Former Pentagon official hired by Boeing pleads to conspiracy charge

Yahoo! ^ | 20 Apr 2004 | Andrea Shalal-Esa

[Mr Rogers]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A former Pentagon (news - web sites) official hired by Boeing after working on a controversial deal to lease tanker planes to the Air Force pleaded guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge, officials said.

Darleen Druyun, 56, could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison under the charge of "conspiracy to commit acts affecting a personal financial interest by negotiating employment," according to a Justice Department statement.

The deal to plead guilty to a single criminal information came amid an investigation that could have led to an indictment on additional charges.

Druyun, who was the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition and management, helped negotiate the 2002 deal with the Boeing Company to lease 100 Boeing 767 tanker refueling aircraft for the Air Force for more than 20 billion dollars.

She accepted a job with Boeing in January 2003 as vice-president and deputy general manager of the Missile Defense Systems.

Prosecutors said Druyun's daughter, herself a Boeing employee, contacted a senior executive of Boeing in September 2002, setting in motion a process in which Druyun worked out a deal to retire from the Air Force and accept a senior position at Boeing.

"At a time when the government is straining to fulfill its responsibilities with limited resources, it is critical that public officials act with honesty and integrity," US Attorney Paul McNulty said in a statement.

"Darleen Druyun placed her personal interest over the interests of the Air Force and American taxpayers. Secretly negotiating employment with a government contractor, at the same time you are overseeing the negotiations of a multi-billion dollar lease from that same contractor, strikes at the heart of the integrity of the acquisition process."

Druyun was fired last November, along with Boeing's chief financial officer, after details of her job agreement came to light.

Several members of Congress have criticized the tanker deal as too costly compared with the price of purchasing the aircraft outright.

The original plan to lease the 100 tankers ran into trouble over its cost and the viability of leasing, and Congress finally accepted a plan to lease 20 planes and buy 80 to reduce the program's cost.

But some critics of the plan say it should be rebid, questioning whether the European aerospace company Airbus got a fair chance to bid on the contract.

A Senate committee will discuss a series of investigations in early May that could determine the future of the contract.

The Pentagon's inspector general recommended this month that the Pentagon delay the acquisition until serious problems can be corrected.

Boeing said in a statement that the plea agreement related to improper conduct in hiring that the company uncovered itself but not to the tanker program.

"Today's action ... is the result of Boeing voluntarily reporting unethical conduct to the US attorney and other government agencies last November," Boeing said in a statement.

"It is important to note the charge announced today relates to conflict-of-interest in Ms Druyun's hiring and is not related to Boeing business, its financial performance or the 767 tanker program.

Boeing shares fell 94 cents or 2.3 percent to 40.55.

[Mr Rogers]

About a year before she left the government, she gave a briefing on acquisition to a bunch of 4-stars. The thrust? If it violates regs, do it anyway - get it fast to the folks in the field. If it violates public law - try to find a way around it. Test and acquisition people should be 'risk-takers'. She also advocated taking 'high risks', but then argued programs should have a 90% chance of success.

In my experience, acquisition programs with a 90% chance of success were rated 'very-low risk' - but when I read the briefing, my comment to my co-worker was, "She wants me to violate regs & law so she can claim credit...the hell with that!"

Legal trouble couldn't happen to a better person. Folks who work acquisition are warned NOT to take jobs from people they oversee...guess she thought that only applied to the little people.

[ConservativeVoice]

I knew her back in AF Systems Command. Her only concern was to please her political bosses. Darleen couldn't have cared less for the good of the country, the Air Force or the troops in the field.

There was a specific case where she tried to block a move to protect the US and the AF against large potential liabilities vis a vis a foreign military sales program because the then current administration in DC was misleading the public about what we were doing.

I agree: this couldn't have happened to a more deserving crook!

[XHogPilot]

Can either of you provide additional background on Darleen Druyun? Was she an executive level political appointee? How did she get her jobs?

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Wow - is her retirement going to be different than she planned!

[XHogPilot]

Darleen Druyun, recently served as the principal deputy assistant secretary for Air Force acquisition and management. She helped drive acquisition reform within the Air Force. Her ‘Lightning Bolt’ initiatives, which jump-started the reform process, have saved the U.S. Air Force and taxpayers more than $20 billion to date.

Prior to serving with the U.S. Air Force, Druyun was the chief of staff for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and had also served as the agency’s associate administrator for procurement. Druyun earned her bachelor of science degree from the University of Chaminade and is a graduate of the Harvard Executive Security Management Program. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gen. Bernard A. Schriever Award from the Air Force Association and the Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award.

[WideGlide]

I'd be interested to know her ties to one of Boeing's fat cat lobbyists on Capital Hill. I think her name is ........DASCHLE!! yeah that's it.

[giznort]

I have so much to learn. I recently read the "Skunk Works" book, so have a different take on military aircraft acquistions/procurement, etc. I guess one should never be suprised. Am thankful, however, for the successes that do proceed in spite of the petty bureaucrats that gave us the B1 and (my favorite) B2.

[Wil H]

So why is this woman nailed and Tom Daschle's wife left untouched ???


Oh yes, silly me, I forgot...

[Cogadh na Sith]

You are so right! I'm now watching the damage she has done in the acquisition process (I won't disclose particulars)....

Send that ugly-assed biatch to prison!!!

[Mr Rogers]

A smart and ethical person can short-circuit the process and make acquisition run better. However, there are a lot of smart people selling things to the government and not very many ethical people.

Most of the 'road-blocks' in the acquisition process were put in place to stop fraud & to prevent the taxpayer from getting soaked by cheats. When I first got involved in test, I figured large companies would try to make a buck - but they were Americans first. Boy, was I wrong!

Lockheed & Boeing would screw Uncle Sam six ways from Sunday to make an extra 5 cents. And acquisition reform, as promoted by Darleen &, I hate to say, Rummy is intended to throw more money at the contractors & trust them...a very bad idea.

Darleen's 'Lightning Bolts' seemed to be...You take risks & cut corners. If it works, I'll take credit. If it fails, I'll watch you hang.

Now she gets a turn in the noose...

[saminfl]

You are so right! I'm now watching the damage she has done in the acquisition process (I won't disclose particulars)....

I am seeing the same thing from where I am. The acquisition process is a complete mess.

[rcofdayton]

She was a career civil servant, although a very high ranking one. She left plenty of enemies here at Wright-Patterson AFB.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Same with Hill AFB. We know who she is.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

My former boss was one of those "screw the rules and take high risks" people who would benefit if it worked and let you hang in the breeze if anything went wrong. People like that are such slugs. They get pay raises and promotions on your good work and throw you to the wolves if it's ever discovered that rules were broken, denying that they ever ordered you to do it. These people are lower than scum.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Lockheed & Boeing would screw Uncle Sam six ways from Sunday to make an extra 5 cents.

So would any other contractor out there. Goodrich, Boeing, you name it. They're all turning out junk parts and they're not accountable when they get caught red-handed cutting corners. It's just unbelievable. I read books about Kelly Johnson and the SR-71 Blackbird as a kid and had this glowing image of Lockheed growing up. Those days are gone, they're just another scumbag contractor turning out junk like the rest of them.

[Mr Rogers]

Sounds like we are in total agreement! Lockheed builds something that doesn't work, then charges the government to fix the problem that poor work by Lockheed caused. And the government coughs up the cash!

I'm leaving test for a staff puke job, but we're still fighting to get the government to force Lockheed to fix faults we found 2 years ago. Very frustrating.

That's why I disagree with the acquisition reform going on now - one wag described it as shoveling money at the contractor until the contractor cries "Uncle".