The commander of Fort McCoy has been suspended after pictures of President Donald. J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were removed, an apparent act of resistance to the commander in chief and the chain of command.
Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez was relieved of duty as garrison commander at the Army installation, which is located in Monroe County, Wisconsin. The suspension comes after the Defense Department (DOD) announced that it was probing why the pictures were removed after images showing the bare spots on the chain-of-command board went viral on social media.
“Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez has been suspended as Garrison Commander at Fort McCoy. This suspension is not related to any misconduct. We have no further details to provide at this time while this matter is under review,” the Army Reserve Command said in a statement, which is also posted on Fort McCoy’s website.
Over the weekend, Hegseth shared a post from a conservative outlet reporter announcing that Ramirez had been suspended.
(Screenshot: X)
After corrective action was taken, the DOD’s Rapid Response account posted an image of the proper display of the pictures on the board on X last week.
Regarding the Ft. McCoy Chain of Command wall controversy….
WE FIXED IT!
Also, an investigation has begun to figure out exactly what happened. pic.twitter.com/y0gcRtBQZq
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) April 14, 2025
“Regarding the Ft. McCoy Chain of Command wall controversy….WE FIXED IT! Also, an investigation has begun to figure out exactly what happened,” the April 14 post read.
“The Fort McCoy leadership team and the Army Reserve were unaware of the vandalism of the leadership board at a building at Fort McCoy, WI,” the Army Reserve said in an April 14 statement. “Once it was brought to their attention, the leadership at Fort McCoy took immediate action to correct it.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) blasted what he called a “bullsh*t statement” and said it was “completely unacceptable.”
This is a bullshit statement and completely unacceptable.
This is not “vandalism”.
This is an act of insubordination and will be treated as such until PROVEN otherwise.
I am the strongest supporter of the @USArmyReserve our fantastic Wisconsin National Guard in Congress and… https://t.co/a3AZmFqlSl
— Derrick Van Orden (@derrickvanorden) April 15, 2025
“This is not ‘vandalism’. This is an act of insubordination and will be treated as such until PROVEN otherwise,” he said in an April 15 post to X.
Baez Ramirez has been in the top spot at Fort McCoy since last July, the first female to hold the post in the base’s history. “She earned her commission as a Military Intelligence Officer through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) in 1999,” according to her official Army bio.
“I think that showing the public that we could have diversity in every part of our society is important,” Baez Ramirez told the media in her first remarks after being named as Garrison commander, according to The Daily Beast, a leftist media outlet.
She becomes the latest military officer to be removed from command as Hegseth continues to clean up the “woke” mess that the military was allowed to become under the leadership of disgraced former President Joe Biden and “woke” former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
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