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The procurement scandal spawned by the conviction of former Air Force contracting chief Darleen Druyun claimed its first victim in October.

Gen. Gregory S. Martin, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command, withdrew his nomination to become combatant commander of Pacific forces after he faced sharp questioning from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on his comments about Druyun, with whom he had worked in the late 1990s.

Druyun was the equivalent of a three-star general and oversaw nearly every major weapons contract the Air Force awarded through the 1990s. She lost her $250,000-a-year job with Boeing last fall after questions arose about her hiring. By spring, she had pleaded guilty to secretly negotiating the Boeing job while still working for the Air Force.

At her Oct. 1 sentencing on a single count of conspiracy to violate conflict-of-interest laws, Druyun admitted to favoring Boeing with contract awards and better terms in return for her job and other favors - acts she had denied for months.

"I sincerely wish to apologize to my nation, my family and friends, and to the court for what I have done. I understand that this was wrong, and I accept full responsibility for my conduct," she told U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Va. He sentenced her to nine months in a minimum security prison in South Carolina, ordered her to serve an additional seven months at a halfway house or in home detention, and fined her $5,000.

The impact of Druyun's conviction and new admissions on the Air Force, the defense industry and the acquisition reforms she championed will be felt for years. Her case has touched off a scandal that could rival the one that followed the Defense Department's Operation Ill Wind investigation in the late 1980s. That probe ended in more than 60 convictions of federal employees and contractors for bribery and contract fraud. As a result, Congress passed the 1988 Procurement Integrity Act, which established tight ethics rules for federal procurement officials.

"This looks bad for Boeing, this looks bad for the acquisition community and looks bad for the Air Force. I could not really imagine a worse situation," says a retired Air Force general officer with ties to the defense industry. The former officer asked not to be identified for fear of being tainted by the scandal.

Martin, once considered the likely successor to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper, suffered fallout from the Druyun case during his Oct. 6 confirmation hearing for the Pacific command post before the Senate Armed Services Committee. When McCain asked how Druyun's deceit had gone unnoticed, Martin responded by questioning whether Druyun had committed the violations of which she stood accused and saying he had seen nothing inappropriate when he worked with her. McCain angrily replied, "Now I question whether you have the quality to command," and vowed to block Martin's nomination. Martin withdrew his name the same day.

Now questions are being raised about the dozens of Air Force contracts Druyun, 56, watched over from 1993 to 2002, while overseeing procurement for the service. In July, after failing a lie-detector test, she admitted favoring Boeing in at least four contracts. Her former boss, Marvin Sambur, Air Force assistant secretary for acquisition, has asked the Defense inspector general to review all Air Force contracts awarded to Boeing since 2000. "Upon completion of each investigation, we will take appropriate action," Sambur wrote in an e-mail to the IG first reported by Bloomberg News.

Companies that competed against Boeing for the four contracts about which Druyun admitted to improprieties are filing lawsuits and contract protests. They could win financial compensation for portions of the contracts. Meanwhile, on Oct. 7, Congress approved a provision in the 2005 Defense authorization bill that prohibited the Air Force from leasing tanker refueling aircraft from Boeing under a controversial multibillion-dollar deal negotiated by Druyun.

Druyun was a fierce advocate of acquisition reforms that brought commercial business practices to the purchase of weapons systems. Backers of those reforms believe they have saved the Pentagon billions of dollars; critics charge the reforms have given contractors too much clout and reduced oversight.

John Douglass, president of the Aerospace Industries Association in Arlington, Va., says the Air Force gave Druyun far too much control over contracts and that allowed her to favor Boeing without being detected. Douglass, who served as the Navy's acquisition executive in the 1990s, says he expects the Air Force will decentralize management to acquisition managers in the field, and then have civilians at the Pentagon provide reviews and oversight.

The extent of Druyun's influence was reflected in letters to the court attesting to her integrity and citing her record as a tough negotiator. Former Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall, former Raytheon chief executive officer Dennis Picard, and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Lawrence Skantze are among those who wrote, all before Druyun admitted she had favored Boeing.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael Hough, deputy commandant, worked closely with Druyun for about two and half years when he managed the Joint Strike Fighter program in the late 1990s. He wrote to the court of her "poise, demeanor and uncompromising ethical standards." In 2001, Lockheed Martin beat Boeing to win the Joint Striker Fighter contract, which, at potentially $200 billion, is the largest Defense contract ever awarded.

