LOS ALAMITOS : Colonel Resigns as Unit Chief of Staff

The chief of staff of the largest Army Reserve unit on the West Coast, who had been temporarily relieved of his duties after an investigation into wrongdoing, resigned Sunday from his salaried position here, an Army Reserve spokesman in Atlanta said Wednesday.

Col. Floyd Buch, who was no longer performing duties as chief of staff at the time of his departure from the 63rd Army Reserve Command, will become a member of the general pool of reservists who typically are called back to duty in crisis situations, said Joe Hanley, the reserve spokesman.

Although Hanley declined to discuss any reasons Buch might have offered in requesting the transfer from semi-active to general pool status, he told The Times last week that Buch and another high-ranking officer had been relieved of their duties for unspecified reasons after a six-month probe into allegations of misconduct.

He said it was not unusual for reserve officers to request such changes in their status.

Hanley said last Friday that an investigation into the activities of Buch and Col. Dixon Tuley, former deputy chief, was opened last July after undisclosed sources accused them of abuses ranging from claiming overtime for hours not worked to misuse of Army helicopters.

The 63rd Army Reserve Command with its 9,000 soldiers includes about 100 units in California, Arizona and Nevada.

Buch, Tuley and Maj. Gen Steve Bisset, the 63rd commander, could not be reached for comment.