The U.S. Army has formally removed Col. Derek R. Baird, the garrison commander at Fort Sill, ending a months-long administrative suspension that began in November while an internal investigation was underway.
According to a Fort Sill Public Affairs statement released Feb. 3, Baird was relieved of command effective Jan. 28 due to a “loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command.” As is typical in such cases, the Army declined to release any details regarding the findings of the administrative investigation or the allegations that prompted it.
Baird had been suspended from his duties in November 2025, with officials at the time confirming only that an administrative investigation was ongoing. That suspension remained in effect until his removal last month. Fort Sill officials said the deputy garrison commander will continue serving in an acting capacity and that installation operations remain unaffected.
The Army rarely discloses the substance or outcomes of administrative investigations involving senior officers, and officials indicated no further information is expected to be released.
Baird is a career field artillery officer who enlisted in the Army in 1997 before commissioning through Officer Candidate School in 2000. Over more than two decades of service, he deployed multiple times, including combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and previously served as assistant commandant at the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill. He assumed command of the Fort Sill Garrison in June 2024.
As garrison commander, Baird was responsible for installation-wide services ranging from public works and logistics to human resources and community engagement, including coordination with the City of Lawton and local education officials.
At the time of his suspension, the Army emphasized that administrative suspensions are non-punitive and do not imply guilt or innocence. “The Army takes all allegations seriously and remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of conduct and accountability among its leaders,” officials said in a November statement, adding that updates would be limited to protect the integrity of the investigative process.
This marks the second high-profile senior officer investigation at Fort Sill in recent years. In 2023, Maj. Gen. Kenneth Kamper was suspended and later relieved following a Department of the Army Inspector General investigation related to violations of hunting regulations on post.
The Army has not indicated whether Baird’s suspension and subsequent removal were tied to misconduct, command climate issues, or failures of oversight. However, the relief comes amid heightened scrutiny of leadership accountability at Fort Sill following recent criminal proceedings involving training cadre.
As previously reported by The Salty Soldier, an Army drill sergeant assigned to Fort Sill was convicted in January 2026 at a general court-martial of sexual harassment. Staff Sgt. George L. Singleton, assigned to F Battery, 1st Battalion, 31st Field Artillery, was found guilty of two specifications of sexual harassment under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and sentenced to confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.
Singleton was acquitted of multiple additional charges, including abusive sexual contact and prohibited relationships with trainees. Army officials have not publicly linked that case to the garrison command investigation, and no evidence has been released establishing a direct connection between the two matters.
Still, the proximity in timing underscores the Army’s ongoing struggle to reconcile public messaging about leadership standards with its longstanding practice of withholding substantive information when senior officers are relieved.
Baird’s relief closes the administrative chapter of his tenure as garrison commander, but it does so without public clarity—leaving soldiers, civilians, and the surrounding community to once again read between the lines of a familiar phrase: “loss of trust and confidence.”
The Salty Soldier will continue monitoring for any Inspector General findings, adverse administrative actions, or related disclosures connected to the investigation.
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