Rehiring of Ex-Army Chief Assailed

WASHINGTON — Some career military officials are upset over the recent hiring of former acting Army secretary John Shannon as a Pentagon consultant at a rate of $85,000 a year.

Shannon, a retired Army colonel, was put on administrative leave in August after he was caught shoplifting $30 worth of women’s clothing from the Ft. Myer, Va., post exchange. The Justice Department dropped a misdemeanor charge against Shannon after he confessed, and he was placed in a pretrial diversion program that includes counseling for shoplifting. He also must perform 50 hours of community service.

The Pentagon said last month that Shannon had been rehired as a month-to-month contract consultant on logistics issues. A spokesman said Tuesday that included reviewing the Pentagon’s inventory, deciding what to keep, what to dispose of and how.

“If I had been picked up shoplifting as a general officer and convicted of it, like he was, I would have been drummed out with my saber broken,” one angry general said Tuesday. “I find it just incredible that we’ve done that given this Administration’s ethics background.”