--- title: "Why Are So Many O-6s Behaving So Badly? And Other Military Mischief" date: "2018-09-10" modified: "2018-09-10" authors: - name: "Tom Ricks" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/tom-ricks/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/military-colonels-o-6-behaving-badly/" categories: - "Opinion" tags: - "Leadership" - "scandals" --- # Why Are So Many O-6s Behaving So Badly? And Other Military Mischief ![]() Air Force colonels be freaking out: - Here’s an unusual one. The commander of the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base got the big heave-ho for [alleged financial improprieties](). He had been in charge for less a month. - An [Air Force colonel was arrested]() after getting rowdy at a Boy George and the Thompson Twins concert in Dayton, Ohio, last week. I look forward to a defense based on “that’s what a mosh pit is for.” Don't worry, other O-6s are trying to keep pace: - The reason for the relief a few months ago of the Coast Guard captain commanding its Long Island sector was [inappropriate behavior with three female Coast Guard]() members. The information was obtained by the redoubtable Julia Bergman of *The Day* newspaper through a FOIA request. The captain said in his own defense that he is “a touchy feely guy.” Something like that makes me think he needs a lawyer. - The former head of the Army MPs in Stuttgart was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and dismissal from the military for [choking his wife](). - More weird stuff from the [implosion]() of a Marine colonel. Among other things, “The colonel was accused of forcing a subordinate officer to send him photos of his wife in lingerie and sharing them with Mapson. Mapson said Wilson later demanded nude photos and a used pair of the woman’s underwear. Mapson said Wilson also made crude sexual comments to a fellow Marine’s wife, drank to excess every day, drove drunk, sent an inappropriate email to Mapson.” Meanwhile, back in the Navy: - The skipper of the [USS *Bremerton* (SSN 698)]() was relieved after confidence in him was lost - Likewise curtains for the CO of USS *Florida* (SSGN 728) (Gold). [Not]() for the first time on this boat. - The XO of the [USS *Decatur*]() was fired after ditto. - A retired Navy captain was charged with taking [$145,000 in bribes from old “Fat Leonard.”]() He had moved on from the Navy to FEMA in Hawaii. Triple dipping? - Another Fat Leonard case seemed to [fall apart in court](). Makes me wonder if defense counsels are finding the holes in the cases. “The proof? You can’t handle the proof!” *But, Tom,”* you may inquire disconsolately*, “what about the generals, please don’t forget them, have them been good?*” Well, OK!: - The Army booted the [two-star commanding the rather obscure CASCOM]() command, which is the Combined Arms Support Command, of which I had never heard. Official Army reasoning for the move remained obscure. - The Air Force opened an [innovation lab]() in, uh, Montgomery, Alabama. Not really a state known for it. But then the Army thinks that Augusta, Ga., is a peachy place for its [cyber command](). I mention these here because I wonder if the people making these decisions should be fired. This is like the Navy opening a sea navigation center in Nebraska. (And yes I know about Navy nuke school in Idaho.) ![]()