Marine Corps Lt. Col. Christopher O’Melia, the former commander of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, receives the battalion’s colors June 8, 2023, during a change-of-command ceremony at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. O’Melia has been dismissed as commander of the unit. (Keegan Jones/U.S. Marine Corps)

The commander of a 1st Marine Division battalion has been fired over a “loss of trust and confidence” in his ability to lead the formation, a Marine Corps spokesman said Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Christopher O’Melia was removed from command of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., on March 26, said Lt. Col. Lucas Burke, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Division. The decision was made by the division’s commander, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Watson, Burke said.

The Marines declined to provide any further detail about the decision to dismiss O’Melia from his post, including whether there were any investigations related to his removal. The Marine Corps — along with the other military services — routinely cite only a vague “loss of confidence” when removing commanders and other leaders from authority positions.

Burke said 1st Marine Division would release no additional information about O’Melia’s firing.

“There is no more sacred position in this division than that of a commanding officer,” Watson said in a brief statement. “Our Marines and sailors deserve the absolute best leadership the Marine Corps can offer, and I am committed to providing them the leadership they deserve.”

O’Melia took the helm of the battalion — a unit of about 800 Marines — in June 2023, according to the Corps. His official biography was not immediately available on Tuesday, but photographs on the service’s 12th Marine Corps District website show he had previously commanded its Recruiting Station Los Angeles until June 2021.

The 1st Marine Division’s website on Tuesday showed Lt. Col. Jonathan Wagner had taken command of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines since O’Melia’s dismissal.

Wagner enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2002, serving as a nuclear, biological and chemical defense specialist before receiving his commission as an infantry officer in 2006, according to his biography. Wagner’s a graduate of The Citadel in South Carolina and an Iraq war veteran. He most recently had served as operations officer for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, according to the Marines.