Yet more scandal for the Pentagon

MY TIMES STORY THAT DID NOT MAKE THE PAPER: Sexual misconduct allegations have been made against a top US commander nominated to be America's Number Two military chief. The accusations by a former female member of his staff at US Strategic Command, responsible for dealing with a nuclear attack on America, have cast last-minute doubt on whether Air Force General John Hyten will be confirmed by the Senate as the next vice chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. An "exhaustive" inquiry carried out by the US Air Force office of special investigations found insufficient evidence to consider criminal charges or administrative action. However, the female officr has now come forward anonymously to put her complaints into the public domain. She said that in 2017, as an aide to General Hyten, he had made sexual advances, including hugging and kissing her. She described the alleged approaches by General Hyten in an interview with the Associated Press as "abusive sexual contact". The Pentagon has been rocked by a series of embarrassing personnel revelations in recent weeks. Only this week Admiral Bill Moran, nominated to be the next chief of the US Navy suddenly announced his retirement. He had been due to take over the current chief on August 1. He was forced into retirement when it emerged he had continued to seek professional advice from former Navy public relations officer Chris Servello who had left the Pentagon after being acccused of inappropriate advances to female co-workers while dressed as Santa Claus at a Christmas party. It became known as the "bad Santa" scandal. With the acting defence secretary Pat Shanahan also withdrawing his name for nomination as Pentagon chief last month, the department is now suffering from glaring vacancies in top positions. Mr Shanahan stepped down after it emerged the FBI had uncovered alleged incidents of domestic abuse in his family. Mark Esper, former Army Secretary, took over as acting defence secretary but has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. The Pentagon closed ranks around General Hyten, declaring that there was no evidence of sexual misconduct, and insisted his confirmation process as the next vice chief of the Joint Staff would go ahead. Colonel DeDe Halfhill, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said General Hyten had fulfilled 38 years in service to the nation and had "proven himself to be a principled and dedicated patriot". The emergence of the accuser has complicated the confirmation process and could cause a delay. The present vice chief, General Paul Selva, is due to retire on July 30. The air force investigators interviewed the woman involved in the allegations as well as dozens of witnesses. There were nine alleged incidents between February 2017 and February 2018. They also examined thousands of emails. In the case of the sudden retirement of Admiral Moran, the service secretary Richard Spencer is now considering nominating a three star officer instead of selecting from the Navy's other four star candidates. Vice Admiral Michael Gilday, director of the Joint Staff and a former head of the Navy's Cyber Command, is expected to be nominated to the top job.