[sinjefe]

Originally Posted by afchic

And people wonder why our troops have a hard time respecting the Officer Corps. Typical, take care of your buddy bullshit. If this was a Lt Col or below they would be HUNG. I am so tired of this crap.

Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
October 5, 2012

Don't Demote General, Top Officer Urges

By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press

WASHINGTON--America's top military officer is opposing the demotion of a four-star general who is accused of spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on lavish travel and other expenses in a case that has been sitting on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's desk for weeks, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is among those who believe that Gen. William Ward, the former head of U.S. Africa Command, should be allowed to retire at his full four-star general rank, the officials said.

A Defense Department inspector general's report released in mid-August concluded that Ward "engaged in multiple forms of misconduct related to official and unofficial travel." It said Ward "conducted official travel for primarily personal reasons," misused military aircraft and received reimbursement for travel expenses that far exceeded the approved daily military rate without authorization.

Panetta has not made a final decision, officials said.

Other officials have argued that the allegations made against Ward in the IG report were serious and that senior officers need to be held accountable. Officials have suggested that similar misconduct by a lower-ranking officer or enlisted military member would garner severe punishment or dismissal.

Retiring as a three-star would cost Ward nearly $30,000 a year in retirement pay - giving him about $208,802 a year rather than the $236,650 he would get as a four-star. He also could be required to reimburse the Defense Department for tens of thousands of dollars.

The inspector general's report found that Ward used military vehicles to shuttle his wife on shopping trips and to a spa and billed the government for a refueling stop overnight in Bermuda, where the couple stayed in a $750 suite, a Defense Department investigation found. It detailed lengthy stays at lavish hotels for Ward, his wife and his staff members, and the use of five-vehicle motorcades when he traveled to Washington.

Not that I had any respect for Dempsey to begin with, but that just seals it. I wonder if he knows the damage that he (Dempsey) does to other GOs by doing this? If it were anyone else, they would be hammered and in Leavenworth.