Former Utah National Guard commander retiring with sizable rank demotion — from 2-star general to lieutenant colonel
Former Maj. Gen. Michael J. Turley has retired as a lieutenant colonel — a U.S. Army officer's rank (O-5) three steps below his highest military rank (O-8), according to a Task & Purpose report.
'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, which was determined the last grade in which he honorably served. We consider this matter closed.'
Turley is retiring at the lower rank following an assessment by the Army Grade Determination Review Board, Keith Garner, deputy director of public affairs for the Utah National Guard, told Task & Purpose.
On Aug. 17, 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox issued a statement that Turley had been placed on administrative leave from his command position of the Utah National Guard because he was under investigation by the Department of the Army Inspector General.
In a statement provided to Military Times days later, Turley denied 'any improper relationship.'
In 2023, Cox was asked if he knew about the ongoing investigation before Turley was placed on leave. Cox said he became aware of the investigation in 2022 but the Army Inspector General would not share ongoing details, so he 'was left with insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations,' according to KSL-TV.
Turley became adjutant general of the Utah National Guard on Nov. 7, 2019, assuming command of 7,600 soldiers and employees.
Just a week before being placed on administrative leave — on Aug. 9, 2023 – Turley joined local leaders in greeting President Joe Biden as he arrived at the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Utah.
And earlier that same year, then-Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, chose Turley as his featured guest at Biden's State of the Union Address. Romney's office said he was unaware Turley was under a long-running investigation at the time, USA Today reported.
Cox appointed Brig. Gen. Daniel Boyack as the new adjutant general of the Utah National Guard — a position he still holds under the rank of major general.
A rare — but not unheard of — retirement demotion
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, according to Task & Purpose.
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, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham, a former military attorney, told Task & Purpose.
'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.'
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
25 minutes ago
- New York Post
Virginia teens suspended for questioning transgender student about being in boys locker room
Two Virginia teen students are being suspended after they were recorded on video questioning why a female student who identifies as male was in the boys locker room. The Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) is suspending the Stone Bridge High School students for 10 days following a Title IX investigation into the incident earlier this year, attorney Josh Heltzer, who represents the boys' families, told 7News. Heltzer said that LCPS found the boys to be responsible for sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination in a case that has sparked a furious response from parents the boys' parents as well as Virginia's attorney general, who has argued that the school agency's process was biased and retaliatory. Heltzer said the families were notified by LCPS on Friday of the decision. The school agency has not publicly announced the suspension. The punishment includes a no-contact order with the complainant, including not being able to be in any of the same classes. The boys are also required to meet with school administrators to determine a corrective action plan, according to Hetzler. Seth Wolfe, one of the boys' parents, told 7News that he was angered by the decision and said it was concerning development. Two Virginia teen students have been suspended for their role in questioning a transgender student for being in the boys locker room at Stone Bridge High School. Google Maps '[We're] saddened by the decision-making process and how that went,' Wolfe said. Another parent, Renae Smith, was also furious and said she had already pulled her child out of the school and that the family had moved out of state. '[We're] absolutely floored that they came back and branded my son responsible for sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination with no solid evidence whatsoever,' Smith told 7News. 'We're talking about scarring him for life by a biased process that's supposed to protect fairness, but it's shocking. It's wrong, and it should terrify every single parent.' Smith said she is concerned that the decision will follow her son because it will be on his permanent academic record and could impact his college applications. The students received a 10-day suspension after a Title IX investigation was conducted regarding the incident that took place in the locker room. Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Both Wolfe and Smith said that LCPS is sending a message that any student who expresses views that disagree with Policy 8040 will be punished. Policy 8040 is a controversial guideline adopted in 2021 that permits students to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity rather than their biological sex. 'They're going to have to follow what Loudoun County says, what they believe is right, and what goes against other people's beliefs, or what we believe is right,' said Wolfe. 'What they're doing to our children is just despicable,' added Smith. Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares referred LCPS to federal authorities, accusing the school agency of improperly targeting three male students not for misconduct, but for expressing discomfort about sharing a locker room with a member of the opposite sex, according to Fox 5 DC. It is unclear whether the third student will be suspended. Miyares said the footage did not show discriminatory or derogatory behavior, but rather the boys asking the student recording them to leave. The video was recorded by the trans student. While it is illegal to record inside locker rooms, an LCPS official confirmed to Fox 5 DC in May that none of the boys appeared in compromising positions in the video and, therefore, it was determined that no privacy laws were violated. The LCPS told Fox News Digital that it does not publicly discuss private student matters. A spokesperson said that the school system 'has a comprehensive and objective process for Title IX investigations.' The Founding Freedoms Law Center, which has been representing the families in this case, said it will keep fighting the case until this determination is overturned. 'The Founding Freedoms Law Center is working with our clients on next steps, but we are not going to let these boys go down without a fight; we're going to stand with them all the way till they are innocent,' Victoria Cobb, the president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, told 7News. 'Our clients have done nothing wrong and they deserve to be deemed innocent,' Cobb said. The incident is not the first to draw national on LCPS. It made national headlines in 2021 when a father was arrested and hauled out of a board meeting for speaking out about the sexual assault of his daughter by a trans student at a local school. LCPS also spent $11 million on adding gender-neutral single-occupancy restrooms in nine schools in the district. 'We've seen time and time again that Loudoun County, if given the opportunity to do the right thing, will instead do the wrong thing,' Cobb said. 'LCPS, once again, shows that it is willing to harm students in the name of woke ideology, while every student is harmed when they do things like deny federal funds to kids' education. These boys, in particular, are being made examples of what happens when someone crosses school indoctrination.'
