Hooker Hill Visit Leads to End of Career for Top Military Advisor to US Secretary of Defense
This general officer just committed career suicide. I just can’t believe how these general officers getting in trouble like this think they can get away with such behavior?:
The former top military adviser to Defense Secretary Ash Carter used his government credit card for almost $2,900 at two strip clubs and behaved inappropriately with DOD female staff while on official travel, according to a Defense Department inspector general’s report released Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Ron Lewis, once considered a fast-rising star and a long-time trusted aide to Carter, was stripped of his position last fall just days after the delegation returned from an international trip that included stops in Malaysia, South Korea and Hawaii. [Stars & Stripes]
Here is what he did while in South Korea:
The second government charge occurred in spring 2015, in Seoul at the “Candy Bar” club, “an establishment in an area of Itaewon, Seoul, commonly referred to locally as ‘Hooker Hill,’ ” according to the report. Many of the clubs in the area are off limits to U.S. servicemembers due to the illegal activities.
Lewis charged $1,121.25 on his government credit card at the Candy Bar and later told investigators he didn’t know why he had used that card there.
When defense staff processing his expenses noticed the charge, Lewis claimed that it must be fraudulent and had it disputed.
You can read much more on the link.
According to the IG report linked at Stars & Stripes:
“On January 2, 2015, while serving as the Chief, Public Affairs, Office of the Secretary of the Army, MG Lewis was promoted to major general. From April to June 2015, MG Lewis served as Special Assistant to Ashton Carter, the
Secretary of Defense. On June 24, 2015, MG Lewis was promoted to lieutenant general and began his assignment as SMA to the Secretary of Defense.”
So he got promoted from 2-star to 3-star in less than six months and no doubt was on his way to a fourth star … but threw it all out the window by lying about using his GTCC at a juicy bar.
There should be a new rule whereby any general/flag officer relieved for misconduct causes the service to loose that billet for three years. Literally overnight such misconduct issues would disappear…
What I wonder is how long has he been able to get away with such behavior? I hope the IG did a complete investigation into his past Government Credit Card use as well.
I’m not sure how other’s government credit cards work, but for us (and I know this because I’m the one who receives the bill and pays it off if something needs to be paid off) each charge is considered and we don’t necessarily receive credit on all of the charges…it depends. It’s just like any other credit card. And the charges are right there for perusal and inspection, it’s not like you can use that card anywhere and the government will just pay it off.
He might’ve just been drunk and used the wrong credit card.
I’ll use an example, at present they owe us about 1,500 because I paid too much of it (since I wasn’t certain what portion to pay and I didn’t want to get fined). This is listed as a credit on our new statement. I’ll let finance work it out….