Travel Habits Prompt Conflict Of Interest Concerns
Defense officials say the arrangement is legal, saves taxpayers money and is carefully monitored to ensure there are no conflicts of interest. But government watchdogs say it allows donors to subtly exert influence for a small investment compared with the potential gain.
Between 1998 and 2007, hundreds of outside sources, including athletic shoemaker Nike Inc., the Chinese government and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, footed the bill for more than 22,000 trips at a cost of $26 million, according to an analysis of government travel disclosure records by the Center for Public Integrity in Washington.
Rome, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Las Vegas were among the destinations. Travelers ranged from four-star officers – one was then-Adm. Dennis Blair, now the Obama administrations director of national intelligence – to junior enlisted troops.
The Defense Department is allowed to accept paid travel on behalf of employees so they can attend meetings, conferences and other functions. The event must be related to an employees official duties and has to be beneficial to the military. Employees cannot solicit trips.
“We have a fiscal responsibility to take every opportunity to reduce government expenses on travel,” said Eric Rishel, a senior attorney in the Pentagon general counsels office.
But Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information, says the Defense Department, which has an annual budget of more than $500 billion, should pay its own way to eliminate the perception of any impropriety.
“This isnt even pocket change for the Pentagon,” Wheeler said of the $26 million. “Its loose money under the couch cushions.”
The analysis provided to the Associated Press by the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based investigative journalism organization, describes a sometimes-inconsistent review process that has led to questionable trips.
In one 2005 example highlighted by the center, Richard J. Millies, then a senior Pentagon official overseeing foreign weapons sales, and his wife flew first-class to Saudi Arabia. They spent eight days there enjoying camel races, banquets and a musical production.
The entire $24,000 tab was paid by the oil-rich Saudis, a major buyer of U.S.-made military gear.
Millies no longer works as deputy director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency; he is vice president of international strategy and business development at BAE Systems, a major defense contractor.
Millies defended the visit as an important opportunity to exchange information. Turning down the invitation, he said, would have offended the Saudis.
Kay Cannon, the agencys general counsel, said Millies trip was “thoroughly vetted and approved.”
Foreign governments sponsored 1,500 trips worth $2.6 million. Australia, Singapore and Japan were the leaders, with China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates also paying for travel.
In March 2001, Blair, then commander of U.S. Pacific Command, took a $3,600 trip to China paid by the Chinese. Blair, who retired from the military in 2002, now oversees the nations intelligence operations.
Michael Birmingham, a spokesman for Blair, said the visit was a “military to military” exchange that complied fully with the rules and reporting requirements. He said its customary for a U.S. official to accept accommodations and meals when a host country invites that person on official business. As with the Saudis, Birmingham said, it would be rude to say no.
Commercial firms selling goods and services to the military also provided similar largess. Retail firms focused on managers at the militarys vast network of base exchanges that sell clothes, shoes and electronics to service members, the analysis found.