Air Force leaders under fire for $50 million contract

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - A Pentagon investigation scheduled for release this week will be highly critical of Air Force leadership, including its top officer, in connection with efforts to steer a $50 million contract to promote the Thunderbirds aerial stunt team, The Associated Press has learned.

A report compiled by the Defense Department's Inspector General finds that the 2005 contract for Thunderbirds' publicity wasn't awarded through a fair and open competition. And it will say that improper influence was used to choose a particular bidder who had ties to a retired general, according to several defense and Congressional officials.

The investigation comes amid escalating problems for Air Force leadership, including questions about the service's handling of nuclear and nuclear-related materials, challenges to a recent $35 billion Air Force tanker contract award, and anger over efforts by the Air Force to lobby Congress for additional funding for the F-22 Raptor.

Details of the inspector general's report have not yet been released, but officials familiar with it said that it does not find any criminal conduct. They said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley comes under fire, but the report does not find that he was personally involved in the matter. Instead, the criticism largely is over early communications he had with the eventual winning bidders.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080417/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/air_force_investigation

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FBI Investigating $50M Air Force Contract
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

Friday, May 19, 2006

The FBI is investigating the award of a $50 million publicity contract for the Air Force's Thunderbirds aerial stunt team to a company with ties to a recently retired general, military and law enforcement officials said Friday.


The Air Force canceled the contract with Strategic Message Solutions in February, after two losing bidders complained that the company had an unfair advantage, including its decision to make retired Gen. Hal M. Hornburg a partner, according to a federal lawsuit over the contract.


Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne directed the Pentagon's inspector general to review the contract award. The inspector general referred the matter to the FBI to look into possible violations of federal contracting laws, a law enforcement official said.


A senior defense official said the Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service opened a criminal investigation into the matter around the end of February. A short time later DCIS brought in the FBI.

more:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/05/19/national/w141413D78.DTL

General Hal M. Hornburg

After retirement, Hornburg joined the board of advisors for Karta Technologies, Inc.<1> and Strategic Message Solutions, which has been accused of improperly winning a contract for a video promotion called "Thundervision" that would accompany U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds to air shows. The $49 million contract was awarded to Strategic Message Solutions at the urging of T. Michael Moseley, despite the next highest contract being $25 million dollars less. Hornburg joined the company six months after retirement, although ethics rules mandate a one year time interval.<2>

more:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Hornburg

To promote a bunch of aerial stunt pilots? Is it any wonder we're broke?

This is absolute lunacy.

More republicon family values...sheeh.

They should have given Cheney and his Gangster posse a piece of the action. They would have made millions more and "no one" would have noticed

~snip~
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne took administrative action against Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Goldfein, who was the commander responsible for the Thunderbirds at the time, as well as two others, and referred action on two additional personnel to their commanders, the service said in a statement.

~snip~
The investigation goes back to 2005, and began with allegations that Moseley and other Air Force officers tried initially to give the work to Strategic Message Solutions and its president Edward Shipley without going out for bids.

The Air Force said the IG probe found that the contract was "tainted with improper influence, irregular contracting practices and preferential treatment for SMS." The service also said the assistant U.S. attorney in Nevada has declined to pursue any criminal prosecution.

"I am deeply disappointed that our high standards were not adhered to in this case," Wynne said in the statement. "This is not how the Air Force does business, and we are taking steps to ensure this doesn't happen again."





http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt_top.jsp?cat=TOPBIZ&feed=ap&src=601§ion=news&news_id=ap-d903qsvg0&date=20080417&alias=/alias/money/cm/nw

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne disciplined a top Pentagon official and four others involved with a $50 million Thunderbirds air show contract after an investigation showed the deal was "tainted with improper influence," the service said on Thursday.

~snip~

An Air Force spokesman declined to say how Goldfein was disciplined, saying punishment could range from a verbal reprimand to a formal letter of admonishment. The four airmen in addition to Goldfein were at the rank of colonel or below.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080417/us_nm/airforce_contract_dc_1

Source: NY Times




Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/washington/18thunder.html?ref=us

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Interpretation: General Goldfein or the Thunderbirds are not members of 'the club'?

That's what happens to most managers when someone else catches a subordinate in an improper act.