European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 8, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Demoted officer plans to Appeal from Page 1 cause i Don t know what i can and cannot say a Whiteman said �?�1 have nothing to say about general  Kaufman was accused last summer of abusing his authority while serving As chief of the . Training Mission in saudi Arabia from july 1989 to september 1991. The charges involved unauthorized temporary duty travel War trophies and the solicitation of Whiteman. According to spinner the charges stemmed from investigations that commenced shortly after the general left the desert for his next Post in Heidelberg Germany. The investigations were Broad in scope and unrelated to Kaufman who by september 1991 was the new Deputy commander and chief of staff of the 4tn Allied tac air Force a subordinate unit to Allied air forces Central Europe. For those who were stationed in saudi Arabia prior to Iraq s invasion of Kuwait the Quick and massive mobilization of . Troops was overwhelming spinner said. Over time that Awe turned to annoyance which surfaced when military investigators came to Check on the demobilization Effort and reports of lost Materiel ranging from hum pcs to night vision goggles. Quot there were a lot of disgruntled Camp cars a spinner said. Kaufman who was the ranking . Defense representative to saudi Arabia prior to the War a was an easy target for a lot of their  before the Case against Kaufman reached the court martial stage an article 32 hearing was held at such a hearing which is the military equivalent to a grand jury probe evidence is presented witnesses arc called to testify and defense is free to Challenge. Afterwards a hearing officer considers the evidence and then makes a recommendation to the courts convening authority in this Case maj. Gen. James e. Chambers commander of the 17th air Force. According to court documents col. Micheal Mcshane the hearing officer recommended against proceeding to the Donald l. Kaufman. Demoted to colonel by air Force court martial phase in Early july 1992. But two weeks later Chambers opted to proceed anyway. When Kaufman was formally arraigned on aug. 24,1992, it marked the first time in the history of the air Force a general became the subject of a court martial proceeding. On that Day Kaufman declined to enter a plea. Spinner asked and received More time to interview potential witnesses some of whom were still in the persian Gulf. A month later the court martial proceedings were terminated by Chambers. He a concluded that some of the punishments authorized by a general court martial Are disproportionately severe Given the circumstances of this Case a according to a . Air forces in Europe news release that was issued on his behalf. �?o1 suspect a said col. J. Jeremiah Mahoney the judge in the Case a they did t build much of a Case because the charges got  spinner called the air forces initial investigation of Kaufman inadequate and incomplete. There were four counts of unauthorized temporary duty travel with Denver colo., a common destination. The air Force spinner said believed Kaufman was there to tend to property he owned in South Central Colorado. Kaufman and his wife Linda plan to retire theret spinner maintains the travel was justified and that he has documentation to Back it up. The training Mission Kaufman headed spinner explains oversees hundreds of millions of dollars in arms sales to saudi Arabia. The accounting for such transactions is handled by the Security assistance accounting Center in Denver he said. Spinner admits that Kaufman arranged his trips in a manner that allowed him to take some personal leave time White at Home but spinner said that a not unusual for service members stationed overseas. He also acknowledges the Kaufman were building a House in Colorado at the time but he said Linda Kaufman was overseeing the project while she was Home during the War. The builder he said would attest to that. The accusation that Kaufman was packing away a rocket propelled grenade is unfounded because there never was one spinner said. There was a hand grenade but spinner believes there was no attempt to ship it. A i feel a lot of this was More politics than Law Quot spinner said. A in lieu of a court martial trial Kaufman accepted an article 15, a nonjudicial review that was closed to the Public. The results of that review Are unknown because spinner Kaufman Chambers and others associated with the meeting have refused to discuss the matter citing Kaufman s privacy. In several conversations Over the course of the fall and Winter Kaufman always declined to discuss his situation in any great detail. Yet he left no doubt about his desire to retire. A you just get to a stage in your life where you have got to take care of your family for a change a he said in late january. By then Kaufman knew of his Fate. He knew he would take Home about $4,100 a month in retirement pay instead of $5,300. He knew when he would leave the Active duty ranks. And he knew he would leave under aloud. A there is a certain embarrassment Factor a spinner said. A you Fust sort of want to come Home quietly and retire. It s been a difficult process for both of  according to spinner who can no longer represent the retired Kaufman in any official capacity his former client will contest the demotion by arguing that his due process was abridged Kaufman was notified of his possible demotion in Early december and was Given 10  respond in writing spinner said. An Extension gave him until Jan. 4 to respond but there was no Chance to defend himself in person. The decision to retire him at the Grade of colonel was made by former air Force Secretary Donald b. Rice who a determined that colonel was the highest Grade in which Kaufman served  spinner suspected the reason Why Kaufman a term As a brigadier general was deemed unsatisfactory was because of allegations made against him while he served at air Force Headquarters from March 1987 to july 1989, spinner would not discuss the allegations except to say Kaufman a had never been  through his ordeal Kaufman has had support and letters of recommendation from such people As Gen. Charles a. Horner who commanded Allied air forces in the Gulf War former air Force chief