Tim Giardina Suspended During Gambling Probe
US Navy Vice Admiral Tim Giardina was suspended from his position as the second in command of US Strategic Command during a gambling probe.
A senior defense official confirmed Giardina was suspended from his duties on September 3 until a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation is complete.
NBC News reports that sailors are not banned from gambling. However, the investigation is targeting whether Gardiana’s activities went beyond simply gambling. An official declined to give specifics.
STRATCOM is the command that oversees all US nuclear war-fighting forces. Giardina remains there, pending assignment, but he isn’t allowed to perform duties related to nuclear weapons or security issues.
The New York Daily News notes that the action of suspending Tim Giardina was highly unusual and wasn’t publicly announced. Air Force General Robert Kehler, the head of STRATCOM, suspended his deputy commander.
Kehler recommended to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that Giardina be reassigned. He has been at his post since December 2011 and was a career submarine officer before that. His previous assignment was the deputy commander and chief of staff at US Pacific Fleet.
Strategic Command oversees the military’s nuclear fighter units, including the Navy’s nuclear-armed submarines and the Air Force’s nuclear bombers and nuclear land-based missiles. Giardina’s suspension wasn’t announced, because he remains under investigation and any action to reassign him is still pending.
A law enforcement agency was the first to investigate the sailor starting on June 16. Kehler was made aware of the investigation on July 16 and immediately asked NCIS to begin a probe. It wasn’t clear the exact cause for the probe.
The suspension is another blow to the military’s nuclear establishment. The nuclear missile unit at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota removed 17 launch control officers off duty after a problematic inspection last spring. The unit later relieved of duty the officer in charge of training and proficiency.
It isn’t clear what Tim Giardina’s future will be with the US Navy.
