Col. Jeffrey R. "Woody" Woods, commander of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, was relieved of duty Wednesday due to a "lack of confidence," just nine months after taking command of the base, officials said.

Woods, a former F/A-18 Hornet test pilot who commanded a fighter jet squadron in Iraq, was relieved by Maj. Gen. Peter J. Talleri, commanding general of Marine Corps Installations Pacific, according to Marine officials.

Lt. Col. Michael P. Antonio was named interim base commanding officer. Antonio previously served as director of operations and training for Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Lt. Col. Curtis Hill, director of public affairs for Marine Forces Pacific at Camp Smith, said he could not disclose whether Woods’ removal was prompted by a personal or performance issue, or whether Woods’ actions endangered any troops.

"Specific circumstances of the relief are a private matter protected by the Privacy Act and therefore not releasable to the public," Hill said.

A Marine who answered the phone in the base command office late Wednesday afternoon said Woods was not in. Woods did not return a call from the Star-Advertiser. Hill said he wasn’t sure whether Woods was reassigned to another position.

"It happened today," Hill said of the relief action on Wednesday. "I don’t know that (Woods’ placement) has been addressed yet. I’m sure it will be addressed in the near future."

Marine Corps Base Hawaii, which includes personnel at Kaneohe Bay and Camp Smith, had about 15,500 active-duty members, with Kaneohe home to about 9,500 Marines and sailors.

Woods assumed command of the base on Jan. 21.

The Salt Lake City native grew up in Tucson, Ariz., graduated from the University of Arizona in 1986 with a degree in aerospace engineering, was commissioned in the Marine Corps and earned his flight wings in 1989.

Woods was a test pilot at the F/A-18 Advanced Weapons Laboratory at China Lake, Calif., and later commanded at least two squadrons. Woods said in his biography that he had flown more than 30 different aircraft. From July 2010 to January 2011 he was the current operations officer at Marine Forces Pacific.

Although the Marine Corps said it could not discuss the reasons for Woods’ removal due to privacy issues, the Navy, by contrast, revealed in March 2010 that Cmdr. Jeff Cima, the commander of the Pearl Harbor submarine USS Chicago, was relieved of duty for "drunkenness" and conduct unbecoming an officer during a visit to a Reserve Officers Training Corps program on the mainland.