US Army general under investigation for sending racy texts to subordinate’s wife

The US Army has launched an investigation of the major general in charge of its forces in Africa, for sending suggestive messages to the wife of an enlisted soldier under his command.

The Facebook messages sent by Major General Joseph Harrington include a request to the woman that she delete them. Harrington is the two-star general in charge of US Army Africa and is based in Italy. The woman was born in Europe and is married to an American soldier.

An expert on military law who reviewed the texts said they seem in clear violation of military law, including conduct unbecoming an officer.

“With all the attention we have paid to improper relationships in the military, he just didn’t care,” said Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force and president of Protect our Defenders, an advocacy group for victims of sexual assault in the military. “He should lose his command over this. It’s probably time for him to retire.”

Harrington’s name is the latest to be added to the growing list of generals and admirals mired in scandal. Among them are top officers found to have been carousing at strip clubs, swinging with multiple partners and frequenting prostitutes in Asia.

The Army Inspector General initiated its probe after USA TODAY revealed a series of messages Harrington wrote this spring.