The commander of a local National Guard unit faces an October court-martial on charges of misconduct, misusing funds and fraternizing with subordinates.
Capt. Darrel Hull, who commanded the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 252nd Military Police Company during the unit’s recent combat tour in Iraq, was kept in Iraq after his troops returned home.
The Knoxville-area resident has been charged by the U.S. Army with “several specifications of misconduct relating to drinking and possessing alcohol in theater and while on duty, fraternizing with subordinates, misappropriating government funds and conduct unbecoming,” according an e-mail from the U.S. Forces-Iraq press office spokesman Capt. Dan Churchill.
Tennessee Army National Guard spokesman Randy Harris has deferred all comments to the Army as that is the command under which Hull currently is assigned.
Hull’s court-martial is to begin Oct. 23 at Victory Base Courthouse in Baghdad.
The 170-soldier military police company returned to its home in Cleveland, Tenn., on July 25 after an 11-month stint in Iraq.
Soldiers in the unit contacted by phone and e-mail declined to comment about the captain or the charges.
Hull did not return requests for comment sent via e-mail.
He is being represented by military counsel at the trial and is “presumed innocent of all charges until proven guilty,” Churchill wrote.