Tom Vanden Brook

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — An Army National Guard general on the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been fired from his job following an extramarital affair, and interviews and records show that he had also negotiated a job and lived rent-free in the home of a defense contractor, USA TODAY has found.

Brig. Gen. Michael Bobeck has been the focus of an internal investigation into an extramarital affair — a violation of military law — and misuse of government resources, according to Defense Department officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation. The probe remains open, and Bobeck has been reassigned pending its outcome.

On Friday, the Army also announced the abrupt dismissal of one of its rising stars, Maj. Gen. Wayne Grigsby, commander of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan. Grigsby is subject of an official investigation, but the unusual statement does not say why. Military officials did not disclose Bobeck’s firing, nor did they announce the sacking this spring of the so-called swinging general, Maj. Gen. David Haight, whose lascivious lifestyle ended his once-promising career. They likely would have retired quietly if their cases had not been discovered.

New details show how 'swinger' Army general's double life cost him his career

Extramarital affair, misuse of resources cost Army general his post

USA TODAY found that Bobeck, a decorated helicopter pilot who once led the National Guard’s aviation programs, lived, but paid no rent, in an apartment owned by an executive for Peduzzi Associates Ltd., an Alexandria, Va.-based consulting firm. Peduzzi has an aviation arm that supports companies “doing business with the Department of Defense.”

Bobeck rejects any suggestion that he would have abused his military position to benefit himself or a defense contractor, said his Army lawyer, Lt. Col. Adam Kazin. Moreover, Bobeck was in no position to award or influence contracts, Kazin said.

“Any implication that there was any wrongdoing is very upsetting to him,” Kazin said. “Abusing his position to enrich himself is not in line with how he views himself.”

Bobeck is cooperating with investigators and has asked for privacy for his family, Kazin said.

Peduzzi appears on congressional records as a lobbyist for Sikorsky, a division of the defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin. Sikorsky itself is a major player in military helicopters, specifically the Black Hawk, the workhorse transport helicopter for active duty and National Guard units.

Joe Ferreira, the Peduzzi executive who put up Bobeck in a basement apartment after his divorce and held discussions with him about joining the firm, said their friendship dates back 35 years. The free accommodations had nothing to do with his business, he said. Bobeck lived in the small, furnished basement apartment after Bobeck divorced his wife, Ferreira said.

“I believe this is what friends do for friends,” Ferreira said in an email.

Not necessarily so in the world of uniformed general officers and contractors, according to a government watchdog. Scott Amey, general counsel for the non-partisan Project On Government Oversight, said that when job negotiations began between Bobeck and Peduzzi, the officer needed to avoid any dealings that affected the company and the government. At minimum, Bobeck needed to seek advice on the ethics of accepting gifts, particularly living quarters.

“This raises a number of red flags,” Amey said. “The job offer opens another can of worms. He should have recused himself from any matter the company had an interest in.”

Bobeck's case isn't isolated and raises serious concerns, said Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, member of the Armed Services Committee and an advocate for tighter reins on contractors.

“We’ve seen far too often the effects of the revolving door between the military and contractors to assume this is just a coincidence, and I’ve got some serious questions for the Pentagon to get to the bottom of these allegations and help ensure our military’s senior leaders continue to be held to the highest standards of integrity,” McCaskill said in a statement.

The job discussions date to 2013, Ferreira said, a particularly sensitive time for the National Guard, which has been battling with the active-duty Army over the division of helicopters as the service began to draw down its ranks to 450,000 soldiers by 2018. From December 2010 to March 2013, Bobeck was chief of Army National Guard Aviation for the National Guard Bureau. He went on to become special assistant to the bureau’s director for aviation transformation in 2014 and 2015.

A Defense Department study found that the Guard’s plan for transforming its aviation units — downsizing them along with the overall Army force — was $570 million compared with $77 million for the Army, according to the Army Times. The Army and National Guard are still working out details on splitting up its helicopter fleet.

One thing has been finalized: Bobeck’s once high-flying military career.

Bobeck was relieved and reassigned to the Army on Labor Day, said Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Army handed Bobeck back to the National Guard Bureau, where he is assigned as a full-time, active-duty officer, said Col. Les Melnyk, a National Guard Bureau spokesman. Bobeck retains his security clearance, Melnyk said.

Keeping a security clearance after retirement is valuable for post-retirement jobs with defense contractors, Amey said.

A high flyer

Bobeck was a relatively rare bird on the Joint Chiefs of Staff where the vast majority of officers are from the active-duty services. But Bobeck was anything but a weekend warrior.

He enlisted as an infantryman in the New York Army National Guard in 1979, and went on to became an officer through ROTC in 1984. After completing flight school, he served on active duty for more than a decade, returning to the New York Guard in 1997 on a full-time basis.

While on active duty, he commanded a company of the Army’s 160th Special Operations Regiment. These elite soldiers, known as the Night Stalkers, fly secret helicopter missions. Bobeck also commanded a National Guard aviation battalion in Iraq in 2004. He has been awarded the Bronze Star.

Bobeck came to the Washington area in 2009 and continued climb the ranks in the National Guard. In March 2015, he won a prestigious post on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, becoming Deputy Director of Force Protection and Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction. His post made him the staff’s senior expert for weapons of mass destruction and adviser to Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Rapid descent

Ferreira, the contractor, maintained contact with his friend through the years. Ferreira, too, had been an Army pilot, flying helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, including combat missions in Vietnam. He also worked for the National Guard.

The two socialized regularly, Ferreira said. But Ferreira insisted that Bobeck reimbursed him for meals and outings at the private clubs that they attended.

USA TODAY has obtained materials forwarded to Pentagon investigators regarding a two-year long extramarital affair Bobeck had beginning in the spring of 2014. Bobeck stayed at Ferreira’s home for eight months, rent free, beginning in October 2015, according to one document. His divorce was finalized in September 2015.

Bobeck, Ferreira and others also dined out at Morton’s The Steakhouse and outings at the Army Navy Country Club. Bobeck promptly reimbursed Ferriera for any charges to his account, Ferreira said.

Kazin, the lawyer, said he’s confident there was no breach of government ethics rules in Bobeck’s relationship with Ferreira.

Nonetheless, the relationship has the appearance of a conflict of interest, which should concern the Pentagon, said Amey.

A quid pro quo — awarding or influencing a contract for a job offer, for example — isn’t the only value of a close relationship between military officers and contractors, said Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant himself and an analyst at the Lexington Institute.

“When a person is well connected, you can learn valuable things from casual conversations,” Thompson said. “The simplest exchange can yield useful insights.”

Bobeck’s military career, like that of Haight, is in all likelihood over. A proven allegation of an affair is almost always fatal to an officer’s career.

'Swinging' general kept security clearance until story broke