Lieutenant General John W. Hesterman keeps his rank
Chief Tango sends us a link to the Washington Post which reports that Air Force Lieutenant General John W. Hesterman will keep his rank through his retirement despite the fact that he was fired from his position as assistant vice chief of staff for conducting an unprofessional relationship with a subordinate officer and demonstrated conduct unbecoming of an officer.
The investigation into Hesterman was launched after a complaint was registered in August that he carried on an unprofessional relationship with a subordinate and meddled inappropriately in the assignments of her husband, who was an Air Force colonel. The husband alleged that a relationship between his wife and Hesterman dated to at least 2007, when the general was a one-star officer and commander of the 48th Fighter Wing in Britain.
Hesterman denied that a sexual relationship took place, but emails that were entered into divorce proceedings between the female officer and her husband were examined by the inspector general and ended Hesterman’s career.
The decision, according to the Post, is worth about $18,000/year to Hesterman – the difference between two-star and three-star retirement pay. The savings for Hesterman is just a hair below my entire retirement pay check for the year.
By the way, Air Force, don’t come crying to me when Congress finally sticks it’s nose into your sexual harassment assault response and prevention business when you do things like this. The husband was clearly mistreated by the general so the flag officer could carry on a sexual relationship with the colonel’s wife. The Air Force Secretary and the Defense Secretary signed off so the general could keep his full retirement pay.
Category: Air Force
As the saying goes: Different spanks for different ranks.
^^^Word^^^
Politics. RHIP
Atrocious
Oh, he’ll pay for it some day. It’s a shame his first name isn’t Richard.
So “LTG JODY” gets to keep his retirement. Rank and perks for something that would have dearly cost someone of a lesser rank, Atkron said it right. IT MUST BE NICE to have stars on one’s shoulder and being plugged into a high-powered Good ‘ol Boy network in that whorehouse of the Potomac River and I don’t mean just in the five-sided asylum.
Oops, “whorehouse ON the Potomac River”, A Proud Infidel®™ needs to either do a better job of proofreading or buy a better set of glasses.
Actually PFI in The Potomac would be okay as well….literally…and yes I mean literally not figuratively.
Yet another story in the ongoing saga of the Death of the Rule of Law.
Can’t respect the man or the uniform, anymore.
Great. Just freaking great! Way to go, USAF and DoD!
Yes, that was sarcasm.
Thanks…from the sarcasm challenged like me. 🙂
Must be nice to be part of the Flag Officer’s Club… boinking a JO and getting caught – don’t lose a thing. Be an enlisted person in the same situation – get dorked in the squeakhole for a good long time and lose everything!
Hesterman’s probably got a job all lined up there in DC, courtesy of his “friends”… fucking cocksucker!
Yup. Remember all that sexual harassment training we got right after Tailhook? I sure do.
Remember how many khakis you saw in that training? If you said zero, we must have gone to the same training.
Yep… Tailhook. Worked with an Internal Medicine doc who had a twin brother (Flight Surgeon) that was assigned to one of the squadrons, but did not attend that year’s event. The brother had his promotion to CDR held up for two years until they cleared him from being anywhere near the event (he was on leave with his family in FL at the time it went down). He caught Hell for years over it from his brother and a few others – that “guilt by association” thing.
I was in an Attack Squadron at the time…hence my name.
Not ONE Flight suit attended that 8 hour training session…and guess what? Not one fucking with an E in front of their paygrade even attended that shindig from my squadron.
PS…it is my understanding that the bitch lied about the whole thing.
To be fair, the accusation wasn’t that he fucked her, but that they exchanged inappropriate emails and he acted to alter the career of her husband. That doesn’t make it better. Hesterman was married at the time, IIRC.
“and he acted to alter the career of her husband”.
That alone should be grounds for giving up at least one star.
I wonder how many underlings he thru under the bus for the same behavior. To bad you cant Google that up.
No worries, Congress has been on the AF SAPR programs ass for the last few years and doesn’t look like it’ll lighten up anytime soon.
As for this guy, what an asshole. Sounds like his girlfriend is a wonderful person too. Both of them can go to hell.
No, did anyone not see this coming after the AF caved in the Kelly Flynn case?
Ahh yes, another giant fuckstick of a turd gets to pretend he’s still an officer and a gentleman because his rank won’t be tarnished…keep thinking that you soggy wet turd of a shitbag piece of garbage motherfucker…
Hey fucksticks in charge, going easy on the guys who fuck the enlisted people regularly doesn’t do much to encourage respect or any belief that your officers have any sort of moral standard under which they operate. We fuck over the really good mid-grade officers for doing their jobs and we protect the asswipes…and protecting the asswipes tarnishes the respect for all of the officers of the military.
