- Hundreds of retired navy officers took jobs in international governments since 2015, per WaPo report.
- They typically settle for extremely profitable positions that pay as much as seven figures in wage and advantages.
- Some of the international locations these veterans work for have dedicated human rights violations, per WaPo.
Hundreds of retired navy officers took high-paying jobs in international governments, at instances making as much as seven figures in wage and advantages, regardless of how among the international locations have been accused of human rights violations, in accordance with a report.
A new investigation by The Washington Post discovered that greater than 500 retired navy personnel have taken jobs with international governments since 2015, and a majority of the positions have been positioned in North Africa or the Middle East, together with consulting jobs for Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense.
The jobs are additionally extremely profitable, The Post discovered by a Freedom of Information Act request.
Australia’s authorities, for instance, provided former senior US Navy officers greater than $10 million for consulting offers. In Azerbaijan, one retired US Air Force normal was provided a consulting job with a pay of $5,000 a day.
In comparability, an energetic four-star normal with greater than 20 years of expertise receives as much as $203,698 a yr in primary pay, in accordance with The Post.
Saudi Arabia, which has been repeatedly accused of human rights violations, has employed not less than 15 retired US generals and admirals as consultants for the nation’s Defense Ministry, The Post reported.
One former Navy Seal was employed as a particular operations advisor for $258,000 a yr.
Saudi Arabia’s offense towards outdoors dissenters additionally has not stopped US navy officers from taking work from the nation.
In 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Post, was killed contained in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The nation’s officers later admitted that Saudi brokers carried out a “rogue operation” with out the information of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, the CIA decided that the crown prince ordered the assassination.
Still, dozens of navy personnel have accepted jobs contracted from Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi’s killing.
Retired normal James L. Jones, who served as nationwide safety advisor through the Obama administration, has two Virginia-based consulting companies — Ironhand Security LLC and Jones Group International LLC — which have contracts with Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with The Post, Jones stated that he was inspired by the Trump administration to simply accept extra contracts from the nation’s Defense Ministry. According to Jones, his corporations have 4 such contracts, with 53 US residents in Riyadh. Eight are retired generals and admirals, and 32 are former lower-ranking navy personnel, The Post reported.
“Nobody ever came to us and said, ‘Hey, we think you ought to pull out,'” Jones advised The Post. “I don’t know what the alternative would have been if we had pulled away. I was worried that (the Saudis) would possibly drift off to other relationships with the Chinese and the Russians, and I didn’t think that would be very good.”
Charles Wald, a retired four-star Air Force normal, who accepted a job to work in Riyadh for one in all Jones’ companies stated there was appreciable debate on whether or not to cease working for Saudi Arabi after Khashoggi’s killing.
“We asked ourselves, are we basically turning a blind eye toward immorality? Or supporting a legitimate government,” Wald advised The Post. The agency determined to remain.
Other navy personnel has taken jobs in Indonesia or the United Arab Emirates.
Under the Emoluments Clause Restrictions, the Consitution states that retired US navy personnel, which usually applies to those that served not less than 20 years in uniform and are eligible to obtain a pension, can’t obtain consulting charges, presents, jobs, or titles from international governments with out expressed approval from Congress.
The Post discovered nevertheless that approval is nearly all the time granted. Out of the five hundred requests since 2015, about 95% have been permitted. The Post additionally reported that some folks negotiated jobs with international governments throughout energetic service.
There is not any penalty for violating the legislation and enforcement is uncommon, in accordance with the publication.
One of the extra prolific instances of a former US navy officer being penalized for accepting charges from a international authorities was Michael Flynn, the previous nationwide safety advisor to Donald Trump.
An investigation by the Defense Department discovered that Flynn acquired about $450,000 from Russian and Turkish sources in 2015, a yr after he retired from the Army, in accordance with The Post.
Flynn pled responsible in December 2017 for mendacity to the FBI about his ties to a Russian ambassador. Trump pardoned Flynn in November 2020.
