{"id":39999,"date":"2016-09-14T18:25:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-14T18:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/09\/14\/army-fires-commander-of-bliss-based-1st-bct\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:14:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:14:04","slug":"army-fires-commander-of-bliss-based-1st-bct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2016\/09\/14\/army-fires-commander-of-bliss-based-1st-bct\/","title":{"rendered":"Army fires commander of Bliss-based 1st BCT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The commander of the 1st Armored Division\u2019s 1st Brigade Combat Team has been relieved of command after an investigation found &#8220;multiple violations of Army regulations and policies,&#8221; officials said Wednesday.<br\/><br\/> Col. Earl Higgins Jr. had <a class=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/fortblissbugle.com\/son-of-former-iron-soldier-commands-ready-first\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Link: http:\/\/fortblissbugle.com\/son-of-former-iron-soldier-commands-ready-first\/\">commanded 1st BCT<\/a> since July 2015.<br\/><br\/> He was relieved Tuesday by Maj. Gen. Pat White, commanding general of 1st AD and Fort Bliss, Texas, for &#8220;a lack of trust and confidence in Higgins\u2019 ability to command,&#8221; according to a statement from the division.<br\/><br\/> The investigation was initiated &#8220;several weeks ago&#8221; following allegations of the violations, the statement said.<br\/><br\/> &#8220;Our soldiers deserve the best leadership the Army can provide,&#8221; White said in the statement. &#8220;Based on the findings of the investigation, and in the best interest of the soldiers of Ready First Brigade, I made the decision to relieve Col. Higgins of duty.&#8221;<br\/><br\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Col. Earl B. Higgins Change of Command Col. Ross Coffman\" data-alignment=\"center\" data-object-id=\"00000157-29c8-d608-afd7-abcd70e20000\" data-type=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net\/fe\/32\/1fe1ba3b4846b68efe524239503f\/col-earl-b-higgins-change-of-command-col-ross-coffman.jpg\"\/><figcaption> <span>Col. Earl Higgins Jr., left, and Col. Ross Coffman participate in the brigade change of command ceremony for 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, on July 22, 2015. Higgins took command of the brigade as Coffman becomes the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, Texas, chief of staff.<\/span><\/figcaption><figcaption> <span>Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Kristen Duus\/Army<\/span><\/figcaption><br\/>The investigation found Higgins committed multiple violations of the Army\u2019s Sexual Harassment and Equal Opportunity regulations and policies, created a hostile work environment, and failed to treat subordinates with dignity and respect, according to the statement from the 1st Armored Division.<br\/><br\/>Officials from the 1st Armored Division later clarified that the Sexual Harassment policy violations cited in the investigation stemmed from inappropriate comments that created a hostile work environment, and there were no allegations of any inappropriate physical contact.<br\/><br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lt. Col. Stephen Phillips, commander of 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, will serve as the acting brigade commander until the Army appoints a replacement for Higgins. <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Higgins is performing administrative duties under the supervision of the division\u2019s chief of staff, according to officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Higgins\u2019 removal will not affect the brigade\u2019s upcoming rotation to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, the <a class=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.elpasotimes.com\/story\/news\/military\/ft-bliss\/2016\/09\/14\/fort-bliss-1st-brigade-commander-relieved-duties\/90351988\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Link: http:\/\/www.elpasotimes.com\/story\/news\/military\/ft-bliss\/2016\/09\/14\/fort-bliss-1st-brigade-commander-relieved-duties\/90351988\/\">El Paso Times<\/a>reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Higgins is a graduate of The Citadel, where he was commissioned as an infantry officer, according to his official biography, which has since been removed from the brigade\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has served in the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Cavalry Division and 3rd Infantry Division. He\u2019s also deployed to Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, he commanded the 172nd Brigade\u2019s 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (two oak leaf clusters), Meritorious Service Medal (three oak leaf clusters), Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutist Badge and Combat Infantryman Badge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Col. Earl Higgins Jr. took command of the brigade in mid-2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":44907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[546],"class_list":["post-39999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2GC6PCCWNFC75I3WRS7BTHSPPI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2016\/09\/14\/army-fires-commander-of-bliss-based-1st-bct\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Army fires commander of Bliss-based 1st BCT - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Col. 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