Army
Suspends Fort McCoy's 1st female Commander Amid Trump portrait display
controversy
Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Colonel Sheyla Baez Ramirez speaks to
installation workforce members July 25, 2024, during a town hall meeting at
Fort McCoy, Wis. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office,
Fort McCoy, Wis.)
Posted: April 24, 2025 --- Military.com | By Steve
Beynon
Published April 23, 2025, at 4:15pm ET
Colonel (O6) Sheyla Baez Ramirez, the garrison Commander
of Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, was suspended
following the circulation on social media of a photograph showing portraits of Trump,
JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth turned to face a wall. The
incident, which sparked a wave of right-wing criticism, centered on the base's
chain of command wall display -- a common fixture in military buildings
designed to show the hierarchy from local commanders to the president.
In an undated statement posted to Fort McCoy's website,
the Army confirmed
that Colonel Baez Ramirez, the 1st female garrison Commander for the
base, had been suspended by Major General (O8, 2-Star) Joseph Ricciardi, Commander
of the 88th Readiness Division. The statement emphasized that the
suspension was "not related to any misconduct," but did not provide
further details, citing an ongoing review.
The timing of the decision, however, is noteworthy. The photo of the flipped portraits -- which quickly went viral after being shared by an official Pentagon account -- was posted just days before Baez Ramirez was relieved of her duties. "Regarding the Ft. McCoy chain of command wall controversy ... we fixed it!" a Pentagon social media account stated April 14. It added that an investigation was underway to determine the circumstances behind the incident.
A statement from the Army Reserve that same day called the flipped photos "vandalism," though it's unclear what the service component meant as there was seemingly no damage to the display. "The Fort McCoy leadership team and the Army Reserve were unaware of the vandalism of the leadership board at a building at Fort McCoy, WI," the Army Reserve said in a statement April 14th. "Once it was brought to their attention, the leadership at Fort McCoy took immediate action to correct it."
Colonel Baez Ramirez could not be reached for comment ahead of publication. It's unclear whether an acting garrison Commander has been named in her place; the base spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. There is no evidence suggesting that Baez Ramirez was involved in the flipping of the portraits. It's also unclear who took the photo showing the chain of command board that drew so much attention.
Nonetheless, she became the focus of intense scrutiny online, much of it targeting her gender. Some posts referred to Baez Ramirez as a "DEI traitor" -- a reference to diversity in the ranks -- and many posts reviewed by Military.com quickly turned to calls for violence against her. Her suspension comes amid a purge of officers across the Pentagon, many of whom are women and minorities, most recently including Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. representative to NATO's military committee.
The roster of Hegseth's ongoing purge also includes Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's 1st female Chief of Naval Operations; General Charles "CQ" Brown, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Admiral Linda Fagan, the former Coast Guard Commandant. Colonel Baez Ramirez was the 1st woman to serve as McCoy's garrison Commander and assumed the role in July 2024.
She earned her commission as an intelligence officer through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1999 at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. Her awards include 5 Army Commendation Medals, 3 Meritorious Service Medals, and 4 Army Achievement Medals.
