Army Lt. Col. Herman Bernard West III, right, who once commanded the 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., will face court-martial charges for sexual harassment, the Army said Thursday, Jan. 4, 2023. West is a nephew of retired Army Lt. Col. Allen B. West, left, who served as a Republican congressman from Florida from 2011 until 2013 and later as chairman of the Texas Republican Party in 2020-2021. (Instagram)

A former Army battalion commander at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and nephew of a prominent Republican politician will now face court-martial charges for sexual harassment, the Army said Thursday.

Lt. Col. Herman Bernard West III on Nov. 20 was removed as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade at the joint Army-Air Force installation north of Tacoma, Wash. At the time, the Army gave no reason for his dismissal.

But Lt. Col. Jennifer Bocanegra, an Army public affairs officer, said Thursday that the charges include conduct unbecoming an officer and sexual harassment. West was charged Nov. 28.

Jason Wareham, a Denver-area attorney and former Marine Corps Judge Advocate representing West, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

West is a nephew of retired Army Lt. Col. Allen B. West, who served as a Republican congressman from Florida in 2011-2013 and later as chairman of the Texas Republican Party in 2020-2021.

In 2003, the elder West was relieved as commander of an artillery battalion in the 4th Infantry Division following a use-of-force incident against an Iraqi police officer suspected of attacking U.S. troops.

The elder West admitted to violating rules on treatment of prisoners, including subjecting one to a mock execution with an unloaded pistol and striking him during an interrogation.

West accepted nonjudicial punishment including a $5,000 fine and was allowed to retire from the Army in 2004 as a lieutenant colonel.