Senators Want New Probe of Air Force Contract Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee are calling for an investigation of the role of senior Air Force officials in steering a $50 million contract to a preferred vendor. The contract to provide multimedia support for the Thunderbirds precision flying team was awarded to Strategic Message Solutions. The company’s top executives include a retired four-star general and a civilian friend of several Air Force generals. Investigators for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service charged that the award was “tainted with improper influence, irregular procurement practices, and preferential treatment.” The Air Force said three officials had been reprimanded and two others referred for action. Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-MI, and the ranking Republican, John McCain of Arizona, said the investigation “raises serious questions about the role played” by senior Air Force officials, including the chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley. Another committee member, Claire McCaskill, D-MO, raised similar questions in a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne. “It is incomprehensible to me that no action has been taken to reprimand General Moseley or to evaluate his continued fitness to lead the Air Force,” she wrote. Moseley told the Washington Post he had not acted improperly. According to the DOD investigators, the Air Force chose Strategic Message Solutions over several lower bidders. They said Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Goldfein, then commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, NV, leaned on contracting officers to favor the company. Goldfein was one of those reprimanded. The Defense Department inspector general’s office has expanded its investigation to look at other work awarded by the 99th Contracting Squadron at Nellis, Federal Times reported. One of the contracts under scrutiny is a $128,000 sole-source award to an Alaska Native Corporation, Chugach McKinley, to upgrade the sound system for the Thunderbirds’ air shows. The IG found that Chugach McKinley subcontracted virtually all of the work to a company favored by two generals at Nellis, according to Federal Times.