Top Air Force Official Dies in Apparent Suicide - New York Times

Top Air Force Official Dies in Apparent Suicide - New York Times: "The second"-highest-ranking member of the Air Force’s procurement office was found dead Sunday in an apparent suicide, Air Force and police officials said Monday.The civilian official, Charles D. Riechers, 47, came under scrutiny by the Senate Armed Services Committee this month after reports that the Air Force had arranged for him to be paid about $13,400 a month by a private contractor, Commonwealth Research Institute, while he awaited clearance from the White House for his selection as principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition. He was appointed to the job, which does not require Senate confirmation, in January.

Kraig Troxell, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office in Loudoun County, Va., west of Washington, said friends found Mr. Riechers’s body at his home on Sunday night. Mr. Troxell said results from an autopsy would be made public on Tuesday, but two military officials said Mr. Riechers had apparently killed himself by running his car’s engine in his enclosed garage.

A retired Air Force officer, Mr. Riechers (pronounced REE-kers) had a record of accomplishment in aviation and electronic warfare and had received commendations for his role as a manager in Pentagon purchasing. The Air Force’s procurement programs have been handicapped for years by accusations of favoritism, inefficiency and technical shortfalls, and Mr. Riechers’s new role in the procurement office was supposed to have been repairing the damage.

Instead, his death appears likely only to call renewed attention to those problems....

[bth: I think we'll be hearing more about this.]