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Local contractors under scrutiny for using paid military 'mentors'

Former high-ranking military official limits his consulting work

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer Updated 1:51 AM Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Pentagon and Congress are looking into whether retired senior military officers have a conflict of interest when they serve as paid advisers, or “mentors,” to the Defense Department at the same time they are being paid tens of thousands of dollars to help defense companies try to win military contracts.

Dayton Aerospace Inc. and Durango Group LLC have been identified by the USA Today newspaper as being among numerous consulting companies that include at least one senior mentor and specialize in helping defense contractors obtain government work. Former Gen. Gregory Martin, who retired in 2005 as commander of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, now heads the Colorado-based Durango Group as its chairman.

USA Today, in a series of published reports since November, has examined apparent conflicts of interest that can occur when retired military officials, working as paid “mentors” to share expertise with active military commanders in war-game exercises, have access to classified strategies and weapons systems when they are also paid representatives of defense contractors. Such companies prize inside contacts when trying to win government business.

The overlap of duties is not illegal. But, in light of the reports, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a Pentagon review of the mentors’ pay, potential conflicts of interest and financial disclosure requirements. Gates is to receive that report in January from deputy defense secretary William Lynn, the Pentagon said Tuesday, Dec. 29.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., chairman of the Senate subcommittee on contracting oversight, is leading a separate investigation of the military’s use of retired generals and admirals who also work for defense contractors.

USA Today said it identified 158 mentors across the military services, including Martin, who has served as a senior mentor for the Air Force. The Dayton Daily News left a telephone message Tuesday seeking comment from Martin.

About 80 percent of the 158 mentors had financial relationships with defense contractors, but were not required to disclose that to the military or the public, USA Today reported.

The military’s senior mentor programs have grown in recent years, with little supervision from Pentagon leadership or Congress, the newspaper reported.

Retired senior military officers can receive pensions of up to $220,000 and pay of as much as $1,600 daily to be mentors, in addition to compensation for consulting for defense companies, USA Today found.

Brig. Gen. John Nauseef, a former high-ranking official of the Air Force Materiel Command who retired in 1993 to end a 30-year Air Force career, said Tuesday that he has worked seven years as a consultant for Beavercreek-based Dayton Aerospace Inc. Nauseef told the Dayton Daily News that he has met with leaders of the Defense Department’s mentors program, but has not participated in it.

Conflicts of interest could be a concern in handling such work, Nauseef said.

Nauseef said he has limited his consulting work to representing Dayton Aerospace. The company always discloses any potential conflicts of interest to the Air Force before making a commitment to the service, Nauseef said.

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