012)

I did find this article from the Washington Times. "Routine succession" just a little over a year into his command? GEN Ward held the position from 1 Oct 2007 - 8 Mar 2011. GEN Ham took over AFRICOM on 8 Mar 2011.



> The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday dispelled rumors that the chief of U.S. Africa Command is being replaced because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
> 
> ArmyGen. Martin Dempsey said that Gen. Carter Ham, commander of AfriCom, had been scheduled for a change of command.
> 
> ...


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## Marauder06 (Nov 7, 2012)

I call bs on "routine transition."  Those are joint, MACOM gigs, 2-3 years is standard.  So either he is getting shitcanned, or getting a promotion.


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## Karoshi (Nov 7, 2012)

Also found this article on the US Army news archives under the Africa section.



> WASHINGTON (Oct. 22, 2012) -- President Barack Obama has nominated Gen. David M. Rodriguez to succeed Gen. Carter F. Ham as the commander of U.S. Africa Command, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said here, Oct. 18.
> 
> U.S. Africa Command is the newest combatant command, and its headquarters is in Stuttgart, Germany. The command encompasses all of Africa and its adjacent waters except for Egypt.
> 
> ...


 
According to another Washington Times article, GEN Ham will be retiring.



> ...on Monday October 29 a defense official told _The Washington Times_ that "the decision [to leave AFRICOM] was made by General Ham. He ably served the nation for nearly forty years and retires after a distinguished career." Previously all that was known was that General Ham would be rotating out of AFRICOM at some future date, but not that he was leaving the service. General Ham is a few years short of the mandatory retirement age of 64, but it is not unusual for someone of that rank to retire after serving in such a significant command.


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## SkrewzLoose (Nov 7, 2012)

Everything I found on the Admiral said that he had his coming long before Benghazi happened...or didn't happen depending on how you look at it.


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## 0699 (Nov 7, 2012)

Nothing to see here, move along, don't look behind the curtain, we'll take care of you...


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## Chopstick (Nov 7, 2012)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog...al-center-benghazi-gate-controversy-retiring/
That Washington times article goes on to add:


> The questions concerning General Ham's role in the September 11 events continue to percolate. Congressman Jason Chaffetz, Utah Republican, said that General Ham told him during a visit to Libya that he had never been asked to provide military support for the Americans under attack in Benghazi. Former United States Ambassador to the U.N. John R, Bolton also mentioned Mr. Chaffetz's account, and contrasted it with Mr. Panetta's statement that General Ham had been part of the team that made the decision not to send in forces. "General Ham has now been characterized in two obviously conflicting ways," Mr. Bolton concluded. "Somebody ought to find out what he actually was saying on September the eleventh."
> No word yet on when General Ham's rotation or retirement take effect.


 
And edit to add this article:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/w...ut-us-abilities-in-region.html?pagewanted=all


> On the day of the attacks on the mission and a nearby annex in Benghazi, General Ham and other commanders were in Washington for a series of long-planned meetings. The Pentagon’s national military command center distributed a report around 4:30 p.m., 50 minutes after the assault started, that there had been violence in Benghazi and that the ambassador could not be located.
> President Obama was informed about the attack at 5 p.m. by his national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, at the start of a meeting at the White House with Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Libya was not the only worry. There were also protests at the United States’ embassies in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen.
> In the meeting, Mr. Obama ordered the Pentagon to begin “mobilizing all available military assets to respond to a range of contingencies in Libya and other countries in the region,” said Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council.


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## Karoshi (Nov 8, 2012)

Everyone wants answers, but I have a feeling that all we are going to wind up with is more questions.


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