Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington, commander of U.S. Army Africa, center, at a peacekeeping demonstration at the African Land Forces Summit in Lilongwe, Malawi, on May 9, 2017. Harrington was suspended Friday pending an investigation into flirtatious text messages he is suspected of sending to another man’s wife. 
 
 VICENZA, Italy — The 30-year career of U.S. Army Africa’s commander was in jeopardy Friday after he was suspended from command in the wake of flirtatious messages he is suspected of sending to another man’s wife. 
 
 Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington is suspected of sending private Facebook messages such as “U can be my nurse” and “How often does your devil vixen come out?” to the woman, an enlisted man’s wife, from March through June. 
 
 The woman gave the messages to an advocacy group, which then shared them with Stars and Stripes. 
 
 An Inspector General probe began just as USA Today reported the story late Thursday. 
 
 “MG Harrington has been suspended from his duties as the Commander of United States Army Africa’s Southern European Task Force pending the completion of an investigation by the Army’s inspector general,” the Army’s chief of public affairs office said in a statement Friday. 
 
 Harrington issued his own statement in an email to Stars and Stripes: “I look forward to the completion of the investigation.” 
 
 Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders, which advocates for military sexual assault and harassment victims, said any such messages between a general and the enlisted servicemember’s wife would violate military law. 
 
 “I would say they clearly violated Article 133 — conduct unbecoming an officer,” said Christensen, a former Air Force judge and top prosecutor. “That’s based on upon his rank, command status, the fact that he was married and the fact that this spouse was married to a junior enlisted under his command.” 
 
 Christensen, who reviewed messages provided by the woman, said that Harrington would have trouble successfully claiming that he’d had no bad intentions, because of messages purportedly sent by him that ask the woman to delete them. 
 
 “There’s no way in hell this guy should be texting some junior enlisted’s wife in the middle of the night, and he knew it,” Christensen said. 
 
 Christensen said that Harrington also phoned the woman often and once contacted her from the shower. 
 
 In one conversation, while Harrington was in Malawi, the woman asked if it was dangerous. “Africa! Dangerous? That’s you silly,” he responded. 
 
 The messages began after Harrington met the woman, who was not identified, at the gym on Caserma Ederle, Christensen said. 
 
 He often messaged late at night, Christensen said. When the woman asked why he didn’t message her during the day he responded, “Work!!!!!” 
 
 Once he asked her, “So what should I dream about tonight? Work or play?” 
 
 In another purported message, the woman mentioned that it was cold in Vicenza. “You know how to increase the temp!” he replied. 
 
 When in one exchange the woman mentioned that she’d argued with her husband, Harrington is alleged to have responded: “I’m sorry! Make up se…x is fun.” 
 
 A New Jersey native who became an Army officer through ROTC and was commissioned in 1987, Harrington has been considered a rising star. He served as executive officer to retired Gen. Martin Dempsey when Dempsey was Army chief of staff and when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 
 
 Harrington said in a May interview with Stars and Stripes that he regarded Dempsey as the epitome of a military leader. 
 
 For instance, Dempsey had routinely written letters not only to families of troops hurt or killed in action, but also to personally commend deployed soldiers to their families. 
 
 Harrington decided to do that, too, he told Stars and Stripes. 
 
 “Every night at the end of the night, I’d write a letter,” he said. “It made going to sleep every night easier.” 
 
 Harrington took command of USARAF last year after a posting with NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in Gloucestershire, England. He’s spent a third of his career in European postings. 
 
 Married with a young son, he frequently discussed the importance of trust. 
 
 “Trust is the cornerstone of relationships,” he said, “and it is not possible to surge trust.” 
 
 Christensen said that the Army could not have left Harrington in command while the investigation proceeded. 
 
 “Unless they removed him he’s still the convening authority, he’s still acting on military justice issues,” he said. 
 
 montgomery.nancy@stripes.com 
 
 ||||| The Pentagon (Photo: STAFF, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 WASHINGTON — The Army has launched an investigation of the major general in charge of its forces in Africa for sending dozens of messages, some of them suggestive, to the wife of an enlisted soldier under his command, USA TODAY has learned. 
 
 The Facebook messages sent by Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington range from flattering to flirty and suggestive and include a request to the woman that she delete them. Harrington is the two-star in charge of U.S. Army Africa and is based in Italy. The woman was born in Europe and is married to an American soldier. 
 
