Pentagon reassigns head of Defense Centers of Excellence

The Defense Department announced on Thursday it has reassigned the head of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, who was under investigation following a workplace complaint filed against him.

Dr. George Peach Taylor Jr., acting director of the TRICARE Management Activity, which is part of the Military Health System, said Army Col. Robert Saum was removed from his duties as the interim director of the centers, the removal of which Nextgov first reported on Wednesday. Saum has been reassigned within TRICARE, which manages health plans for military personnel, pending the results of a Defense Department inspector general investigation.

Taylor said Saum will be replaced by Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, director of force health protection and readiness programs in the Military Health System.

Saum took over as head of the centers in June after Army Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, who served as director since the organization began operations in November 2007, abruptly departed with no public announcement. She now works in an unspecified capacity for Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army's surgeon general.