Officer woes worry military
Yet insiders insist any misbehavior isn’t widespread
WASHINGTON — A flood of misconduct cases involving generals and admirals has created deep concern at the Pentagon about ethical and moral shortcomings among senior military officers and prompted new steps to tighten rules, increase inspections and weed out offenders, officials say.
The most recent cases — a Navy admiral under investigation for allegedly using counterfeit gambling chips and an Air Force general in charge of nuclear-tipped missiles relieved for what an official says was drunkenness off duty — follow a long list of officer wrongdoing in the last year. The offenses have ranged from ethical lapses to alleged criminal violations, including sexual assault.
Senior officers who have examined the problem insist that no evidence suggests widespread misconduct among the nearly1,000 generals and admirals in the armed forces. The number of cases where allegations of misconduct are substantiated remains low, and offenders are punished when identified, they say.
“We do not have an epidemic of flag-officer misconduct in the United States Navy,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Navy’s top spokesman, said in comments echoed by senior officers in other services.
But officials acknowledge that a steady stream of revelations has the potential to damage public confidence in an institution that portrays itself as abiding by the highest standards of conduct. That could harm recruiting, public support and morale in the ranks.
Though detailed statistics on officer misconduct are not available, an annual accounting of investigations by the Pentagon inspector general shows a growing number of cases, many in the Army.
In fiscal 2013, which ended in September, out of 250 allegations of misconduct investigated, 95 were found to be “substantiated,” including 26 in the Army, 10 in the Air Force, three in the Navy and none in the Marine Corps. Similar num- bers were investigated and substantiated in 2012.
By contrast, 125 senior officers and officials were investigated and 18 cases were substantiated in 2011.
Pentagon officials appear increasingly worried about the impact of the revelations, but there is also a reluctance to explore whether the cases are anything more than a temporary blip, several officials said, speaking anonymously to discuss personnel issues.
Last November, thenSecretary of Defense Leon Panetta ordered an internal review of senior officer conduct after Gen. William “Kip” Ward, an Army fourstar general who was head of Africa Command, was forced into retirement. A Defense Department inves- tigation found he had traveled on personal business at taxpayer expense, stayed at lavish resorts and accepted Broadway show tickets from a contractor.
The review found most of the major cases of alleged misconduct involved generals and admirals failing to abide by ethics rules governing gifts, travel and use of official funds, not criminal conduct, officers said.
And the review concluded that the spate of disciplinary cases, even though not widespread, does present at least a perception problem for the military, the officials said.
In the most recent cases, Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, who oversaw 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles, was reportedly fired this month for “personal misbehavior” that involved alcohol, a U.S. official said.
Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina, the second-incommand of nuclear forces at U.S. Strategic Command, was suspended and demoted this month because of a criminal investigation into whether he passed or sold counterfeit gambling chips used at an Iowa casino, according to another official familiar with the case.
Meanwhile, Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair faces a court-martial on charges he committed sexual misconduct with a subordinate. He has pleaded not guilty.
Therecent case involving retired Gen. David Petraeus, who served as top commander in both Iraq and Afghanistan, was perhaps the most damaging to the military’s reputation. Petraeus admitted last November to an affair with his biographer and resigned as head of the CIA.
The affair also led to an investigation into Marine Gen. John Allen, who followed Petraeus as commander in Afghanistan, over his relationship with a Florida socialite. Allen, who has since retired, was later cleared of wrongdoing by the Pentagon inspector general.
Some officers who have examined the apparent increase in misconduct allegations say that the demands of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may have contributed to a relaxation of ethical and professional standards. Some officers may have won promotions but might not have been chosen as generals and admirals during peacetime, they said.
As a result of the review, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has ordered a rewrite of ethics rules, stepped up training and called for each service to institute regular reviews of senior commanders.
But “the biggest problem may be getting senior officers to admit that there is a problem with the behavior of senior officers,” said one military official.