Geren named to top Army post

[maddezmom]

By DAVE MONTGOMERY
STAR-TELEGRAM WASHINGTON BUREAU

GerenWASHINGTON -- Former Fort Worth Rep. Pete Geren emerged as the interim civilian leader of America's wartime Army on Friday after the 1.4 million-member service was rocked by a top-level shakeup over the treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

~snip~

In a brief telephone interview, the 55-year-old former congressman said the defense secretary called him at midafternoon to tell him of Harvey's departure and assigned him the job of acting secretary, effective next week.

There was no immediate indication whether Geren would be named to fill the position through the remaining two years of the Bush administration.

~snip~


Geren, who has served as undersecretary of the Army since February 2006, appears to be untouched by the controversy over Walter Reed and will ascend to his new post with a reputation as a soft-spoken and likable Pentagon troubleshooter who has a good rapport with lawmakers in both parties.

more:http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/16826515.htm?source=rss&channel=dfw_news

[Liberty Belle]

1. More on Geren here: ( kicking and recommending)

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Congressman_tied_to_contractors_bribery_coconspirators_1214.html
Ethics questions dog California congressman; Owned cabin with Air Force Secretary
Miriam Raftery


Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee...shares ownership in a Virginia cabin with Pete Geren – who served as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Air Force from August through early November, RAW STORY has learned. ...Geren replaced former Air Force Secretary James Roche, who resigned following a procurement scandal involving an Air Force officer steering lucrative contracts to Boeing – a major Hunter contributor.

...Scandals involving Boeing and the dubious tanker deal previously resulted in criminal conviction of two Boeing executives for illegally negotiating a job for an Air Force contracting officer who held sway over a multi-billion dollar contract sought by Boeing. Air Force acquisition official Darleen A. Druyun was also prosecuted and jailed. Geren has called Druyen’s actions “shameful.”

This June, after the scandal had died down, Hunter quietly attached an amendment to the military budget that would have eliminated Airbus from bidding on a future tanker, leaving Boeing the only available contractor for a deal that could be worth billions of dollars...

In short, President George W. Bush replaced an Air Force Secretary who resigned over a Boeing procurement scandal with a temporary stand-in whose hunting pal and cabin-mate is the powerful Congressman pushing the same deal on Boeing’s behalf.

During his brief tenure, Geren gained notoriety for being named in a lawsuit filed against the Air Force by Jewish cadets, who alleged that Christianity was illegally imposed at an Air Force academy.

Geren stepped down Nov. 9. ...Before becoming Secretary of the Air Force, Geren was a board member of Anadarko Petroleum, a Texas oil company. Geren served in Congress from 1989 to 1997, where he served on the Armed Services Committee and was a vocal advocate for the defense industry.

[salin]

2. thanks for the background story

reading them back to back.