Washington
Army fires Command Sergeant Major for Military District of Washington
Command Sgt. Major Veronica E. Knapp has been relieved as the senior enlisted leader of the sprawling military task force responsible for defense and day-to-day military operations in Washington D.C. following an investigation, an Army spokesman said. Knapp made news in 2021 as the first woman named Command Sgt. Major of the 101st Airborne Division. She was in a similar role for the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region/United States Army Military District of Washington, or JTF-NCR/USAMDW.
Knapp was relieved on Aug. 8 as result of the Army 15-6 investigation “due to a loss of trust and confidence in her leadership,” said Bernhard “Lash” Lashleyleidner, a JTF-NCR/USAMDW spokesman. No further information about exactly why Knapp was relieved or what the investigation found was immediately available. All military branches nearly always use the phrase “loss of confidence” when leaders are relieved rather that specify wide range of reasons from personal off-duty conduct mistakes
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The JTF-NCR/USAMDW’ is a sprawling military organization established after the 9/11 attacks as a central hub for defense and day-to-day military operations around Washington D.C. Its leaders — who are traditionally an Army two-star general as the overall commander and Navy admiral as their deputy — oversee military units from every branch, several installations and civilian defense agencies whose duties range from ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetary to responding to emergencies with military police and technical rescue teams to establishing mobile command posts for major D.C. events or emergencies.
Knapp was the senior enlisted advisor on the JTF-NCR/USAMDW command staff. Sergeant Major Eberhard G. Nordman, the JTF-NCR/USAMDW’s provost marshal, has been named as her acting replacement.
Knapp enlisted in the Army in 2000 and has deployed to Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Romania, according to her official biography, which has been taken down from the JTF-NCR/USAMDW website. She is a graduate of the Drill Sergeant Academy, and she became the first woman to serve as command sergeant major of an Army division in 2021 when she assumed the role of senior enlisted leader for the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Her military awards include two Legions of Merit, nine Army Achievement Medals, seven Army Good Conduct Medals, five Army Commendation Medals, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO-ISAF Medal, and Meritorious Unit Commendation.
CORRECTION: 08/12/2024: An earlier version of this story inaccurately reported that Knapp had received seven National Defense Service Medals.