Contra Costa Times August 01, 2003
Plane-ticket trouble for Guard's Monroe
By Thomas Peele
When California National Guard soldiers lumber onto charter aircraft every summer for the no-frills trip to a training exercise in Eastern Europe, they won't see their commanding officer, Major Gen. Paul D. Monroe aboard.
But Monroe does attend Operation Peaceshield in Ukraine, flying there on commercial flights and staying in four- and five-star hotels while the troops billet in Soviet-era barracks.
In 2001, according to records, Monroe spent two and a half times as much taxpayer money on his flight as he needed to.
Airline receipts for 2001 show that when the government paid for a $2,100 coach seat on United Airlines flight to Frankfurt, Germany, on the first leg of a journey to Ukraine, the California National Guard upgraded Monroe's ticket to business class for an additional $5,000.
His airfare totaled more than $7,100.
A guard colonel who also took a commercial flight to Ukraine the same day sat in coach - for $2,100.
Col. Terry Knight, the guard's spokesman, said it was unclear who changed Monroe's ticket and that the general's secretary said she didn't remember anything about the flight.
In a series of telephone interviews and e-mails, Knight said an official of Monroe's stature deserved the best possible plane seat.
The money came out of federal funds the guard receives for participating in the exercises, Knight said.
Knight and Monroe had different reactions to the matter.
Monroe, in an e-mail, said that he doesn't take into account the cost of travel as the state's top military officer.
"I just never know that," he wrote. "The cost is transparent to me."
But Knight said of Monroe, "When he discovered the cost associated with the business-class upgrade, he was furious."
Federal law permits such upgrades because Monroe's travel between San Francisco and Ukraine exceeded 14 hours, said Reginald Saville, a spokesman for the Pentagon's National Guard Bureau.
For 2002 and this year Monroe's travel to Ukraine totaled $4,929.30 for coach seats. Knight said he assumed Monroe used frequent travel "mileage points" to upgrade those seats.
Monroe went to Ukraine in 2002 even though Operation Peaceshield was canceled that year after the Sept. 11 attacks. Knight said Monroe still needed to meet with Ukrainian officials.
Whether the upgrades come at taxpayer expense or on mileage points, Monroe's better seats send a bad message to his troops, a military specialist said.
"My advice would have been to fly with the troops," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, an Alexandria, Va.-based military research group.
"It is one thing for a business executive to fly in business while his staff flies in coach.
"You can do that in private life. You can't do that in public life and certainly can't do that in the military. You have to lead by example."
He said that many government officials, such as Cabinet secretaries and members of Congress ride in coach "because most voters sit in coach or they ride the bus."
As Gov. Gray Davis' appointed Adjutant General, Monroe serves as part politician, part soldier. A state official who underwent a political process to achieve his $149,300-a-year job should have known better than to travel other than in the most economical way possible, Pike said.
William V. Wenger, a former Guard colonel and commander of the state Army National Guard, called the situation "typical of the 'let them eat cake' attitude by Monroe," who Wenger says often places his own needs above those of his troops.
Knight defended the general, saying, "If there is one person in the Guard who is conscious of issues such as funding, researching, waste, abuse and soldier care, it's Monroe."
The $5,000 cost of the 2001 upgrade might have gone to soldiers, Wenger said.
"It could have sent four sergeants to their advanced training school and qualified them for further advancement," he said.
Knight said it was not practical for Monroe to fly with the troops because he was not scheduled to attend the entire exercise. Along with Monroe, 13 other Guard officers flew to the Ukraine on commercial flights, some in advance to make arrangements. Some returned on the troop charter.
There were no military flights available to take Monroe to Europe, and Knight said a separate flight would have been too expensive.
While in Ukraine, Monroe visited with officials in the cities of Kiev, Lvov and Yavoriv, Knight said. He apparently did not participate in the exercise and spent little or no time with the California troops assigned to the training exercise.
The Ukrainian exercises are intended to promote peace and cooperation with former Soviet-bloc nations.
Knight said Monroe's involvement in Operation Peaceshield this year "is very important" because he "represents America" in the "pomp and circumstances" of the opening ceremony.
While Monroe separated himself from troops, staying in hotels, Knight said "this wasn't a vacation. It was another step toward improved relations with a former enemy."
In Lvov, Monroe spent two nights at the four-star Grand Hotel at a government rate of $127 a day, as did several other senior officers, Knight said. In Kiev, Monroe stayed at the five-star Premier Palace Hotel at $158 per night.
Wenger said Monroe should have "mingled with the troops, had a meal with them. Gone out in the field with them."
The Army Inspector General's office is reviewing Monroe's involvement in the way the California Guard handled Monroe's son, a guard captain, when it discovered his apparent extramarital affair with an officer under his command. Adultery is a felony under military law.
Monroe has denied involvement and said his son lied to him about the affair.
Pike, who has audited the troop strength of state guards and their resources, said situations like Monroe's ticket upgrade reinforce their reputations as political fiefdoms with little accountability.
"The world has changed a lot in the last two years and the National Guard has barely caught up with the end of the Cold War," he said.
Looking at the actions of commanding officers like Monroe "is a good place to start" discussions of how to reform and modernize the organization, he said.
© Copyright 2003, Contra Costa Times
