Air Force Brass Slammed For $50M Contract

Pentagon Probe Criticizes Leadership For Steering Contract To Promote Aerial Stunt Team

(CBS/AP)  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.

Overall, officials said, the investigation found that the contract award to Strategic Message Solutions showed preferential treatment.

The report says the contract awarded to SMS "was tainted with improper influence, irregular procurement practices and preferential treatment," reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. It also says SMS "was a skeleton operation without the resources to undertake a contract effort of this magnitude," which was to provide a giant video display at Thunderbird air shows.

The contract was awarded to SMS because its president, Ed Shipley, "had a longstanding relationship with senior Air Force officers and members of the Thunderbirds." He had on his board a retired general who had once head a command which included the Thunderbirds, adds Martin. To help SMS win the contract, one Air Force officer arranged for President Bush to give a testimonial to the Thunderbirds which SMS included in its winning video display. The officer who awarded the contract said he did not believe SMS had submitted the best offer but he had caved in to pressure from above.

Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not yet been released, said the report is most critical of Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Goldfein, who was commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and was then responsible for the Thunderbirds.

Goldfein is now the vice director of the Joint Staff. Capt. John Kirby, spokesman for the Joint Staff, said that Goldfein declined to comment.

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.

Later, after bids were sought, SMS was awarded the five-year, $49.9 million contract. But two losing bidders complained that the company had an unfair advantage, including its decision to make retired Gen. Hal M. Hornburg a partner.

The Air Force looked into the matter and canceled the contract with SMS in February 2006, and Wynne directed the Pentagon's Inspector General to investigate.

Shipley sued to reinstate the contract, which was to provide "audio, visual and concert quality sound production presentation" on the Thunderbirds. Strategic Message Solutions was paid $1.9 million for work that had already been done when the contract was terminated.

The IG report is another spate of bad news for a military service that has been battered in recent months with criticism and investigations.

Results of the contract probe are surfacing just days after Defense Secretary Robert Gates got a preliminary briefing on an investigation into the mistaken delivery of four ballistic missile fuses to Taiwan.

The fuses were shipped from an Air Force base in Wyoming to a Defense Logistics Agency warehouse at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, and were then shipped to Taiwan officials, who actually had ordered helicopter batteries.

Gates has directed the Air Force, Navy and Defense Logistics Agency to do a full inventory of their nuclear and nuclear-related materials and review control procedures for those items. And he asked Navy Adm. Kirkland H. Donald to do a full investigation of the delivery mistake. He got an initial report from Donald on Tuesday.

In August an Air Force B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. At the time, the pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard.

The Air Force is also at the center of an ongoing dispute over a $35 billion tanker award to the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.

Boeing Co. has filed a formal protest citing "irregularities" in the competition. And lawmakers on Capitol Hill have complained about the contract, which calls for the replacement of 179 air-to-air refueling tankers.

Air Force and Pentagon leaders have defended the tanker decision as a fair and legal competitive process.

[makemyday2da]

The corruption can be attributed to BOTH political parties. But since this administration has been in office, this country has fallen victim to all the greed taking over every aspect of our lives: oil, military contracts, foreclosed homes, and on and on. And what about the farm bill that caters to huge corporate ''farms'' with millions of dollars - and none of it reaching the true ''family'' farmer. I should stop reading the news since there is so much waste I read about everyday - while our troops are coming home from combat and losing their benefits due to PTSD. Truly tragic!

[lovegetpeace]

The Government is sleeping with some cuter in the Defense Industry. Oh my God! Where is our moralities?

[kaviz]

Next, maybe someone can tell me why our military tax dollars are spent sponsering Nascars cars.

[slim1h2o]

Posted by starleo14672 at 10:30 AM : Apr 18, 2008

I have always seen Homeland Security as a joke.

You don''t get to be known as Homeland Insecurity for nothing!!,,,,,,,,LOL,

And the other poster(iCi2i) is right on the mark! They''re is is no one ,,and I do mean No One, in this guv''ment that is not corrupt in some way!

Dam right shameful, is what it is!

[starleo146]

Hey lastdance, you left out the poster child of corruption and absolute incompetence, our saviors in FEMA. Another bunch of GOP politcal appointees and good ole'''' buddy nepotism scammers who stick fellow Americans in chemically tainted trailers, buy, transport and store ice for no good reason and couldn''''t find their way out of a closet unless there''''s a buck in it for them.

A democracy relies on charachter, morals and respect for country above self. There aren''''t enough laws in the land to overcome one who is determined to profit on loop holes, deceipt and corruption. For every rat that is exposed, there are a hundred more in the walls.

