Army names 1st civilian in charge of criminal investigations after Vanessa Guillen's murder

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Army has named its first civilian director of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command following review recommendations and investigation into the handling of Vanessa Guillen's murder.

On Wednesday, the Army announced it selected Special Agent Gregory D. Ford as its CID director.

SEE ALSO: Army to put civilian in charge of criminal investigations in wake of Vanessa Guillen murder

Ford is a veteran federal law enforcement officer with more than 20 years of experience in local and federal law enforcement, including 16 years at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service where he most recently served as the deputy director of operations.

In May, the Army announced that it would restructure its CID, following the recommendations made by an independent review panel in the wake of the violence at Fort Hood, including the death of Guillén, whose remains were found about two months after she was killed.

More than two dozen Fort Hood soldiers died in 2020, including in multiple homicides and suicides. Guillén's death and other cases prompted the independent review, which found that military leaders were not adequately dealing with high rates of sexual assault, harassment, drug use and other problems at the base. The review panel, which released its findings in December, also concluded that the Army CID was understaffed, badly organized and had too few experienced investigators.

Members of the panel told Congress members in March that the CID investigators lacked the acumen to identify key leads and "connect the dots."

According to the Army, the restructuring efforts split the duties that were previously assigned to one person, dual-hatted as both the CID Commanding General and the Army's Provost Marshal General, to focus the new civilian leadership solely on the criminal investigative process.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.