No. 2 US nuke commander suspended amid criminal probe

By Laura Italiano and Post Wires

September 28, 2013

Chips ahoy!

The Naval admiral who was the No. 2 officer in charge of all US nuclear weapons is under a criminal probe for allegedly trying to pass a pile of counterfeit chips at an Iowa casino, officials said Saturday.
Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina may have had his finger on the button, but his other hand was on a “a significant monetary amount” in bad chips, said special agent David Dales of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

He has been suspended for the past three weeks from his duties as second-in-command at US Strategic Command, officials said in announcing the startling suspension Saturday.

Omaha-based “STRATCOM” oversees the country’s nuclear-armed bombers, intercontinental missiles and submarines.

Giardina has been under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service since July, a STRATCOM spokeswoman said.

The career submarine officer is now barred from any duties requiring a security clearance or relating to nuclear weapons, the spokeswoman said.

Iowa investigators stationed at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs discovered the allegedly chintzy chips.

The matter was serious enough that STRATCOM’s top commander, Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, reached out to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to recommend that Giardina be reassigned pending the investigation, officials said.

White-collar crimes such as embezzlement and fraud are the most common associated with gambling, experts said.

“Gambling, especially Internet gambling, is a huge issue in the military,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Military personnel are twice as likely as civilians to have a gambling pathology, he said.


http://nypost.com/2013/09/28/no-2-us-nuke-commander-suspended-amid-probe/