---
title: "When Booty Calls: A Vermont Air Guard Commander Allegedly Used An F-16 For A Romantic Getaway"
date: "2018-11-28"
modified: "2018-11-28"
authors:
  - name: "Jared Keller"
    job_title: "Former Managing Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/vermont-air-guard-f-16-affair/"
categories:
  - "Air Force"
  - "Aircraft"
  - "Fighter Aircraft"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "National Guard"
  - "News"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
tags:
  - "Leadership"
  - "scandals"
---

# When Booty Calls: A Vermont Air Guard Commander Allegedly Used An F-16 For A Romantic Getaway

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/18991233-1.jpg>)

The commander of the Vermont Air National Guard was quietly forced out of his job after bogarting an F-16 Fighting Falcon in what amounted to an interstate booty call with an Army officer in Washington, D.C., according to [a salacious new investigation](<https://vtdigger.org/2018/11/26/flying-fraternity-guard-commanders-wings-clipped-secret-rendezvous/>) by VTDigger.

- Just a year after taking command of the Burlington-based 158th Fighter Wing, Col. Thomas Jackman "took an F-16 flight to Washington, D.C., for a work trip that doubled as a romantic rendezvous with a female Army colonel who worked at the Pentagon," VTDigger's Jasper Craven [reports](<https://vtdigger.org/2018/11/26/flying-fraternity-guard-commanders-wings-clipped-secret-rendezvous/>).
- "Jackman was scheduled to attend a conference at Andrews Air Force Base, located just outside Washington, D.C," Craven [reports](<https://vtdigger.org/2018/11/26/flying-fraternity-guard-commanders-wings-clipped-secret-rendezvous/>). "While the Guard says pilots do not typically use their planes to attend conferences, Jackman as wing commander had ultimate authority."

- The report was [based](<https://vtdigger.org/2018/11/26/flying-fraternity-guard-commanders-wings-clipped-secret-rendezvous/>) on emails between Jackman and the unnamed colonel that corroborate their romantic relationship, as well as interviews with several former Guard members "with knowledge of the incident."
- When the colonel's superiors found out about his alleged affair, "they were quick to take action, according to a former Guard member with knowledge of the investigation that followed," Craven reports. "Jackman was ordered to fly home on a commercial flight, three former members said. \[Lt. Col. Terry Moultroup\] then traveled from Burlington to Washington to pick up Jackman’s F-16 and fly it home."
- When reached by Task & Purpose, Army 1st Lt. Mikel Arcovitch, a Vermont National Guard spokesman, declined to comment on the incident, noting that regulations prohibit him from discussing investigations or personnel matters.
- Still, Arcovitch did tell Task & Purpose that the normal length of a wing commander's tour was between two and four years. "Typically no less than two, and no more than four," he said.
- Jackman only spent about one year in command of the 158th Fighter Wing. He was replaced by Col. Patrick Guinee in early 2015, according to Arcovitch.

### SEE ALSO: 5 Spectacular Military Joyrides From US History

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![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-815.png>)

## Author
Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredbkeller/>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/jaredbkelller/>)