Major General Scott Efflandt has been removed from his position as commander  He will also no longer take on the role of commander of a division at Fort Bliss The US Army announced the decision in a statement Tuesday Fort Hood has been plagued by at least 15 deaths and disappearances of soldiers Last week, the body of Sgt. Elder Fernandes, 23, was discovered after he went missing back on August 17 after he claimed he was being sexually abused  In April, Sgt. Vanessa Guillen, 20, vanished after telling her family she was being sexually harassed. Her dismembered body was discovered in July By RACHEL SHARP and LAUREN FRUEN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM PUBLISHED: 21:35 BST, 1 September 2020 | UPDATED: 09:02 BST, 2 September 2020 Major General Scott Efflandt has been removed from his post following the deaths of at least 15 soldiers connected to the troubled army base The commander of Fort Hood has been removed from his post following the deaths of at least 15 soldiers connected to the troubled army base.  Major General Scott Efflandt has been removed from his position as commander of the base and will also no longer take on the role of commander of a division at Fort Bliss, the US Army announced in a statement Tuesday.   The army will announce the name of a new commander for the 1st Armored Division in the coming days. The decision comes following a string of tragedies and deaths, including Vanessa Guillen, that have plagued the Texas Army base. Fifteen soldiers connected to Fort Hood have died this year alone, with foul play suspected in five of the deaths.  The commanding general of US Army Forces Command, Gen. Michael Garrett, has directed Maj. Gen. John Richardson IV to formally assume the role of acting commander at Fort Hood from Wednesday, the statement read.   Efflandt will stay on at Fort Hood for the time being, serving as deputy commanding general for support until the new commander is assigned to the role.  The army also announced that Garrett will appoint Gen. John Murray, commanding general of US Futures Command, to 'lead an in-depth investigation into the chain of command actions related to Spc. Vanessa Guillen.'  There are several open investigations at Fort Hood already but this investigation will be a 'more complete and comprehensive investigation that will delve into all activities and levels of leadership' at the addled base.  The investigation will also be separate from the Independent Review of Fort Hood, which began back in August.  +10 The commander of Fort Hood has been from his post following the suspicious deaths of several soldiers including Vanessa Guillen at the army base. Fort Hood pictured above  Fort Hood has come under increasing scrutiny after at least 15 soldiers have died or disappeared from the base.   U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said in a visit to Fort Hood earlier this month that the Central Texas base had some of the highest numbers of sexual assault, harassment and murder.  He ordered an independent probe of Fort Hood in July, after authorities said Guillen was slain.  Fort Hood soldier, 23, found hanged was 'humiliated' after...Body of missing Fort Hood soldier, 23, is 'found hanging... Vanessa Guillen, 20, vanished from the base after telling her family she was being sexually harassed. Her body was discovered in July Last week, the body of Sgt. Elder Fernandes, 23, (left) was discovered after he went missing back on August 17. Fort Hood soldier, Pfc. Gregory Morales, right was reported missing from the base a year ago on August 20, 2019. The 24-year-old's remains were found on June 21 in a field in Killeen +10 In May  of this year the body of Army Pfc. Brandon S. Rosecrans, pictured, was discovered with gunshot wounds and his Jeep was found three miles away engulfed in flames Timeline of Fort Hood disappearances/deaths February 1, 2020: PVT Eric Christopher Hogan and PFC Anthony Nevelle Peak Jr. die in a car crash  March 1, 2020: SPC Shelby Tyler Jones is shot dead at a convenience store in Killeen  March 5, 2020: Spc. Christopher Wayne Sawyer found dead at his home. Foul play is not suspected.   March 14, 2020: SPC Freddy Beningo Delacruz Jr. is killed in a triple murder March 23, 2020: Fort Hood soldier Spc. Jovino Jamel Roy, 22, was charged with murder after allegedly shooting former Fort Hood soldier Michael Steven Wardrobe, 22  April 22, 2020: Vanessa Guillen goes missing and is last seen in the parking lot of the base. She disappeared after telling her family she was being sexually harassed by a sergeant on the base. May 18, 2020: Body of Army Pfc. Brandon S. Rosecrans, 27, was discovered with gunshot wounds and his Jeep was found three miles away engulfed in flames. June 19, 2020: Search teams discover the corpse of missing soldier Pvt. Gregory Wedel-Morales following a tip to Army base investigators. Remains were found in a field in Killeen, just over 10 miles from Stillhouse Hollow Lake, five miles from Fort Hood. July 1, 2020: First parts of Giullen's remains found about 20 miles east of Fort Hood. Spc. Aaron Robinson, 20, kills himself. Officials say he killed and dismembered Guillén and had the remains disposed of.  