The rebuke of three flag officers Tuesday for their alleged dealings with a disgraced contracting firm was chilling news for dozens of officers who operated in the Pacific and had interactions with the firm's charismatic former head.
Leonard Francis, known in Navy circles as "Fat Leonard," in January pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States. As the head of husbanding firm Glenn Defense Marine Asia, Francis is accused of leading at least a decade-long scheme to over-bill the Navy for ships pulling into ports across the Pacific, and used gifts, prostitutes, parties and golf to deepen ties to senior officers in the region and ship commanding officers who were passing through.
Rear Adms. Mike Miller, Terry Kraft and David Pimpo were censured by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Tuesday for allegedly accepting gifts from GDMA during the carrier Ronald Reagan's 2006 deployment.
Prosecutors have indicated that Francis is cooperating with investigators, and that has admirals squirming, according to two sources with knowledge of the Navy's internal deliberations.
DEFENSE NEWS
3 Admirals Censured in 'Fat Leonard' Scandal
"With Leonard cooperating, for senior admirals — and there are a whole [bunch] of them who went through 7th Fleet and had dealings with GDMA — they are sweating like hostages to see what Fat Leonard will say about them," said one retired Navy captain who had direct dealings with Francis. The retired CO, like other former and serving officers, asked for anonymity while the Navy and Justice Department investigations continue.
The concern among those current and former officers is that even routine dealings with Francis are being scrutinized for ethics violations, to include any gift from Francis or GDMA valued above $20. Francis purchased fancy dinners for all three admirals, two of whom endorsed his firm, the Navy's top spokeswoman told The Washington Post.
But some may have solicited gifts or provided classified information about ship movements to Francis in return for special favors.
Former ship COs who dealt with Francis, many of whom are now admirals, are under direct suspicion, one retired flag officer attested.
"Anyone who took a big deck through 7th Fleet over the past 10 years has got to be nervous about now," he said, adding that it was clear that Francis was targeting the carrier strike group commander (Miller), the carrier skipper (Kraft), and the supply officer (Pimpo).
The retired admiral said he sees the ethical lapses stemming from one particular mindset, "Hey, it's how we've always done things out here."
For another former commanding officer, the censure letters reinforce a growing trust deficit between more junior officers and senior Navy leaders.
"Something is wrong here," the active-duty O-6 said. "When [senior officers walk] around and say that there isn't a trust deficit between junior officers and senior leadership, it's things like this that call b------- on that."
NAVY TIMES
Retirement rank in question for rebuked admirals
Kraft, Miller and Pimpo bring the number of admirals implicated in the Fat Leonard affair to five, but Navy Times' sister publication Defense News reported Feb. 8 that nearly three dozen admirals are under federal investigation for ties to GDMA.
The first two names to be released publicly were Vice Adm. Ted Branch, director of Naval Intelligence, and his deputy, Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless. Both have had their security clearances suspended for 16 months.
Branch is under suspicion for receiving a gift from Leonard during his time as CO of the carrier Nimitz in 2005.
The three rebuked officers from the 2006 deployment of Reagan suggests prosecutors may be working their way back through the carriers that deployed to 7th Fleet over the past decade searching for more dubious relationships.
