Reservist Challenges Findings

An attorney for a senior reserve officer facing disciplinary action is challenging results of an Air Force investigation into the route of a November training flight that coincided with two Seattle Sonics basketball games.

The Air Force issued a statement Monday saying at least nine of the 10 crew members would face disciplinary action for the C-141 stops in North Carolina and Indiana, where the crew from McChord Air Force Base attended Sonics games against the Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers.

The flights “to accommodate personal preference” violated regulations and incurred “unjustified additional expense,” the Air Force said.”If the public could see this, they would know the whole thing is bogus,” attorney Byron Holcomb of Bainbridge Island said.

The Air Force says the crew’s privacy rights bar release of the full report on its two-month investigation.

The Air Force did not release the names of the officers, whose ranks range from staff sergeant to full colonel. They face administrative punishments ranging from letters of admonishment to reductions in pay and grade.