Retirement sought by Air Force general instead of court-martial

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Phillip A. StewartPhoto byAir Force

A former commander in the Air Force's pilot training program has decided to retire rather than face a court-martial on allegations of sexual assault and other crimes.

According to Air Force Times' interview with Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart's civilian attorney, Jeffrey Addicott, the general submitted his retirement paperwork this week. At Thursday's arraignment at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, Stewart postponed entering a plea.

At Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, in 2023, the two-star is accused of sexually assaulting a lady, among other things. He is also accused of having an unprofessional relationship and flying an aircraft within twelve hours after drinking alcohol. According to Stewart's legal team, the purported sexual contact was completely voluntary.

In San Antonio, a court-martial is set to take place on June 17.

Capt. Scarlett Trujillo, a spokesperson for the Air Education and Training Command, stated that while the Air Force reviews Stewart's request, the court-martial proceedings, including the March 21 motions hearing, will proceed as scheduled.

The ultimate authority to grant Stewart's retirement will rest with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. Whether he should retain his two stars when he leaves the army is also a matter for a grade determination board to decide. The board's suggestion for a rank would also be subject to Kendall's ultimate approval.

In May, Stewart was relieved of his duties as commander of the 19th Air Force by Lt. Col. Brian Robinson, who is the chief of Air Education and Training Command, following an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing. While at JBSA-Randolph, Stewart was in charge of pilot training for the service, along with 32,000 people and over 1,500 aircraft.

According to Addicott, a military judge who oversaw the preliminary hearing at the end of last year suggested dropping the sexual assault accusations and handling the minor counts administratively. No response has been made by the Air Force regarding the judge's recommendations.

According to Addicott, the government is going against the spirit of a recent statute that delegated prosecution of certain extremely heinous crimes, such as sexual assault, to special trial counsels rather than the chain of command.

"The general feels that he cannot get a fair trial," Addicott said, referring to the outcome.

"He believes that submitting a retirement instead of a court martial is the best course of action," he stated.

The new regulations do not apply to Stewart's case as the charges were brought before they were implemented in December.

Stewart will plead not guilty, according to Addicott, if his retirement request is denied. There are only around 200 generals, lieutenant generals, and major generals serving in the Air Force, thus the general's decision to be tried by a military court alone or by a jury of his peers could provide a challenge to the service.

throughout Thursday's arraignment, Col. Matthew Stoffel issued an order mandating that prospective jurors, who were already chosen throughout the referral process, refrain from being publicly associated with the case until trial starts. A copy of the order from the military judge has been sent to those individuals, and Trujillo confirmed that they have been notified.

Two counts of sexual assault under Article 120, two counts of dereliction of duty under Article 92, one count of conduct unbecoming of an officer under Article 133, and one count of extramarital sexual conduct under Article 134 were all brought against Stewart last September in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

At the very least, he may be dismissed or dishonorably discharged; at the most, a court-martial could sentence him to 66 years in prison with loss of pay.

Edited by Newsbreak Contributor Denys Shybinskiy