of staff retired Gen. Larry d. Welch former air Force Secretary Edward c. Aldridge retired it. Gen. Charles w. Brown and retired army Gen. Crosbie e. Saint former commander of . Army Europe. Those letters and his More than 30 years of service combat missions in Vietnam and numerous awards were not enough to help him retire As a two Star general. Said spinner a the air Force Secretary has the Power to do that without any real due . A. A. A Quot court martial cases rare against top officers by Kevin Dougherty Kaiserslautern Bureau while court martial proceedings against air Force maj. Gen. Donald l. Kaufman were withdrawn last september the service announced last week that Kaufman had been retired at the rank of colonel. Kaufman had been arraigned on a number of counts stemming from his service in saudi Arabia and focusing on War trophies. In announcing the retirement former air Force Secretary Donald b. Rice said the rank of colonel was the highest rank at which Kaufman had a served satisfactorily a for Kaufman the demotion could be costly. If a pending Appeal fails he stands to lose about $14,400 a year which is the difference Between retiring with two stars or a Silver Eagle. For other top level military members the action sends a message the privileges of rank Are changing. A believe me a said it. Col Frank spinner the Lead defense attorney in the Kaufman Case a the general officer staff of the air Force is getting the  the image that spinner and others see emerging is one in which the military brass will increasingly come under greater scrutiny. Many have pointed to the alleged cover up involving the Tail Nook sexual harassment scandal As the catalyst. Quot i think there is a sense in the United states at Large that people in High places  get away w Ith things and certainly that is mirrored in the military Quot said air Force col. J. Jeremiah Mahoney the presiding judge in the Kaufman court martial proceedings. It is rare for a general or naval Flag officer to face court martial proceedings. Kaufman was the first air Force general in history a and the first Active duty general or Flag officer in 40 years to travel that Road albeit Short. When army maj. Gen. Robert w. Grow was convicted by court martial in july 1952, Harry s. Truman w As president  governed Kuwait the Brooklyn dodgers were on their Way to winning the Pennant and Kaufman was a 14-year-old High school student. A i honestly Dpn to know Why it is so rare a said Jonathan Lurie a professor of history and Law at Rutgers University and a leading expert on military Justice. A you could argue that As they go higher and higher they become better officers or it might be that this stuff is not brought out through the  though kudu declined to discuss the Kaufman Case Mahoney a lbs chief circuit judge of the air forces european judicial circuit did address the Issue of courts martial and senior officers. Mahoney acknowledged that there seems to be a tendency within the military Justice system to Grant senior officers greater leniency. He noted however that senior officers do have More time invested than most and consequently More at stake. Mahoney cited the Case of it. Gen. Peter t. Kempf. Kempf was allowed to retire in november 1990 amid accusations that he had sexual relations with subordinates while he served As commander of tac air Comdr a 12th air Force at Bergstrom fab Texas. No criminal charges were filed but actions of that kind Are in violation of air Force regulations and the uniform code of military Justice. A people at that level tend to abide by the rules or tend lobe very Clever if they done to Mahoney said. In the 1952 Case against grow the general showed no ingenuity when he breached army regulations that led to his court martial. The military attached in Moscow grow was attending a top secret intelligence conference in Frankfurt Germany in the summer of 1951 w Hen his personal diary fell into enemy hands. The diary which included military information was photocopied and portions of it appeared in a communist publication the following january. A grow later was convicted by a general court martial of an infraction of Security regulations two offences of dereliction of duty and an additional Security infraction. He was reprimanded and suspended from command for six months. Besides grow there is he 1957 court martial Case of Sheldon a Hooper. A Navy rear Admiral who retired in 1948, Hooper was convicted of sodomy Public association with known sexual deviates and the commission of an indecent lewd and lascivious act. The Case was legally significant because Hooper was retired. An appellate court ruled that retired officers a form a vital segment of our National defense and were therefore subject to a certain Standard of discipline. Hooper who was accused of being a homosexual was dismissed from the Navy a retired ranks and forced to forfeit All pay and allowances but the most celebrated court martial Case involved Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell. Mitchell who some say pushed his superiors too hard in advocating the need for military air Power was technically a colonel when he was tried. Mitchell was found guilty in 1925 of bringing a discredit upon the military  aside from those cases Lurie said there is Little else on record involving generals and admirals. He recalls Reading about a civil War general or two who were court Martiale but such cases generally Are few and far Between. One obvious reason is that there Are so few generals and Flag officers in proportion to All the other ranks. At the beginning of fiscal 1993, the army air Force and Navy respectively had 367,335 and 250 generals and Flag officers according to each service. A there is a tendency suspect in the system that As you go higher up to try to protect their own Quot Lurie said. The Navy s decision to strip three top naval officers of their jobs for their part in the Tail Nook scandal is viewed by Mahoney As a step in the right direction. He added a clearly the climate is. Changing toward senior  ironically spinner believes that Kaufman was treated harshly in part because of the Public uproar Over Tail Hook a a it a the old adage that timing is everything a spinner said. �?o1 think his difficulties came to Light at the wrong