A double injustice was done today bozos….you tarnished good men with a turd stick of association by protecting a fucktard who couldn’t keep his pecker on the right side of the zipper while in command. What a great and shining example you fuckers are to the rest of us, thank you ever so much for sharing your infinite wisdom….you assholes are the kind of morons who think you can pick up a turd from the clean end.
VOV: I’m tired of you sitting on the fence. You have to come down on one side of this issue or the other, and tell us how you really feel. No more wishy-washy.
And, yes, this would be sarc.
BTW, this goatfuck doesn’t deserve three stars. I’m not certain he deserves any stars. How can he possibly not feel lower than whale shit for screwing over the career of a man who has done nothing to deserve crappy treatment? I JUST DON’T GET how these turds operate.
Oh, yeah, he’s almost certainly on his way to the defense industry where he will be a lobbyist or consultant or some such make-work that pays multiples of his active duty pay.
Nothing more than pond scum. Oh, my usual apologies to pond scum.
Hoping his wife divorces him and takes him for a ride. Maybe she already has. Toad
I say give credit where it is due. John “One-Star-Light” Hesterman did not decide his own punishment for his offenses. Credit for that goes to USAF Secretary Deborah James who recommended the action and, of course, Sec of Defense Ashton B. Carter, who approved it. Together, James and Carter have (using calculator…using calculator…got it!) a total of 0 years, o months, and o days of military service. However, and this cannot be stressed strongly enough, both possess degrees from prestigious universities and both are in the vanguard of ripping the fabric of traditional military culture apart.
^^^^^^ This ^^^^^
I also have 0 years, 0 months, 0 days in. And I still say fuck ’em all. And fuck the douchebag at the center of this mess.
And I bet your fire chief never worked a fire. Am I right? Tell me I’m right. Say it’s so!
But she worked for SAIC; that’s almost the military right?
The story of King David and Bathsheba comes to mind. This guy should have gotten prison time at the least. I refuse to call him a General.
Well rank does have its prevliges WTF !!!!
No doubt he’ll have a dog and pony show retirement ceremony.
I had a battalion commander in Hawaii who later got caught banging the wife of one of his own company commanders. Talk about a breach of trust. There is a special place in hell for these rat bastards.
If a school teacher can go to prison for banging an 18 year old student then…. Agreed, major breach of trust.
Yeh know? Sometimes I wish we had a covert ops unit that specialized in assisting scumbags such as that in the story above in falling down stairwells in a lethal manner.
Too much shit is floating to the top, these days.
Scorned spouses work well for that — but it’s still illegal.
Here, here!
If you can find them, maybe you can hire-the Lay Team.
(Cue theme music of A-team theme in 70s porno background music format).
I would be among the first to volunteer for such a duty! I’m sure that many others have “accidentally” fallen down stairs for being a “Jody” in times past, and I’m sure it still happens.
Just another perfumed prince enjoying his harem.
Maybe it’s time to start making the women accountable for misbehavior, as well as the men.
Yes.
What a bunch of bullshit. So much for leading by example, huh? The affair bad enough. Screwing her husband over so he could continue boning the guy’s wife is another level of douchery.
They should publicly bust his ass down to airman and strip every award the cocksucker ever got. Then make him serve five more years as an E-1, doing every shit job at the most miserable base the Air Force has, with it being made known to every NCO and junior enlisted that he’s officially their bitch. Let the ratfuck snakeshit dickweed who abused his rank in such a despicable way be abused by every senior airman he sees. And no retirement, period. Retirement pay is for those who served honorably, which he didn’t, so he shouldn’t get a Goddamn cent from the Air Force once he’s out. We keep hearing about general officers pulling this kind of shit and getting away with a slap on the wrist, maybe losing a star. So make an example out of this fucker. And maybe do something to fix the promotion process so that shitweasels like him don’t get promoted to positions of such authority, while continuing to come down hard on those assholes who slip through the cracks.
I know, I know. Never gonna happen…
I see the problem. Statutorily, military branch secretaries are charged with “conducting the affairs” of their service. So, this all makes sense to me now.
Yet another perfumed, pampered, powdered and preened prince with stars on his shoulder gets caught flinging his dick around, I wonder how many innocent Servicemen and Women are now going to have to suffer through a bunch of Death by PowerPoint presentations because “LTG Jody” decided to think with his prick like a sixteen year old?
Hey look, gang, they used the VA rules on this one:
Stefanek said James’s recommendation was based on feedback from those carrying out the determination, consideration of past precedents in the Defense Department , Hesterman’s accomplishments as a three-star general, and “very extensive consideration of the nature of the misconduct” and when it occurred.
And
The U.S. military commonly retires officers at the last rank at which they served satisfactorily.
Since this started when he was a 1 star, he should be retired as a full bird.
OMG!!!!!!!!!! NO!
I knew Hesterman. I knew him well. I briefed him regularly when he was at the J5 and afterward when he worked for AT&L! He was wonderful and intelligent and informed…. What the fuck? Hesterman??? Of all fucking people. HESTERMAN?