July 17, 2020:  Pvt. Mejhor Morta, 26, of Pensacola, Florida was found dead July 17 in the vicinity of Stillhouse Hollow Lake, around 15 miles from the Fort Hood base. August 2, 2020:  The body of Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas, 24, is recovered from Stillhouse Hollow Lake following boating incident not far from where Morta was found. August 12, 2020: Spc. Cole Jakob Aton, 22, of Kentucky died after he was hit by a car as he was assisting a minor accident scene  August 13, 2020: National Guard soldier, Sgt Bradley Moore dies during a training exercise at the base  August 19, 2020: Sgt. Elder Fernandes, 23, is reported missing after he was last seen on August 17. August 26, 2020: The body of Fernandes is believed to have been found about 30 miles from Fort Hood The body of missing Fort Hood soldier Sgt. Elder Fernandes was found 30 miles from the Texas base where he was stationed, police said last month.   Fernandes, 23, was reported missing on August 19. Killeen police said he had not been seen since August 17 when his staff sergeant dropped him off at home. His body was found a week later on August 29.  Fort Hood public affairs officer Lt. Col. Chris Brautigam later confirmed Fernandes had reported sexual abuse before his disappearance and was transferred to another unit, 'to ensure he received the proper care and ensure there were no opportunities for reprisals.'  Khawam, a lawyer representing the family of Vanessa Guillen, another Fort Hood soldier who went missing and was found dead, and now the Fernandes family, told ABC News that Elder got 'very, very depressed' after being sexually harassed while working in a supply room in April.    'I am saddened that another soldier who served the country has been destroyed by sexual assault and sexual harassment and this toxic culture in the military that exists,' Khawam added.     Fernandes' disappearance comes a year after the disappearance of Pfc. Gregory Morales, 24, a Fort Hood soldier who was reported missing on August 20, 2019.  His remains were found June 21 in a field in Killeen, near Fort Hood. Killeen police and Army officials are still investigating his death and foul play is suspected.   Vanessa Guillén´s body was found a week later in July after her disappearance in April.   Fellow soldier Spc. Aaron Robinson, 20, killed and dismembered Guillén and had the remains disposed of in nearby woods, federal and state investigators said.   Robinson killed himself July 1, the day Guillén's remains were found, officials said.  Cecily Aguilar, 22, of Killeen, has been accused of disposing of Guillén's remains for Robinson and has been charged with three federal conspiracy counts related to the soldier's death.  She has pleaded not guilty. Guillén´s family has said she was sexually harassed by the soldier suspected of killing her, but the Army has said there is no evidence to support that. There is an ongoing investigation.   Other soldiers to have died this year include: Pvt. Mejhor Morta; Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas; Pfc. Brandon Scott Rosecrans; Spc. Freddy Delacruz Jr; Spc. Christopher Wayne Sawyer; and Spc. Shelby Tyler Jones.  The two most recent deaths linked to the base include Sgt. Bradley Moore, 36, who died at the base during a training exercise last week. He was with the Texas Army National Guard.   Spc. Cole Jakob Aton, 22, was also killed last week while assisting at the scene of a car accident near the base. He had been standing on the road trying to direct traffic around the crash when he was hit by a car.  Aton had previously shared petitions and posts on social media demanding answers into the deaths and disappearances at the Fort Hood base.   Last week, the body of Sgt. Elder Fernandes, 23, was discovered after he went missing back on August 17. Fernandes was not reported missing for two days.  Pvt. Mejhor Morta, 26, of Pensacola, Florida was found dead July 17 in the vicinity of Stillhouse Hollow Lake, around 15 miles from the Fort Hood base The body of Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas, 24, left, is recovered from Stillhouse Hollow Lake followinga boating incident. Shelby Tyler Jones, right, was shot dead at a convenience store in Killeen in March +10 Major General Scott Efflandt has been removed from his position as commander of the base and will also no longer take on the role of commander of a division at Fort Bliss, the US Army announced in a statement Tuesday +10 One of the entrances to Fort Hood is seen. The commanding general of US Army Forces Command, Gen. Michael Garrett, has directed Maj. Gen. John Richardson IV to formally assume the role of acting commander at Fort Hood from Wednesday It then emerged he had claimed he was being sexually abused by a male superior prior to his disappearance. This came after the April disappearance of 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillen, who vanished after telling her family she was being sexually harassed.  