Colonel Sheyla Baez Ramirez, the Garrison Commander of Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, has been suspended following concerns related to a missing set of official photographs on the base’s chain-of-command board.
The board, which traditionally displays images of top national and military leadership figures, was found to be missing photographs of former President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Fox News contributor and military veteran Pete Hegseth. A photo showing blank spaces in place of those figures circulated on social media, prompting a response from the Department of Defense.
The U.S. Army confirmed Ramirez’s suspension but emphasized that the action was not related to any misconduct. A statement from Fort McCoy’s Senior Commander, Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Reinert, noted that the matter remains under review and no further details are available at this time. The Army Reserves echoed the same statement, clarifying that there was no official conclusion drawn about Ramirez’s involvement in the photo board incident.
BREAKING – Colonel Sheyla Baez, the individual who refused to display photos of President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Pete Hegseth at her base, has been suspended as Fort McCoy Commander. pic.twitter.com/NzgWW3m5bM
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) April 20, 2025
On April 14, the Army Reserves attributed the issue to vandalism, stating that neither the leadership at Fort McCoy nor the Army Reserves was initially aware of the missing images. Once notified, base leadership took immediate action to correct the board. The vandalism explanation was presented without reference to Ramirez.
Ramirez was promoted to Garrison Commander in July 2024, having previously served at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Her responsibilities at Fort McCoy included the oversight of daily operations and installation support functions.
The incident at Fort McCoy follows a separate recent dismissal within the U.S. military. Colonel Susannah Meyers, then commander of Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, was relieved of her duties earlier this month. Meyers was removed following the release of an internal email in which she distanced herself from Vice President JD Vance’s critical comments about Denmark’s oversight of Greenland. The Space Force stated that Meyers’ dismissal was based on a loss of confidence in her ability to lead and stressed that military leaders are expected to remain nonpartisan in the execution of their duties.
The controversy surrounding the command board at Fort McCoy emerged in the broader context of leadership changes and disciplinary actions across the Department of Defense. In the past week, the Pentagon also terminated four senior staff members following an internal investigation into unauthorized information leaks. The nature of the leaks and the identities of the dismissed individuals have not been publicly disclosed.
🚨BREAKING UPDATE: Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez who refused to display the official photographs of the Secretary of Defense and the President has been suspended as Garrison Commander at Fort McCoy, according to a statement released by the Fort McCoy Senior Commander.
The statement… pic.twitter.com/Ha4kXModQy
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) April 20, 2025
Additionally, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reposted a news story about Ramirez’s suspension on social media, further amplifying public attention surrounding the incident. The story, originally posted by a Breitbart journalist, summarized the chain-of-command board issue and linked it to the broader discussions of military discipline and chain-of-command recognition.
As of now, the Department of Defense has not confirmed whether Ramirez’s suspension is directly connected to the missing photographs or whether other factors contributed to the decision. The case remains under internal review, and a permanent replacement for the position of Garrison Commander at Fort McCoy has not yet been announced.
