Regarding the Former USSTRATCOM Deputy . . .
By now, most have probably heard about the relief of VADM Tim Giardina. Until yesterday, he was the Deputy Commander of USSTRATCOM. He’d been suspended from duty, but not formally relieved, since 3 Sep. It was announced yesterday he’d been formally relieved from his position.
What you might not have heard was the reason. I didn’t know much about that – other than it was due to a “gambling investigation” – until today.
It seems the reports that this was due to a “gambling investigation” are indeed true. Giardina apparently went to a casino in Council Bluffs, IA, and did some gambling.
No issue with going to a casino; where Giardina went, casino gambling is legal. And it’s not prohibited by the UCMJ.
Except . . . it seems there might have been a bit of an issue with what went on at the casino.
Giardina is alleged to have used $1,500 worth of counterfeit chips while gambling at that casino. Seriously.
Iowa authorities have decided not to prosecute Giardina. The prosecutor apparently feels that – given Giardina’s exemplary service record to date and the relatively small amount (in dollar terms) of the alleged crime – it wouldn’t be worth the effort. He feels that because of those factors Giardina would likely not get any serious punishment in state court if convicted.
However, NCIS is continuing to examine the allegations; Giardina may end up facing charges under the UCMJ. If the allegations turn out to be true I personally hope he does.
In the interim, Giardina is being reassigned to the Navy staff, with duties not specified. As a consequence of the reassignment he’s also reverted to his previous 2-star rank.
As I said: the matter is still under investigation. Nothing’s yet been proven, and Giardina’s currently facing no charges.
But if the allegations are true, all I can say is: geez, Admiral. For freaking $1,500?
Category: Military issues, Navy
Concur. NCIS must be convinced that that good Admiral has a gambling issue that could “Compromise” his security clearance!
Most likely NOT the first time!
Very disturbing for an academy graduate AND a submarine officer.
The reversion to 2-star rank is similar (but not the same) as what happened to RADM Sestak. Sestak was also a Vice Admiral (3-stars) who was “asked” to resign by the CNO hisself, due to a number of factors revolving around creating a hostile work environment. Sestak got himself elected to Congress then kept using the Vice Admiral rank instead of his Rear Admiral rank until he was called out on it. Being a Democrat, Sestak probably felt he was entitled to the higher moniker. Sestak’s loss was because he didn’t have sufficient time in grade to be able to retire as a VADM. Many (including myself) thought it was deliberate of the CNO to pounce when he did in order to keep Sestak from retiring with 3 stars.
As to “Diamond Joe” the gambler here, he likely is in a similar situation. He’ll be looking at forced retirement (at best) and didn’t have enough time in grade to warrant retiring at 3-stars. He was also probably forced to take a job normally held by a RADM during his “reassignment”.
Both men were intelligent morons who seem to have let their egos take charge of their decision-making process.
Did the Admiral KNOW that they were counterfeit? Or was he given / did he get a stack of chips that he was unaware were fake? Is this something obvious, or too subtle for the average non-gambling person (such as myself) to detect. I would need to know a lot more on this before casting asparagus.
Moron!
@3. I’ll cast the asparagus, B Woodman. the state prosecutor’s comments are very telling. Note that no mention was made of the liklihood of conviction or of paltry evidence. The comment went to the likely sentencing outcome, a slap on the wrist. In other words, the juice ain’t worth the squeeze. But that aside, let’s say you wanted to acquire some chips. How would you do it? CraigsList? Angie’s List? My guess is that you would have no clue. And if you weren’t looking but the chips came to you, why would anyone think that you would be interested in $1500 worth of chips at a steep discount? “Geta your tutti-fruti and hot chips here!” No, he’s dirty. So, he’ll enroll in some gambling addiction program and bow out, I’m guessing. The odds of that are 8-5.
AW1 Tim: mostly correct.
I’m working from memory here and don’t have the time to verify it today, but as I recall the highest PERMANENT grade for an officer is O8 (MG or RADM). ALL 3- and 4- star positions are temporary ranks. When the incumbent leaves a 3- or 4-star position, after a set period of time they revert back to 2-stars if they haven’t been placed in another position authorized 3- or 4-stars. I believe that happened to GEN Ward while he was under investigation recently.
Retirement at the higher rank is a separate issue, and is determined by whether the individual had the requisite amount of “satisfactory service”. For GO/FO ranks, I believe that’s 3 years (might be 2, but I believe it’s 3).
As I recall, this issue “pinged” a recent Chief of Army Reserve a few years ago. That position is a 3-star billet (LTG). After serving in that position for a number of years (3+ if I recall correctly), the incumbent’s appointment expired and another individual was appointed to the position. The former CAR then had to revert to 2-stars for his next assignment because it wasn’t a 3-star billet. As far as I know, that didn’t affect his retirement – he still retired as a LTG as his service at that rank had been satisfactory and he had the requisite time-in-grade to retire with 3 stars.
