Walter Wojdakowski Walter Wojdakowski ( born March 29 , 1950 ) is a retired United States Army Major General . He held a number of high positions within the military , including his last post as Commanding General of Fort Benning . When Wojdakowski retired in late 2008 , Major General Mike Barbero took command of Benning . Military career . Education . Major General Wojdakowski graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1972 . He has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alaska and a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the U . S . Army Command and General Staff College . He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society . His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses , the Command and General Staff College , the School of Advanced Military Studies , and the Army War College . Service . Wojdakowski served in company grade officer positions as a Platoon Leader , Scout Platoon Leader , Executive Officer , Ranger Instructor and Commander at Fort Lewis and at the Army Mountain Ranger Camp . He also was an Assistant Professor of Military Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks . As a field grade officer , he served as a Brigade S - 3 , Battalion Executive Officer and Chief , Tactical Operations III Corps G - 3 at Fort Hood , Texas . He commanded the 3rd Battalion , 41st Infantry Regiment , Tiger Brigade , 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood and in Desert Storm / Desert Shield from 1989 to 1991 . He was then assigned as the Senior Infantry Task Force Combat Trainer at the National Training Center , Fort Irwin , California . He attended the U . S . Army War College , Carlisle Barracks , Pennsylvania and commanded the 11th Infantry Regiment at Ft Benning , Georgia from July 1993 to July 1995 . Wojdakowski ' s next assignment was as the Director of Training , 7th Army Training Command , USAREUR and he became the Commander , Operations Group , Combat Maneuver Training Center at the Hohenfels Training Area , Germany on 1 May 1996 . Wojdakowski assumed the duties of Assistant Commandant of the Infantry School and Deputy Commanding General , Fort Benning , on 21 January 1997 . In September 1998 he became Chief , Office of Military Cooperation , Kuwait at the U . S . Embassy in Kuwait City , Kuwait . He assumed duties as the ADC , 24th Infantry Division ( Mech ) ( Fwd ) and Deputy Commanding General ( DCG ) , 1st U . S . Army on 17 August 2000 . In September 2002 he assumed the position of DCG V Corps . He was later named DCG of the former Combined Joint Task Force 7 , later redesignated as Multi - National Force - Iraq and Multi - National Corps - Iraq . Wojdakowski here served as top deputy to Lt . Gen . Ricardo S . Sanchez , the force commander . After this post , he was eventually named Commanding General of Ft . Benning . Abu Ghraib . Along with other military and government personnel , MG Wojdakowski was investigated in the Abu Graib scandal . Brigadier General Janis Karpinski , a general who was later disciplined for her role in the scandal , placed Maj . Gen . Wojdakowski at a meeting in late November at which there was extensive discussion of a Red Cross report that cited specific cases of abuse . In November 2006 , the German government received a complaint seeking the prosecution of Wojdakowski for alleged war crimes . The complaint alleges that during his tenure he was legally responsible for the U . S . torture programs . However , after the investigation , he was cleared of all charges and was deemed innocent of any wrongdoing .