26 minutes ago
6th Republican-led state sends National Guard troops to DC as Trump continues law enforcement takeover
The number of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., increased again on Tuesday as a sixth Republican-led state sent some of its soldiers to the nation's capital as part of the president's activation to fight what he claims is rising crime in the city. Tennessee sent 160 troops to the nation's capital on Tuesday, bringing the total number of troops ordered to the city to 2,021. About 900 members, which include members of the military police, have actually mobilized as of Tuesday afternoon and many of those members are unarmed. Aside from members of the D.C. National Guard, five other states previously sent their military members to serve in Trump's mobilization: Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia and Mississippi. Guard troops are now helping law enforcement at 10 Metro stations, in addition to keeping a small presence along the National Mall, according to officials in charge of the operation, which they are now calling "D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force." Stations include L'Enfant Plaza, Gallery Place, Metro Center and Union Station. Officials previously said Guard personnel are not arresting people, only helping to detain individuals briefly if necessary before handing them off to law enforcement. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced later in the day there have been a total of 465 arrests since Trump launched federal law enforcement in Washington on Aug. 7. There were 52 arrests Monday night, according to Leavitt. Information about potential charges from those arrests has not been revealed. "Four more homeless encampments were also removed during yesterday's reporting period. To date, a total of 48 homeless encampments have been cleared in Washington, D.C., by multi-agency teams," she added. When asked by a reporter how long residents in the city should expect the National Guard to remain deployed in the district, Levitt said that they don't have a "timeline" to share.
Bloomberg
26 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
US Eyes Non-Governance Role in Intel
00:00 Is this a good thing for Intel? It's a life saver. They were on an unclear path before the government decided to renegotiate its deal. Let's not forget that the U.S. government already had a deal with Intel. It's we're going to give you $6 billion and we're going to get a colored profit share down the line. What this administration is doing is just renegotiating the deal. It's saying that's not good enough. We want to take an equity stake. And by the way, Intel is different because part of this deal is a big Department of Defense component. Let's not forget, we're we're going to want Intel to manufacture chips for our F-35 and other important weapons systems. So the government has a different type of relationship, for instance, than it does with TSMC, where we're just talking about making chips for data centers. So the government renegotiated the deal and now when it's done that it's not a coincidence that Lee Boutin can go to his friend, his son, and say, okay, this is the time for SoftBank to invest as well and maybe line up some arm demand for those 14 chips down the line. I'm so interested in the ARM architecture side of this. How do you see these working hand in hand going forward? How more cemented could a relationship become? Well, clearly, it could be part of the deal. And more importantly for Intel, as of a week ago, they had no customers for a for the 14 architecture. And they said they may not even proceed with it. Now, they might have one lined up. Let's not forget, the Department of Defense is a customer that's now more likely to be lined up for that, and then they can go and talk to the other companies. And even if the government doesn't have it doesn't go ahead and twist some arms, let's not forget. And Nvidia has committed half a trillion dollars of investment in the US. So can the government now can President Trump call Jensen Huang and say, Hey, this is part of how I want to see the investment play out. I need for you to be a customer of 14. That's not inconceivable at this point. And again, remember, this is national security. So the rules of the game change. Once we say this is national security, the rules of the game are often blurred by frenemy lines. Gil And what's so interesting is Masa has had a long term relationship with the CEO of In Video. Of course, Jensen Huang. But also in some ways wants to build a competing architecture in some ways. What's the take on NVIDIA in terms of A.I. chips? Could he do that with Intel's help? It's one way for him to participate in an even more broad fashion in the growth of AI, which he's doing now. He he regrets selling in video when he did. He's buying some of it back, but he's also making a set of other investments in air infrastructure. Let's not forget, Stargate is probably the the flag bearer of of his effort combining with open A.I. and Oracle to build again at least $100 billion worth of datacentre capacity. And for that it would make sense to diversify and not only buy in video chips. Now that's going to take a while. And Nvidia not only has a lead, but continues to extend its lead every year. But it does make sense for for him and for other companies to try to diversify away from in video. What's interesting is how a lot, Nic, the commerce secretary had said, look, we will be we confirm that we're looking at taking an equity stake, didn't say how much, but it wouldn't be with a governance role. Now, more broadly, how are you starting to analyze companies that are getting closer and closer to the US government and how much well, is it interference or is it positive help that is being led by a US government here? Well, the U.S. government has an ability to to make to give preferential treatment to some of these companies to to change the rules of the road. And it wants equity participation when it does that. And again, it's not doing it broadly. It's doing it when it's a matter of national security. Let's not forget, it's already very involved with Nvidia. It's limiting their chip sales to China. It's already very involved with open air. This may be quiet, but it's pretty safe to assume the Department of Defense gets briefs from open air very frequently about where the models are. So the government is involved because it's national security. In Intel's case, it's a matter of if this is this century's nuclear arsenal, we need somebody to make the shell casings domestically. We have. We can't have a Taiwanese company and a Korean company make our shell casings for our nuclear arsenal. So in Intel's case, it's a much deeper involvement. And I wouldn't be surprised if there are if there is input into where the investments go, what the governance is, even if it's not explicit.
