UPDATED: Kamper suspended from Fort Sill command

FORT SILL — Major General Kenneth Kamper, commanding general of Fort Sill and of the Fires Center of Excellence, was suspended from duty today pending an investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of the Army.

A story posted by Military.com reported that Kamper was suspended last Friday “as part of an investigation into allegations of repeated violations of hunting rules on base, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation.”

“The investigation is tied to hunting on Fort Sill property, with some complaints revolving around Kamper allegedly not going through the proper approval process and skirting local rules, according to two Army officials with direct knowledge of the situation,” the Military.com story related.

Brig. Gen. Shane Morgan, who was promoted last week and served as commandant of the field artillery school at the installation, will serve as interim commander, sources said.

Fort Sill is home to some 20,000 troops and is central to the Army’s artillery and other long-range weapons training. This includes the Patriot missile system — the weapons platform on which approximately 100 Ukrainian troops began training last month.

“Neither the investigation nor the change in leadership will have any impact on the operations or mission at Fort Sill, including the current training of Ukrainian forces on the Patriot missile system, and the suspension was not related to the mission or training of Ukrainian soldiers,” Cynthia Smith, a service spokesperson, told Military.com in a statement.

Kamper was commissioned as an Artillery Officer in 1989 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

His military education includes a Bachelor of Science degree from the Military Academy, a Master of Arts from the U.S. Naval War College, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Kamper has commanded at the battery, battalion and brigade levels, as well as the Operational Test Command. Most recently, he served as the Deputy Commanding General for the III Armored Corps at Fort Hood, Texas.

His past assignments included: 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division, United States Army Europe and Seventh Army; 82nd Airborne Division; 1stBattalion, 508th Airborne Battalion Combat Team; 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment (Automatic), a part of 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division; 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment (Red Lions) in 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division; 17th Fires Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, I Corps; 1st Infantry Division; 4th Infantry Division, and III Corps.

The general’s combat and operational experience included deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003-2005 and 2006-2008, Operation Atlantic Resolve, and Operation Inherent Resolve from 2014-2015 and 2017-2018.

His awards and decorations included the Combat Action Badge, Senior Parachutist Badge, and Ranger Tab.

This story has been updated to include additional information regarding the nature of the investigation, and information about Fort Sill’s new interim commander.

Story by Mike W. Ray, Senior Staff Writer.