According to a report by the Detroit Free Press, two high-ranking Michigan Air National Guard officers may have improperly extended their service time as commanders of Selfridge ANGB, Mich., to secure more money in their “federal pensions.” The two officers are Maj. Gen. Thomas Cutler, who has been the state’s Adjutant General since 2003, and Brig. Gen. Richard Elliott, who is the Assistant AG for Air National Guard. Cutler told the newspaper that neither he nor Elliott had violated pay rules when they stayed on the federal payroll to collect money owed for accumulated leave after they took on their new state Guard positions. Normally, a lump sum payment would cover accumulated leave, according to a National Guard Bureau spokesman who told the Press that the DOD IG is looking into the situation.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.