B Woodman: yes, it’s possible this is all a “misunderstanding” or that the guy was scammed or set up. I wouldn’t take that bet, though. (smile)
We’ll see what NCIS says after they’re finished looking into the matter. Nothing has been proven at this point – hence my IF and ALLEGED caveats above.
Going by what I’ve seen and read elsewhere, he and his wife were VERY insistent on his subordinates buying diamonds, etc., through HIM as he traveled a bit and bought jewelry, etc.
So yeah, not the first indication of shady shit going on with him.
So it’s possible that VADM Giardina was another RADM Yancy Graham (the unpleasant sort that kicks people around while he’s pointing at the stars on his collar)?
Hondo and AW are correct. The issue regarding busting senior officers is related to fleeting up another qualified officer into a previously aithorized and confirmed billet and or appointment.
The same applies to enlisted as well. For example: I was 1 of 4 MMCM’s in my rate and branch. I had to retire before the next MMCS could be promoted. If had be busted from E-9 to E-8 then the next MMCS would have been promoted early.
When the loss of confidence is confirmed in a frocked member, the vacate and promote rule is typically enacted.
It is a solid procedure that ensures we have the authorized when and where we need them.
@#3… if he didn’t know they were counterfeit he should have been wary of something “fishy.” $1500 in chips not obtained at the tables, then enter a casino with them? Hmmm? NOT Kosher!
As for: “For freaking $1,500?” Nope…not just $1500, but an opportunity/possibility (gambling) for a lot more money. Gambling thrills are powerful! I’ve seen a lot of people crash…in ALL walks of life. Leonard Tose, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles lost his team on the blackjack tables of Atlantic City. The ex-mayor of San Diego blew a BILLION (with a B!) at the casinos in a nine year span.
I saw a guy at a three dollar blackjack table pull out quarters to split a pair of aces. I’m sure the rent money took a back seat that week.
Beretverde: I understand the immense attraction/adrenaline rush of gambling. And yes, many people have ruined themselves financially doing same, or have gotten themselves compromised or indebted to the point they were vulnerable to blackmail the same way.
What really galls me here is the piddling amount and the apparent stupidity involved. I’d not have been that surprised to find out he was indebted for 6-figures or something like that. But to (allegedly) risk your career and freedom on a fraud that’s not even 10% of a VADM’s monthly pay and allowances? Geez Louise, that’s unbelievable – and IMO, also unbelievably dumb!
If he was an experienced gambler, he also should know that many if not most casinos have some reasonably sophisticated surveillance and anti-counterfeiting technology regarding their operations and tokens. That he’d disregard that also amazes me. He also should have been well-aware of the fact that if a deal is too damn good to be true – best pass, ’cause there’s a damn good chance something’s fishy. People don’t usually sell dollar bills for quarters without a damn good reason.
Again, I suppose it’s possible the guy was “set up”. But I’m not sure I’d bet on that being the case at this point.
Folks who will cheat with as little as $1500 are likely to be cheating elsewhere as well…should be interesting to see this play out.
Hondo: I know an 0-6 arrested for shoplifting a pair of $100 sunglasses at the PX. Stupidity comes in all sizes!
He broke all the rules, nothing good happens at the following places late at night:
1. Whorehouse
2. Bar
3. Casino
4. The home of your buddy (while he is deployed).
This guy is guilty, has been relieved and shall be leaving soon enough.
He held a critial and sensitive position, violated the trust of his counrty with risky behavior and carelessly gambled away the safety and security of his family, troops, Navy and nation.
Carry on!
When I got out I had a job for a short time as store security (didn’t really get along with management which shortened the career path). Anyway, one day we bust a guy trying to shoplift about $75 worth of baseball cards and we take him into the office and call the police.
Turns out he’s a Lt Col in the Air Force and he had $200 in cash in his pocket. Long story short, that ended his career for him, all over some stupid cards he had the money to buy.
Beretverde: agreed 100%. No race/creed/culture/ethnic minority/occupation/rank/gender/whatever has a monopoly on being stupid. Nor do any have an exemption to the “there’s always that 10%” rule.
@ 1, 6, and 10: You’re all right. I like to look at it as the rank vesting in the position versus the rank vesting in the person. At the 1 and 2 star level, individuals go before a promotion board, get selected for promotion, and then they find a slot to stick them in at the new grade. For three and four star positions, you are nominated to fill a specific billet, and once Congress confirms you for the position, you go into it and get the star that comes along with it. If you have three years in a position as a three or four star, the President can ask Congress to retire you at the highest grade held. For one and two stars, it’s automatic as long as you have three years time in grade (unless you’ve misbehaved, in which case the “highest honorably held” provision comes into effect) So when the Chief of the Army Reserve left his position to become the US Military Attache to Pakistan, he reverted to a two star rank. But he retired as a three star. When then-Army Surgeon General Kiley was asked to step down as Surgeon General after the Walter Reed scandal, he reverted to his two star rank. And he retired as a two star, since he didn’t have three years in the position. also I believe I read that, while General Ward was being investigated, since he wasn’t in the AFRICOM Commander billet, he reverted back to being a two-star–but retired as a three star, his highest grade “honorably served.” The President can also request a waiver of the three year time in grade requirement from Congress, which is what he did to retire McCrystal as a four star after the rolling stone incident. Oh, and an interesting little tidbit–if you are relieved, at least in the Army, you can’t write an evaluation with a signature dated after the date of the relief. But if you ask to be removed from your position, you can. I was on the receiving end of an OER like that, during… Read more »
@ 18 … Don H. Thanks for reaffirming my rightness.
