A key Army commander in the U.S. war against the Islamic State has been reprimanded by the Pentagon for steering a defense contract to a firm run by two of his former classmates at West Point, becoming the latest high-ranking officer to land in trouble for personal misconduct.

Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard, who as the Army’s deputy commander for operations in the Middle East oversaw the training of Iraqi forces, was formally reprimanded in February after a three-year investigation by the Army’s inspector general, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act.

An Army review board is considering whether to strip him of his rank as a two-star general before he is allowed to retire this year.

Pittard, long considered a rising star in the Army, returned to the United States in April from his headquarters in Kuwait.

The investigation into Pittard began in 2011 after an anonymous whistleblower alleged that the general had “abused his authority by awarding lucrative renewable energy contracts to his friends” while serving as the commander of Fort Bliss in Texas, the documents show.

Pittard was not accused of financial gain but was reprimanded by the Army for his “excessive involvement” in awarding the $492,000 contract and for “creating the perception of preferential treatment.” The contract was an initial step in a $250 million project to make Fort Bliss self-sufficient in energy usage.

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