Posted on 04/05/2014 8:22:57 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
The vice commander of the Air Force's 12th Flying Training Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph has been relieved after investigators learned he exchanged emails with the wife of a subordinate officer.
The messages were sent in 2007 while Col. James Gifford Jr. served at Vance AFB in Oklahoma, where he was director of operations with the 8th Flying Training Squadron. A major at the time, he rose to lieutenant colonel in October of that year and was the squadron's commander from 2009 to 2010.
He left the base to become military assistant to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
“The internal investigation found no evidence of a sexual relationship between the two people involved,” the Air Education and Training Command said in a statement. “However, the correspondence sent between them was determined to be unprofessional and Colonel Gifford showed poor judgment as an Air Force member, leading to his commander's decision to remove him from his post.”
The Air Force said the 12th Flying Training Wing's commander, Col. Gerald Goodfellow, relieved Gifford, a fighter and tanker pilot with more than 3,500 hours in the air, on March 24.
The action was taken because of a “loss of confidence in his ability to lead” the wing, but the statement did not explain how the emails were unprofessional. The Air Force did not elaborate after the San Antonio Express-News sent a list of questions asking about the nature of the messages, citing “privacy rights and concerns.”
The Air Force also wouldn't say how many messages were exchanged and said it has not been determined why the email relationship ended. An AETC spokeswoman, Amy Bartholomew, did say that Gifford did not review the officer's performance evaluations.
Gifford was reassigned to AETC's headquarters. His abrupt exit apparently marks the first time a vice commander at the wing has been relieved. Bartholomew said she did not know of an incident like it.
A relationship involving commanders and the wives of their subordinates - even by electronic mail — would be highly unusual and strictly prohibited.
“Unprofessional relationships, particularly by Air Force leaders, stand to undermine our entire team, damage good order and discipline, and threaten the trust people have in us,” the AETC statement said. “They simply aren't tolerated.”
A graduate of Rutgers University, Gifford came to the 12th Flying Training Wing in June 2012 after graduating from the Marine Corps War College, where he was honored for submitting the best thesis.
The Randolph-based wing, with 1,456 military and civilian workers, trains instructor pilots, combat systems officers and those who will fly drone aircraft. It also screens Air Force officers who enter pilot, combat systems and drone aircraft training, and has an average of 745 students a day.
Active Duty ping
Ping.
Purge continues ?
Sigh, the head on the shoulders is the one for thinking.....
jerk
needs to keep it in his pants
what an embarrassment to his family
Clowns. One would think after all that has happened around JBSA ‘they’ would get squared away.
When they are cutting staff, the littlest thing will be used to getcha.
2007. Ouch. Nevermind.
It continues...
Here is an article from 9 months ago...
Obama’s Purge: Military Officers Replaced Under the Commander-in-Chief
http://www.ijreview.com/2013/06/62053-president-obamas-purge-military-officers-replaced-by-the-commander-in-chief/
The purge of officers not deemed loyal to Obama continues. If you wonder what that NSA info is used for, here’s an example.
Yeah, except this crap happened seven years ago. No statute of limitations in the Air Force, huh.
Something else here.
Being in charge of Vice, it sounds like it’s all right up his alley.....
Do you really think that was the real reason?
There’s a good chance he didn’t even write those emails.
The Air Force also wouldn't say how many messages were exchanged and said it has not been determined why the email relationship ended.
He broke it off (woman scorned)?
Who is going through 7 year old emails to find stuff like this?
I’m not defending the guy, but SEVEN years?
Looks to me like they wanted to get rid of the guy so they went through his entire career looking for something to nail him with.
snort
if you say so
What colour is the sky in your world?
We are now talking about a few dozen commanders, or more, being relieved of duty since Obama took over. Do you really honestly believe that every single one of them have done things that warranted being relieved of command?
You know, the Navy had it’s problems with the whole “Tailhook” party scene years ago...You don’t hear much about it anymore...And that was mainly involving “hired” help, and gold wing chasers, not so much the wives of other officers in that branch of service, IIRC...
What is it about the Air Force now that has these officers making poor decisions and getting caught communicating like this over open and easily investigated channels???
I see the training wing is part of the drone training program as well...I guess you need to purify the bodily fluids from the new officer classes before they get any ideas about questioning any immoral orders concerning domestic surveillance and support of unlawful searches and seizures...
The perks associated with that kind of unquestioning support come later in those careers...
Ehhhhh, why should anyone really care...Nothing can really stop this agenda anyway...
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