WASHINGTON - A US Army general has been fired from the service following an investigation that confirmed he had carried out an extramarital affair for over 10 years and led a “swinger lifestyle,” according to media reports.

Maj-Gen David Haight, who until May ran operations for US European Command, had an extramarital affair with a military contractor he met in Iraq in 2005, USA Today reported. They regularly had sexual encounters and visited clubs and held parties with multiple partners and other couples, the investigation showed.

Extramarital affairs violate military law, and such activity makes such a high-profile Army figure vulnerable to blackmail, presenting a significant security risk, news reports pointed out.

Haight, who was a key adviser to former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Mike Mullen during the 2011 operation that killed Osama bin Laden, would have had access to high-level national security information.

 Haight is the married father of four children but his companion in swinging circles was 49-year-old Jennifer Armstrong, who spilled the details of their torrid love affair to USA Today, which first reported the story.

The love struck pair met in 2005 when Ms Armstrong was working as a contractor in Iraq handling the remains of combat fatalities. Haight was stationed there at the time as the commander of the 2nd Ranger Battalion.

 Armstrong sent Haight a flirtatious email complimenting his “terrific smile” which sparked a years-long affair that spanned Haight’s multiple proceeding postings, according to emails provided to USA Today.

Some of the emails include explicit sexual language.

Armstrong said she found couples and women for their trysts either at her home or when they visited swingers clubs together in Northern Virginia, when Haight was working at the Pentagon.

The affair abruptly ended in 2015 when an anonymous tipster alerted the Pentagon inspector general to the misconduct.

 Investigators also found he misused government resources in order to call and email Armstrong to arrange the sexual encounters. Haight made 84 private phone conversations from his government cellphone, totaling more than 1,400 minutes. He also regularly sent emails to Armstrong from his Army account. She provided copies of their communication to USA Today.