 An expert on military law who reviewed the texts said they seem in clear violation of military law, including conduct unbecoming an officer. 
 
 “With all the attention we have paid to improper relationships in the military, he just didn’t care,” said Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force and president of Protect our Defenders, an advocacy group for victims of sexual assault in the military. “He should lose his command over this. It’s probably time for him to retire.” 
 
 Harrington’s name is the latest to be added to the growing list of generals and admirals mired in scandal. Among them are top officers found to have been carousing at strip clubs, swinging with multiple partners and frequenting prostitutes in Asia. 
 
 CLOSE Here are the five generals and the commander who wiped confirmed allegations of adultery from another's record USA TODAY 
 
 The Army Inspector General initiated its probe after USA TODAY revealed a series of messages Harrington wrote this spring. 
 
 “As it is under investigation, as a matter of practice, I cannot provide any additional details on that at this time,” said Col. Pat Seiber, an Army spokesman. Likewise, Lt. Col. Armando Hernandez, a spokesman for U.S. Army Africa, said Harrington would not comment while he is the focus of the investigation. 
 
 The woman who received the messages — who spoke on condition of anonymity because she fears retaliation against her husband — told USA TODAY the texting began as friendly and related to business. She said she had met Harrington at the gym. She became concerned with the texts, she said, after Harrington’s messages became suggestive. The relationship did not become physical. 
 
 Harrington is married, and adultery is a violation of military law. 
 
 The messages, many sent late at night, veer from the mundane to the personal. Harrington oversees the Army’s activities in Africa from a post in northern Italy. In some texts, he complained about travel and getting sick on local food. 
 
 In others, he doted on the woman’s appearance, referring to her as “HOTTIE,” and “looking good for sure.” In another series he wrote: "You seem to have a great modeling resume! Truly! Though I hadn’t noticed! Where is your hubby tonight? Work?” 
 
 When she replied that she’d fought with her husband, and that he was asleep, Harrington responded: “I’m sorry! Make up se…x is fun” 
 
 Harrington suggested “U can be my nurse,” and added, “I’d enjoy being in a tent with U.” 
 
 Of particular concern to investigators, Christensen said, will be texts in which Harrington acknowledged that their relationship is inappropriate, others in which he suggested the two could meet and finally his request that she delete their online chats. 
 
 In one exchange, Harrington noted that, “I don’t think your husband would be happy if he knew you chatted with another man.” In another, he said “A married man giving a gift to another man’s wife.” After her reply about “friendly” gifts, he wrote: “I’d enjoy giving u a gift one day.” 
 
 Harrington also urged her at times to erase records of their chats. 
 
 "I hope u delete this exchange!" he wrote at one point. At another: "Why not delete after communicating?" 
 
 Covering up the messages indicates Harrington knew he'd crossed lines, Christensen said. 
 
 "By asking her to delete the exchanges, he seems to know it wasn’t appropriate to be involved with the wife of an enlisted man in his command," Christensen said. 
 
 Harrington's case is less spectacular than that of Maj. Gen. David Haight, the "swinging general" who lost his job and three ranks when his secret life was revealed. Or that of Lt. Gen. Ron Lewis, the former top aide to then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter, whose strip club visits while on official travel earned him censure. Nor does it rise to the level of Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, who was indicted by federal authorities in a wide-ranging Navy bribery scandal in which he was found to have swilled expensive champagne and indulged in prostitutes, according to a federal indictment. 
 
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 Army general fired after 'inappropriate' relationship with young woman on staff 
 
 Air Force busts retired four-star general down two ranks for coerced sex 
 
 Army demotes 'swinging general' after investigation into affairs, lifestyle 
 
 The texts and investigation are black marks for one of the Army's rising stars. A decorated combat veteran, Harrington had been a top aide to Gen. Martin Dempsey when Dempsey was Army chief of staff, and again when Dempsey became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 
 
 But Christensen said Harrington's actions nonetheless strike at the heart of the good order and discipline that the military prides itself on. Moreover, Harrington has the authority to order cases to go to court martial, including those involving sexual assault and harassment. 
 
 "The message he's sending is that the rules don’t apply to him," Christensen said. "It erodes confidence in the junior officers and enlisted soldiers who serve under him. It's a message that this guy thinks he's above the law." 
 
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 WASHINGTON — The Army has suspended the two-star commander of its forces in Africa after revelations about suggestive texts he sent to the wife of an enlisted soldier. 
 
