Head of Army fires school suspended -

Soldiers of Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment set up a Patriot missile launcher during field training at Fort Sill, Okla., June 18, 2019. (Army)

The Army suspended the commander of the U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, Oklahoma on Friday, pending the outcome of an investigation by the Department of the Army Inspector General, according to an Army spokesperson.

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Kamper, whose command oversees the training of Ukrainian troops on artillery systems such as Patriot missiles, allegedly violating base hunting rules, according to a statement from the Army. Military.com previously reported on Kamper’s suspension.

“Neither the investigation nor the change in leadership will have any impact on the operations or mission at Fort Sill, including the current training of Ukrainian forces on the Patriot missile system, and the suspension was not related to the mission or training of Ukrainian soldiers,” Army Spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said in a statement.

According to a report on Substack by independent journalist Matt Farwell, Kamper was contemplating setting up a sniper position on the second floor of his home located at Fort Sill. Farwell reported that a bobcat presented a threat to the family’s small dog — and that Kamper had taken the idea to lawyers on base.

No sources have suggested this particular incident is under investigation by the Army IG. Kamper would not respond to requests by Army Times to comment on these specific allegations by Farwell — or the allegations of the pending investigation.

Fort Sill is home to more than 20,000 troops and serves as a center for the Army’s long-range artillery capabilities. In an interview with Army Times in 2021, Kamper said the service was working on forming more battalions and batteries for long-range and hypersonic capabilities, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

Brig. Gen. Shane Morgan, deputy commander of the Fires Center of Excellence, will serve as interim commander and as the general court-martial convening authority.

Zamone “Z” Perez is a rapid response reporter and podcast producer at Defense News and Military Times. He previously worked at Foreign Policy and Ufahamu Africa. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he researched international ethics and atrocity prevention in his thesis. He can be found on Twitter @zamoneperez.