I AM A MASTER CHIEF … NEVER WRONG.
It never ceases to amaze me the stupid things people do that mess up what are otherwise good lives.
using phony chips? sounds like nightmare mode when I would arrive at the company office and have my platoon sgt or 1SG ask me “Sgt Andy do you know what your Joe did?”
If I or a e- was booted out, even with more then 20, would we not lose rank and privileges associated with retirement?
So O’s are better retirement, they can any time with any problems disregarded?
MPs have caught officers stealing a box of breakfast cereal at the Commissary before. You never know what motivates people to do such a self destructive thing like that.
Jim: that depends. If a punitive discharge is approved by the Court-Martial Convening Authority, yes – retirement bennies are forfeited. If not, then no. Courts-martials can also reduce enlisted personnel in rank, which I’m pretty sure can also hurt in terms of retired pay. (A reduction immediately before retirement sure as hell did hurt under the old “final pay” retirement pay system, but I’m not sure how badly it hurts under the “high-3” system in effect these days.)
For officers, there’s a slight difference. If an officer (commissioned or warrant) gets convicted by a General Court Martial, they either get a punitive discharge or are retained with their current rank. A court-martial can’t reduce officers (don’t ask me why – I’ve never understood that myself). There’s also no BCD for officers – they either get a DD/Dismissal (DD if a Warrant Officer without commisison, a Dismissal if a commissioned Warrant or commissioned Officer – it’s the equivalent of a DD for those with a commission) or they are retained.
In all cases, the individual may end up retired at a lower rank than the highest one held. Both officer and enlisted personnel retire at the “highest rank at which they served successfully”. That’s generally 2 or 3 years at the higher grades/ranks in order to meet TIG requirements to retain that highest rank (and the retired pay that comes with it) on retirement. Proven serious misconduct can and sometimes does invalidate “successful service”.
There was a case in 1999 where a MG was proven to have engaged in serious misconduct (adultery) as both a MG and a BG. As I recall, he was never courts-martialed – but he ended up retiring as a COL for precisely that reason.
Shit, we had a MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) Commander relieved at Camp Lejeune for shoplifting out in town last year. MEU Commanders are Colonel’s and are the cream of the crop of Marine Officers. “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men”.
The real problem wasn’t the counterfeit chips themselves, it’s that he made ’em out of genuine authenticator biscuits. 🙂
Hondo:
Yeah, I think I know who your referring to…former MG John J. Maher. He was assigned to the joint staff when he got sacked & was also former CG of 25th ID. SECARM Luis Caldera dropped the hatchet on him real good. Call it bad timing to misbehave, especially on the heels of fmr MG Hale’s CM (recalled from retirement to stand trial), SMA McKinney drama, and the Aberdeen Proving Ground scandal.
BTW GEN Dennis Reimer would be last CSA who could approve
retirements for GOs while still under investigation. DoD policy on retirements changed pronto after the David Hale debacle.
Devtun:
Correct, amigo. I’d actually worked for the guy briefly about a dozen years prior. Seemed like one helluva good officer and leader at the time. Too bad he turned out to have a serious “zipper problem” he couldn’t control.
I wonder if today he thinks the screwing he got as a BG and MG was worth the screwing he got on retirement.
Timing certainly helped ensure he got nailed, but he put himself in that position by his own acts. Playing with fire comes with the risk of getting badly burned.
“MCPO NYC USN (Ret.) Says:
He broke all the rules, nothing good happens at the following places late at night:
1. Whorehouse”
Classic definition of “…doing it wrong…”?
The latest news says insiders say he was dod..drunk on duty a few times and it caught up to him…cant link source since on phone….bit its from wash times and a few other places
Lol strike my last comment. I was trying to post on the other of the af flag officer being relieved of duty…
@24 Hondo – the reason officers can’t be reduced by Courts Martial is because their promotions are controlled by the Senate. The UCMJ requires that in order to reduce an E7 or above, the GCM authority must have authority to promote him/her to that grade. Since all officer promotions are controlled by the Senate, no GCM convening authority has the authority to demote someone he cannot promote. Same with SNCOs (in the Navy, E7 or above must be demoted at General Courts Martial, can’t be done at NJP).