Posted by iCi2i at 10:10 AM : Apr 18, 2008
+ report abuse

FINALLY someone has seen HOMELAND SECURITY is a JOKE and all the depts. they head is a JOKE and Chertoff should be anywhere but heading this farce of an organization, we are in such big trouble. What ,What, has not been corrupted, tell me

[ici2i]

pls excuse spelling, should read "character"

It''s not only repubs that are corrupt, wasting money on pet projects and bending our Constitution to suit their own goals and ambitions, although they are definitely in the spotlight for good reason these days. Many libs have experience in this area of personal gain over country as well. However, the repugnants have set a new record by far on how many levels of government they''ve managed to taint, abuse, and manipulate. One of the latest examples was that bull *** about the foreign contract loop hole which they now claim was an innocent over sight...yeah, right!

[ici2i]

Hey lastdance, you left out the poster child of corruption and absolute incompetence, our saviors in FEMA. Another bunch of GOP politcal appointees and good ole'' buddy nepotism scammers who stick fellow Americans in chemically tainted trailers, buy, transport and store ice for no good reason and couldn''t find their way out of a closet unless there''s a buck in it for them.

A democracy relies on charachter, morals and respect for country above self. There aren''t enough laws in the land to overcome one who is determined to profit on loop holes, deceipt and corruption. For every rat that is exposed, there are a hundred more in the walls.

[oscarez]

This is just another example of a federal government out of control. "$20,000 per Household: The Highest Level of Federal Spending Since World War II". Say good by to SSI.

[bwright923]

Hey but that is a cool commercial on the front page! That missile coming across the screen was cool.

[brianbwb-2009]

"These are the actions of a few corrupt individuals, not typical." Posted by FloydZepp

Now Floyd, you know better than that, bid rigging, no bid contracts, sweetheart deals, kickbacks, improper influence by "lobbyists" and government officials regarding budgets and earmarks are endemic to how the US government operates.

This is in fact very typical, and denying it gives the corrupt more opportunity to be so.

[slim1h2o]

Time to pull the plug on this "stunt" team. We could use that money in other places, like medical, for one. Just think of the fuel saved,,and the reduced emissions, Al?

But don''t get me started.

[dylanxxv]

Why should taxpayers give them 50mil to hotdog around in planes that our tax dollars paid for? We can use that money elsewhere...

[sumarongi1]

Just like the story of Merrill Lynch losing 1.95 billion dollars last quarter. I doubt they care. The executives will still take home their six and seven figure incomes and their six and seven figure bonuses will still be there. It''s the investors nationwide who were the losers. Who cares? Obviously not our leaders. Business as usual in Washington and Wall Street. Meanwhile gas goes ever higher. I wonder how many billions in record profits they will post next quarter?

[sumarongi1]

Just business as usual in America as the good ol''boy network does it''s stuff. Why not, look at the example their commander in chief has set. Fair business practices are out of season. It''s not how good your products or services are anymore, but who you know and how much of a bribe you offer. We have devolved into a country where honesty and integrity are no longer virtues, but liabilities. Shame, shame and more shame.

[joyous88]

The Gate way1

just another neo con liar

take your bible an go home

[termtex01]

"Posted by hungry1968 at 08:39 PM : Apr 17, 2008"

Maybe you''d like explain how the Pentagon%u2019s hand were tied by how CONGRESS wrote the laws pertaining to ''sole survivors''. Or how Spc Hubbard had the option of staying on active duty in a non-combat role and still receive full benefits. Or how a Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif, stepped in to get this fixed:
"The Army further advised Hubbard that he wasn''t eligible for transitional health care, even though his wife was pregnant, nor was he eligible for educational benefits under what''s commonly called the G.I. Bill. Pentagon officials said they were simply following the rules.
"I don''t think anyone meant it to happen this way," Nunes said, blaming the hang-up on mid-level bureaucrats.
In December 2007, Hubbard contacted Nunes'' staff and sought assistance. By mid-December, Nunes had called on the secretary of the Army. Whether it was a coincidence or not, Nunes spokesman Andrew House said, the Army quickly backed off on its demands that Hubbard repay the enlistment bonus.
Health care benefits were also extended to Hubbard''s wife, under the secretary of the Army''s discretion, but some other benefits couldn''t be extended. The Pentagon said its hands were tied by the way current law is written. In response, Nunes and others began drafting a new law.
Currently, "sole survivors" are prohibited from serving in a combat zone. They can remain in the military if they choose."

[cyberus-2009]

LOOK OVER HERE!

Pay no attention to the war behind the curtain!

[inventagod]

Yet another obese hairy white belly, giggling it''s way to a huge retirement...

[inventagod]

It is just Big Business, as usual.

[hungry1968]

Taking care of the troops - Bush and Cheney style:

FRESNO, Calif. %u2014 Forced to leave the combat zone after his two brothers died in the Iraq war, Army Spc. Jason Hubbard faced another battle once he returned home: The military cut off his family''s health care, stopped his G.I. educational subsidies and wanted him to repay his sign-up bonus.


Read the whole story here:

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/news/234736.php