-Caveat Lector-
Air Force Spent $270,000 on Kitchen
By ANNE GEARAN
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly $270,000 in kitchen renovations at the home of the
superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy were made using money normally
earmarked for day-to-day military operations and maintenance.
The expenditure was not submitted for congressional approval, and critics in
Congress have complained to the Air Force that the arrangement appeared to be
an end run around congressional scrutiny.
``I don't like it. It looks like kind of a creative accounting setup,'' Rep.
Joel Hefley, R-Colo., chairman of the House Military Construction
subcommittee, said Tuesday.
The Air Force inspector general's office is looking into the kitchen project,
Hefley said.
The Air Force arrangement is similar to one the Navy used to divert $5.5
million from its operating budget to renovate the official homes of three
admirals, including the head of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
In both the Navy and Air Force cases, military officials defended the repairs
as necessary to maintain historic homes that are also used heavily for public
functions.
The 64-year-old Mediterranean-style home at the Air Force Academy in Colorado
Springs, Colo., got new kitchen cabinets, appliances and other improvements
last year at a cost of $268,010.
``You just go, `Wow! That's a lot of money''' for a kitchen, said Pentagon
spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley. But the houses are old, and in many cases
work has been put off for years, Quigley said. ``And if they're on the
National Register of Historic Places,'' he said, ``it is our duty to maintain
them.''
The Navy reversed course last month and said it will pay for the work out of
ordinary housing accounts, where the projects are subject to congressional
approval.
``The Navy came forward and said, `This is what happened. We don't think it's
right, and we're going to change it,''' Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Lydia
Robertson said at the time.
Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Jay DeFrank said the Air Force is not making a
similar decision.
``Our existing policy for using these funds is prudent, and no laws were
broken,'' DeFrank said Tuesday. ``However, we are reviewing our procedures
for notification when we intend to use these funds, including congressional
notification.''
Hefley said he and others in Congress also plan to change the way the
military services ask for money for future renovation projects.
A House proposal would require that Congress be told of planned work on
generals' or admirals' houses that costs more than $15,000. The provision
also bans using any readiness money on the homes.
Top Pentagon leaders have decried a crisis in military readiness and have
come hat-in-hand to Congress for money for new equipment, spare parts and
training.
A spokesman for the Air Force Academy did not return a telephone call
requesting comment. The academy previously said Carlton House, home of the
superintendent, Lt. Gen. Tad Oelstrom, is used for functions that entertain
300 people a month. President Clinton was at one after this year's graduation
ceremony.
``It was all above board and approved. We followed appropriate guidance all
along,'' academy spokesman Neil Talbott told The Gazette, the Colorado
Springs newspaper that detailed the expenditure last week.
The academy annually spends $50,000 to $80,000 in readiness money to maintain
the superintendent's and commandant of cadets' houses, the newspaper
reported.
The academy plans to spend an additional $1.18 million over several years to
remodel other sections of the superintendent's house, and some of that money
also is to come from readiness funds, the newspaper reported.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