 USA TODAY reported on Thursday that the flirty messages, which the paper had obtained, prompted the Army to launch an inspector general's investigation into Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington's activities. Harrington is based in Italy, where U.S. Army Africa is posted. 
 
 "Harrington has been suspended from his duties as the Commander of United States Army Africa's Southern European Task Force pending the completion of an investigation by the Army's inspector general," Army Col. Pat Seiber said in a statement. "Given that the matter is under investigation, we can provide no further comment at this time." 
 
 Through a spokesman, Harrington released a brief statement: "I look forward to the completion of the investigation." The soldier is not under Harrington's command, but they serve at the same military installation in Europe, according to Lt. Col. Armando Hernandez, a spokesman for Harrington. 
 
 The flirty Facebook messages include Harrington's referring to the woman as a "HOTTIE," inquiring about the whereabouts of the woman's husband and asking her to delete the messages. 
 
 Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday said the case involving Harrington shows the Pentagon's talk about rooting out sexual assault and harassment in the ranks is belied by the actions of its leaders. 
 
 “This is unfortunately just another example of an utter lack of good order and discipline from a top general who is supposed to be in charge of stemming the tide of this boorish behavior in the first place," said Gillibrand, the New York Democrat and member of the Armed Services Committee. "For over 20 years, top brass has been pledging zero tolerance for this type of inappropriate behavior -- yet on an all too often basis we see these are empty promises." 
 
 Harrington's actions, according to experts, could violate military law about the proper conduct of officers and also undermine discipline essential in the ranks. 
 
 "It's disturbing that it took a report in USA TODAY for the Army to suspend Harrington," said Don Christensen, a former top prosecutor for the Air Force and president of Protect our Defenders, a group that advocates for victims of sexual assault in the military. "I hope now that the Army knows it's being watched they will do a thorough and complete investigation of the general." 
 
 The woman, who has requested anonymity because she fears retaliation against her husband, provided USA TODAY with dozens of the messages. Her relationship with Harrington began as friendly and related to business, but crossed the line into the personal and intimate, she said. 
 
 Harrington, in a series of messages, appeared smitten with the woman, who described herself as far younger than the general. 
 
 "I knew u were worth worshipping!" he wrote in one exchange. When she replied that the weather was cold in Italy, he responded: "I heard but you know how to raise the temp!" 
 
 The Army and the other armed services have been compiling a roster of senior officers found to have engaged in inappropriate relationships. 
 
 In June, the Army has stripped a disgraced former division commander of one star and forced him to retire for having an inappropriate relationship with a female captain on his staff. Wayne Grigsby was demoted to brigadier general after being fired as commander of the First Infantry Division in September 2016. Grigsby had been weeks from deploying to Iraq when the Army recalled him to Washington. He became the first division commander to be relieved in more than 45 years. 
 
 The Navy, meanwhile, has been dealing with a sprawling scandal in Asia named for contractor “Fat Leonard” Francis, the former chief of Glenn Defense Marine Asia. Francis bribed sailors with cash, prostitutes and opulent dinners and drinks in exchange for information he used to gouge the Navy for servicing its ships, federal prosecutors say. 
 
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– The Army has suspended the head of its forces in Africa after he was caught flirting with the wife of an enlisted soldier in private Facebook messages, USA Today reports. "I knew u were worth worshiping!" Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington writes in one message. "How often does your devil vixen come out?" Stars and Stripes quotes Harrington as asking in another message. Harrington, considered a "rising star" in the Army, met the unnamed woman at the gym. She says their conversations started friendly but she got concerned when they turned suggestive, according to USA Today. In his messages, Harrington suggested they meet and asked the woman to delete their conversations afterward. The woman turned over dozens of messages sent between March and June to an advocacy group. Harrington, the commander of the US Army Africa's Southern European Task Force, was suspended while the Army investigates. Harrington is married, and adultery is a violation of military law—though the woman says their relationship never turned physical. Regardless, Don Christensen, the head of an advocacy group for military sexual assault and harassment victims, says Harrington "should lose his command over this." “I would say they clearly violated Article 133—conduct unbecoming an officer,” the former Air Force prosecutor tells Stars and Stripes. The woman's husband serves at the same military installation in Italy as Harrington but isn't under Harrington's command. In a statement, Harrington says he looks "forward to the completion of the investigation."