Pentagon Demotes Africa Command General in Spending Scandal

Former four-star general ordered to repay government for lavish spending

While the government’s defense and intelligence communities reel from the Petraeus scandal, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta decided to demote the former head of the U.S. Africa Command, Gen. William “Kip” Ward. The general was accused of spending thousands of government dollars on lavish travel and gifts for members of his wife and family. Ward, a four-star general, has been stripped of one star and will retire on a three-star general’s pension, the Pentagon press secretary said in a statement on Tuesday. The general has also been ordered to repay $82,000 to the government. A report by the Defense Department inspector general details how Ward used military vehicles to shuttle his wife on shopping trips and to a spa. He billed the government for a refueling stop overnight in Bermuda, where he and his wife stayed in a $750 suite. His wife, Joyce, also accepted dinner and Broadway show tickets from a government contractor, during which they went backstage to meet actor Denzel Washington. (Associated Press)

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