Her dismembered body was discovered in July. Fellow soldier Spc. Aaron Robinson, 20, killed and dismembered Guillen and had the remains disposed of in nearby woods, federal and state investigators said. Guillen's family said she told them before she vanished that she was being sexually harassed by Robinson.     Inside embattled Fort Hood: Two bloody rampages that killed 16, at least 15 soldiers found dead this year and two arrested in a child prostitution sting The death of yet another Fort Hood soldier this week has shed light on the string of tragedies and deaths that have plagued the embattled US Army base in Texas in the last decade alone.  Two bloody rampages have left 16 people dead, at least 15 soldiers have died or been found dead this year and two were arrested this month in a child prostitution sting. The string of disappearances and deaths involving Fort Hood soldiers led the US Army Secretary to launch an investigation into the base last month. +10 There has been a spate of disappearances, death and accidents at Fort Hood in Texas in recent years, including suspected murders Two Fort Hood soldiers were among the nine people arrested earlier this month in a massive child prostitution sting. Anthony Xavier Antwon, 25, (left) and Timmy Jones Jr., 30, (right) were allegedly caught trying to pay minors for sex over social media At the time, Secretary Ryan McCarthy said that Fort Hood had one of the highest rates of murder, sexual assault and harassment in the Army.   The most notorious of those cases was the disappearance of 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillen in April. She vanished soon after reporting she was being sexually harassed at the base.  Prior to her disappearance, Fort Hood soldier, Pfc. Gregory Morales, was reported missing from the base a year ago on August 20, 2019.   Meanwhile, two Fort Hood soldiers were among the nine people arrested earlier this month in a massive child prostitution sting.  Anthony Xavier Antwon, 25, and Timmy Jones Jr., 30, were allegedly caught trying to pay minors for sex over social media.  They are accused of contacting police posing as 15 and 16-year-old girls on social media and arranging to meet them for sex.  Police allege the men were willing to pay the girls in cash, drugs or alcohol. They were arrested when they arrived at the arranged locations to meet who they thought were the underage girls.  Fort Hood has also been linked to two shooting massacres involving a soldier and a military psychiatrist.  Back in April 2014, Iraq war veteran Spc. Ivan Lopez opened fire at the base killing three and wounding 16 others.  He then shot himself dead.  Back in April 2014, Iraq war veteran Spc. Ivan Lopez opened fire at the base killing three and wounding 16 others. He then shot himself dead Authorities, at the time, had suggested that Lopez had gotten into a verbal altercation with soldier in his unit just prior to him opening fire.  Five years earlier, psychiatrist Nidal Hasan slaughtered 13 of his comrades, as well as an unborn child, at the army base in 2009 in the name of Islam. The shooting massacre left 32 others injured. He remains in prison on death row where he has been fighting his conviction.  The string of tragedies at Fort Hood resulted in Secretary Ryan McCarthy launching an independent investigation into the base to determine if leadership failures have contributed to the deaths and disappearances of the soldiers. Army leaders have delayed the planned transfer of Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, the Fort Hood commander, to a more prestigious assignment at Fort Bliss, Texas, while the investigation is carried out.  Five civilian experts have already been sworn in for the investigation to assess command culture to 'root out' why there's been such high cases of violence, deaths, and disappearances. Those review results will be released in October.  The review was prompted by the slaying of Guillen.  McCarthy noted that her death has become catalyst for the Army in highlighting issues of sexual harassment and assault in the military.  'I am markedly disappointed and saddened by one of our own killing a teammate,' McCarthy said last month.  'It takes a shot at the system and it rattles the system of the trust that you have to have in this profession.'   McCarthy said the review of Fort Hood will examine claims and historical data of discrimination, harassment and assault. Nidal Hasan remains in prison on death row where he has been fighting his conviction ever since the shooting massacre He also said he is in discussions about the language of a bill that is set to be introduced before Congress that seeks to address reporting mechanisms for sexual assault and harassment in the military. 'One harassment and one assault is one too many,' McCarthy said. McCarthy said he conducted nine listening sessions and had candid conversations with Fort Hood soldiers of every echelon this week to understand the culture on and off the base.  He said investigators will be conducting a full independent review to understand why Fort Hood has seen a rise in felonies and violent crimes. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8687091/Fort-Hood-commander-REMOVED-post-deaths-soldiers-army-base.html