Hough stands by his comments, noting that the JSF contract did not generate any bid protests. But, he says, "I was stunned along with everyone else who knew her. You were led to believe she was such a Puritan when it came to following the rules. She did do a lot of good, but she's now lying in a bed she made."

COMMENTS

• Oh no, another incompetent four-star general is called out on his incompetence. I hope the posters below me don't seriously think that reaching the three and four-star positions has anything to do with anything but who you know and how good you look on paper. By the way, the Air Force has a long history of producing general officers who aren't exactly epitomes of integrity and professional conviction. Anyone remember Fiscus? Or the former three-star commander of the AFA who was in charge when his cadets were sexually molesting each other? Or how about the JAG colonel who finally got caught practicing law IN THE MILITARY without a law license FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS. The Air Force is the biggest good-ol'-boys club on the planet and you're naive if you think otherwise. Martin knew full well what Druyun was doing and I'm really just flabbergasted that the commenters here didn't catch the "I don't have a lot of contracting experience" comment from the four-star commander of the Air Force's acquisition command. Preposterous. Ah, to be years late. Mailbag Posted June 7, 2007 9:13 AM
• Despite the protests of a number of contributors to this mailbag, I fully support the actions of Senator McCain in questioning the ability to command. Comments that General Martin gave 35 years of service do not address the issue. If he had only given 35 days of service it should have been obvious to him, when you are in a job and see corruption, it is your duty to report it, and see that it is stopped. Perhaps if he had noted that corruption he would not have received the coveted fourth star, as he was rocking the boat. One of the tough choices of leadership, retain your integrity and take the consequences, or swallow any hope of being a person of integrity and be promoted. Maybe it was that he was just incompetent in that job as Principle Deputy for the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, and could not fathom what Ms Druyun was doing. After all, that was his first assignment in acquisition. Oh, and then he went into a job as the top person in the United States Air Force acquisition and logistics where the only experience in acquisition was the 18 months supervising Ms Druyun, and with no experience in logistics. Perhaps the real answer here is for the Air Force to cease putting leaders who have no background, and no education into technical jobs. It is well and good that he was the 1969 National Collegiate Parachuting Champion, and could fly various airplanes. But he was evidently lost on the job when contracting, acquisition, and technology was involved. It would be instructive to know how long he studied for his masters degree in business management at Central Michigan University. At that time it was known as a place where you pay your money, get credit for life experience, and pick up the sheepskin. Yup, a diploma mill. GovExec.com reader Posted November 17, 2004 3:28 PM
• It is so very unfortunate that the esteemed Senator from Arizona has gotten so full of rage for the antics of Ms Druyun that he wants to belittle anyone who had to work with her. The Senator's last act of questioning General Martin into the absurd, was disgraceful! I was in PACOM as we waited for the POWs to be released; rumor was that Pres Nixon was keeping the elder Admiral McCain on as CINCPACOM until his son was released and returned home. The Senator's antics with General Martin disgust me, and take away from what Pres Nixon was trying to do. Shame on you Senator! And I have another bone to pick with you; PACOM has never had an Air Force General as CINC. General Martin would have been the ideal first. With his strong knowledge of logistics, and the fact that we now have a large Air Force presence in PACOM...F-16s in Korean and Japan, B-52s and hopefully B-1Bs and B-2s in Guam, and a "trash hauler" (my favorite folks) unit going into Hickam, the time was right for an Air Force CINCPACOM. I asked Senator Hatch to "respectfully" "smack Senator McCain up side of the head" and make him realize he messed up more than he helped when he insulted General Martin. Now the rest of you good Air Force folk out there need to ask YOUR home state Senators to provide Senator McCain some much needed tongue lashings and "guidance" before he ruins any more officers who have given their entire lives, and sacrificed the needs of their families to the "good of the Air Force and country". Ms Druyun? I hope she STAYS in jail...I may buy "her book"; Sears Roebuck no longer makes catalogs for my "little house out back". Jungle Jon GovExec.com reader Posted November 13, 2004 7:36 PM