The colonel in charge of the Marine Corps' unit supporting wounded, ill and injured warriors has been removed from his post, officials announced Thursday.
Col. Lawrence "Larry" Miller, commanding officer of Wounded Warrior Regiment in Quantico, Virginia, was relieved by Lt. Gen. Michael Rocco, deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, M&RA officials said in a release. The relief was due to Rocco's loss of trust and confidence in Miller's ability to command, according to the announcement.
Miller had been commander of the regiment since March 2017. He has been temporarily assigned to the staff of Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, officials said. Lt. Col. Larry Coleman, the regiment's executive officer, is set to serve as interim commander.
According to his official biography, Miller was commissioned in 1990 as an infantry officer and served in Baghdad and Fallujah, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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Prior to taking his post at Wounded Warrior Regiment, Miller served as the branch head for the Manpower Management Integration Branch at Quantico, then as executive assistant to the deputy commandant of Manpower and Reserve Affairs. His awards include two Bronze Stars, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.
This is the second leadership upheaval in two years within Wounded Warrior Regiment. In 2018, Lt. Col. Chris Hrudka, the commanding officer of Wounded Warrior Battalion-East, out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, was removed from his job along with two civilian staff members following an investigation into how donated funds were managed.
It's not the first time that leadership at the top of Wounded Warrior Regiment, founded in 2007, has been ousted either. In 2015, Col. Todd Shane "Rhino" Tomko, then commander of the regiment, was fired. He'd later go to court-martial on a number of charges, including drunk driving and sending inappropriate and sexual text messages to a female subordinate.
While the population of combat-wounded troops at Wounded Warrior Regiment has dwindled as fewer deploy to combat zones, Marine Corps officials have said they plan to keep the unit active to care for and support troops facing injury and illness.
-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
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