Christ. I’m going to go cry. I really liked him.
One “OH, SHIT!”…
In the words of Louis L’Amour, “What do you suppose it is makes a man go to hell that way?”
Pussy.
Nicki, you do have an an amazing talent for cutting through the bullshit! Don’t ever change!
Hey. Just b/c he is said to have lied, cheated, and destroyed a subordinate’s career out of spite doesn’t make him a bad person, does it? Doesn’t tipping a waitress count for anything nowadays? Huh?
That was for you, Nicki. I was trying to make you feel better.
I seriously feel horrible about this. He was literally one of my favorite people at the Pentagon. 🙁 Honestly, he was the last person from whom I expected this type of behavior. This is really sad. Horribly sad. Just… wow.
Nicki. Look. He didn’t rape anyone. He didn’t murder anyone. And we have nowhere near the entire story. That dangler has gotten more guys in trouble than there are grains of sand in the Pacific. So, yeah, he’s catching shit but it’s as much (or more) about his light punishment than it is anything else. And, of course, he didn’t decide his punishment.
I know, I know.
It’s just that I’ve always considered him one of the really good ones. I hadn’t seen him for a couple of years after he left the J5, and when I saw him again, he was a three-star. I always thought it was well earned. He was thoughtful, intelligent, asked pertinent questions, had an inherent understanding of the issues, and was incredibly down to earth, even when he got the third star… unlike some jackasses I knew who acted like they were God’s gift to the military because they got a star. I really liked him as a person – not just an intelligence customer. I guess I should get used to people being a disappointment. I realize he probably didn’t even have an actual affair. The complaint shows inappropriate communications in what appears to be a really contentious divorce, in which the husband is also accused of infidelity.
I really thought him to have been a decent human being. Now, it’s just… ugh.
Nicki I hate to break it to you but he did this at a base I was at with him. And I am absolutely 100% sure because the woman was a close friend and told me. And it wasn’t the same woman here. He was smarmy.
Ah! Now I understand the source of the term ‘dickhead’.
Thank you. I have been enlightened.
FWIW: everything I’ve read says that a sexual relationship between the guy and the gal involved here – though strongly suspected – was never proven or admitted (and if I recall correctly, was in fact denied by both). I do have a problem with holding someone accountable for unproven and unsubstantiated accusations.
That said: misconduct (in the form of an improper relationship with a subordinate) was confirmed, at least on the GO’s part – his emails alone are enough to do that. They’re way beyond normal banter, and are clearly an attempt to get in the lady’s pants. Whether or not he was successful is immaterial – the attempt alone is enough to constitute improper conduct on his part. And that much is fully substantiated.
For that, he should have suffered consequences. Other than a bit of public shaming, he didn’t. THAT is where IMO the USAF and the SECDEF failed. The guy should IMO have lost at least one star – and maybe all 3, depending on how far back his attempts at an improper relationship could be proven.
If the lady reciprocated, she should get hammered as well. However, these days that’s simply not gonna happen. The Flynn case showed that very clearly.
Anyway: “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.” (smile)
0-9 Hesterman’s good buddy & fellow 1983 AFA grad VCSAF (presumptive next CSAF) Dave Goldfein saved his bacon. Goldfein could have recommended a 2 or 3 grade reduction to the SECAF. Gotta say this guy was flying up the career ladder: Lt Col in under 14 yrs, Col under 17 yrs, Lt Gen in 28 yrs.
You’re probably right. If so he owes his classmate bigtime.
And if you’re right, I’ve just lost one helluva lot of respect for Gen. Goldfein. Sometimes the good of the organization – and justice – simply have to take priority over personal friendship.
I actually know Gen Goldfein. His daughter and my son went to school together. Very disappointed.
We had a squadron Christmas Party, and the wife of one of my subordinates got well lubricated at the open bar.
She took me out on the dance floor started saying how much she wanted me, all the while grinding and grabbing at my junk.
I looked around and saw several Chiefs and Zeros looking our way; and I said in a very loud voice that she needed to get back to her husband NOW.
She sauntered off with a list to starboard, and I got the hell out of Dodge….Now if a very horny Petty Officer 2nd Class can figure that out…why can’t a Flag Officer?
Fucking Jody!
There’s an old saying about that, Atkron: “Two heads, but only enough blood to operate one at a time.” For some guys that’s absolutely the case.
I think we all agree a hard dick has no conscientious but what about the colonel’s wife? Seems to me she is more of the blame. Shoot the man and you only kill one lover, shoot the women and you put an end to what is going on. Bad judgments, absolutely, happened before, absolutely, happened to me – NEVER with a subordinate’s wife, emphasis on subordinate. Let’s admit it, most men are suckers for a little strange and they always get the blame and not the other guy’s horny wife.