Van E. Harl

GENERALS HAVE THE BEST UNION AND SEX

One of those fatherly points I remember from my dad was, “life is not fair.”

When I would whine as a kid that something was not going according to the rules of fair play, as perceived by a child, I would hear the above statement from my dad the Navy Master Chief. To this day when the word unfair starts to surface in my head, I stop and force myself to find some other way to express my displeasure in a frustrating situation.

Now the most senior lawyer for the Air Force has gone and failed to play correctly by the very rules he has spent his entire military career enforcing. The Uniform Code of Military Justice which is the rule book for everyone serving in the military has all kinds of regulations on who gets to have sex with whom. If you have sex with someone that the rule book says you can not, the military can make your life very miserable. This to include taking large chunks of your hard earned military pay in fines, destroying your career and sending you to jail.

It would appear that Major General Thomas J. Fiscus, USAF has allegedly been kissing the wrong people, 13 wrong people. In some types of crimes when a perpetrator commits that many multiple offences, we call them a serial predator. From my experience as a “cop,” breakers of law never tell the whole true. Is it really only 13? We have a never ending problem with fraternization in our Air Force, but the bigger problem is we tend to only punish the little people. If you are an NCO or a junior officer there is a good chance you will find your career ruined. Now if you are a pretty-boy General, like General Joseph W. Ralston and you get caught kissing the wrong person they just give you another great “General Job” and hope you keep your tongue to yourself. Remember “Generals have the best union” and of course their union steward is another General.

When I worked for General Ralston in Alaska he had the most drop-dead gorgeous, young female Captain in his office. Every where that man went she was with him. Perception is the rule here and I don’t think General Ralston ever understood that. The sad thing is people were laughing at his wife behind her back. When General Ralston was being considered for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (the top four-star General) and word of an alleged affair came out, I don’t think there were too many Airman in Alaska who had a hard time believing General Ralston might be guilty.

But that is old history; General Fiscus is today’s “General” problem. Since Fiscus was not a second lieutenant, you go directly to the special “General’s Rule Book” were the words “military court-martial” have been scratched out and the words “kid gloves” has been penciled in. General Fiscus is an Airman who should have gone to trial. If found guilty, been convicted and spent some time in jail. Instead he received administrative punishment and a small fine.

But does he get fired and loose all his retirement? Is he sent away in disgrace? Remember that “Generals Union” thing. There is talk that he may be demoted and not get to retire as a two star general. But, there is a little catch-22 here. Even if his military retired ID card says he is only a one star general, his retirement pay check will still be for a two star general. So just how much pain do you think this most senior violator of military rules is really going to suffer for his criminal actions and the disgrace he has brought to the Air Force? It would appear that no Air Force general officer has ever been court-martial and now our big Air Force is continuing this long disgusting tradition.

It is time in our military legal history to hammer the general. It is also time to start going after the “kiss-ee.” It takes two to Tango and in Fiscus’s case it took 13 to Tango. The Air Force seams to always let the junior member of the sexual situation off free. Somehow the full grown adult, who happens to be junior in rank, is just to lacking of intelligence, to be held responsible for their emotional/physical actions. I must also submit that I have lost a tremendous amount of respect for the four-star General (read-senior shop steward) who presided over this case and basically let Fiscus get away with making a mockery of military justice. “Aim High”… not this time.