The leader of Fort McCoy base in Wisconsin was suspended after backlash for not displaying portraits of President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth.
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WASHINGTON – The commander of a Wisconsin military base has been suspended after the base received backlash for not displaying the portraits of President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on its leadership wall.
The U.S. Army in a statement to its website said Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez had been suspended as garrison commander at Fort McCoy, an Army Reserve base near Sparta in western Wisconsin, “for administrative reasons.”
Ramirez’s suspension, the Army said, “is not related to any misconduct,” though the move came after Fort McCoy drew criticism for reportedly not displaying photos of Trump and Hegseth.
The Department of Defense posted a photo on X on April 14 showing Trump’s portrait missing from the base’s leadership wall and a photo of Hegseth turned around to face the wall. A second photo in the post shows both portraits displayed.
“Regarding the Ft. McCoy Chain of Command wall controversy…. WE FIXED IT!” the post said. “Also, an investigation has begun to figure out exactly what happened.”
The Defense Department did not immediately respond April 23 to questions from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, questions about its investigation. A spokesman for Fort McCoy’s 88th Readiness Division declined to comment on Ramirez’s suspension said Ramirez has “not been relieved of command.”
An updated statement posted to the U.S. Army’s website that afternoon said “no one on the Fort McCoy leadership team, which includes Col. Baez-Ramirez, directed or supported the removal of any leader portraits.” The post said an investigation “into the Leader Board incident at Fort McCoy is ongoing.”
Ramirez is Fort McCoy’s first female garrison commander and assumed the role in July 2024. She previously served as chief of the Reserve Program, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and was commissioned as a military intelligence officer in 1999, according to her Army biography.
She’s held leadership positions in the Army and Army Reserves in bases across the United States and Puerto Rico.
Fort McCoy has been used as a military training base since it was created in 1909.
While the Army has said Ramirez’s suspension was not related to misconduct, Hegseth, the defense secretary, shared a post on X this week that read: “Commander of Fort McCoy, whose base chain-of-command board was missing photos of Trump, Vance and Hegseth, has been SUSPENDED.”
The Army Reserves in a Facebook post on April 14 said “Fort McCoy leadership team and the Army Reserve were unaware of the vandalism of the Leadership Board” at Fort McCoy.
“Once it was brought to their attention, the leadership at Fort McCoy took immediate action to correct it,” the post said. “Additionally, the command initiated an investigation to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident.”