Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Is the West Point superintendent, Gen. Huntoon, guilty of an honor violation?

It looks like that may be the case. But we don’t know because he and the Army are stonewalling. They’re hiding behind a statement that an allegation of an improper relationship was investigated and was unsubstantiated, and that he is retiring as planned. But they aren’t saying what was substantiated. The Washington Post found out ...

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Wikimedia

It looks like that may be the case. But we don't know because he and the Army are stonewalling. They're hiding behind a statement that an allegation of an improper relationship was investigated and was unsubstantiated, and that he is retiring as planned.

It looks like that may be the case. But we don’t know because he and the Army are stonewalling. They’re hiding behind a statement that an allegation of an improper relationship was investigated and was unsubstantiated, and that he is retiring as planned.

But they aren’t saying what was substantiated. The Washington Post found out through a FOIA request that the Defense Department inspector general did find some wrongdoing. So it appears to me that General Huntoon misled me when he told me in January that "there’s no investigation here." Which leads to the question: Are cadets held to a higher standard of conduct than superintendents?

As of 10 am today, General Huntoon hasn’t responded to the question I sent him last weekend asking him what is going on.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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