Army’s Top Enlisted Soldier in Europe Faces Sex Charges

The U.S. Army has pressed charges of kidnapping, sodomy and other offenses against its top noncommissioned officer in Europe, officials said Friday.

The man charged in the case, Command Sgt. Maj. Riley Miller, has 30 years of experience in the military and is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.

The Army said charges were pressed in Heidelberg on Thursday concerning maltreatment of a subordinate, forcible sodomy, indecent assault and kidnapping of a junior ranking female over two days in April in the German town of Hanau.

As top noncommissioned officer in Europe, Miller was in daily contact with the U.S. Army’s commanding general in Europe, Montgomery Meigs.

Meigs announced that he was reassigning Miller immediately.

“I owe the soldiers of the U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army a full-time command sergeant major who can forcefully advocate their interests and advise our senior leaders on matters affecting the lives of enlisted soldiers,” Meigs said in a statement.

The command sergeant major typically meets regularly with soldiers in his office or at different areas of the base to discuss issues such as morale, working hours, family matters and training, military officials say.

In addition to his experience in Vietnam, Miller has served in Panama; Ft. Benning, Ga.; and Vicenza, Italy.

In the next stage of the case, the military will decide whether to appoint what is akin to a grand jury in civilian cases, a spokeswoman said.

Miller could not immediately be reached for comment.

The case follows other high-profile charges of sexual misconduct in the military. Army Maj. Gen. David Hale was demoted and fined in September after having affairs with subordinates’ wives.

Earlier, Gene C. McKinney, once the Army’s highest-ranking enlisted man, was reduced in rank and reprimanded in a sexual misconduct case, although he was acquitted of 18 counts of sexual harassment against six women in the military.