Roy Hobbs
Jul 31st 2008, 12:37 PM
Air Force Officer Dead; Likely a Suicide
By Sharon Weinberger July 29, 2008 | 11:16:25 AMCategories: Planes
The Air Force's bad year just got a whole lot worse. A general who spent nearly two years as the executive officer to the recently ousted Air force chief of staff has died in an apparent suicide at his home in Alaska, AP reports:
Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Tinsley suffered a gunshot wound to his chest late Sunday night and was pronounced dead within a half hour, said Col. Richard Walberg, who assumed command at Elmendorf Air Force Base after Tinsley's death.
Tinsley, the commander at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base, previously worked at the Pentagon under General T. Michael "Buzz" Mosely, who along with Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, was recently forced to resign.
The suicide is a serious blow to the service, which yesterday saw two more resignations of senior Air Force officials. There was also another suicide last year. Charles Riechers, a former top Air Force acquisition official, committed suicide last year after a sadly flawed newspaper article asserted that he had been given a "no work contract."
The Air Force's misfortunes actually extend back several years, beginning with initial Air Force tanker lease deal with Boeing. Since that time, a number of scandals ranging from nuclear bungling to acquisition mismanagement (and the occasional hyped non-scandal) have led to the departure of a series of senior service officials.
With a decapitated leadership and a dwindling senior acquisition work force, the Air Force is no doubt in for more tough times.
[Image: U.S. Air Force]
By Sharon Weinberger July 29, 2008 | 11:16:25 AMCategories: Planes
The Air Force's bad year just got a whole lot worse. A general who spent nearly two years as the executive officer to the recently ousted Air force chief of staff has died in an apparent suicide at his home in Alaska, AP reports:
Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Tinsley suffered a gunshot wound to his chest late Sunday night and was pronounced dead within a half hour, said Col. Richard Walberg, who assumed command at Elmendorf Air Force Base after Tinsley's death.
Tinsley, the commander at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base, previously worked at the Pentagon under General T. Michael "Buzz" Mosely, who along with Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, was recently forced to resign.
The suicide is a serious blow to the service, which yesterday saw two more resignations of senior Air Force officials. There was also another suicide last year. Charles Riechers, a former top Air Force acquisition official, committed suicide last year after a sadly flawed newspaper article asserted that he had been given a "no work contract."
The Air Force's misfortunes actually extend back several years, beginning with initial Air Force tanker lease deal with Boeing. Since that time, a number of scandals ranging from nuclear bungling to acquisition mismanagement (and the occasional hyped non-scandal) have led to the departure of a series of senior service officials.
With a decapitated leadership and a dwindling senior acquisition work force, the Air Force is no doubt in for more tough times.
[Image: U.S. Air Force]