Former Air Force Secretary James Roche Dies at 86 After Early-2000s Pentagon Scandals
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 28
Former Air Force Secretary James Roche Dies at 86 After Early-2000s Pentagon Scandals
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 28
Summary
James G. Roche died Aug. 4 at his home in Annapolis, Maryland, at 86; former Pentagon aide Bill Bodie said the cause was vascular disease.
Roche led the Air Force after President George W. Bush nominated him in April 2001, with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld backing him to bring corporate discipline to the Pentagon.
His tenure was overtaken in 2003 by two crises: the Air Force Academy sexual-assault uproar and a multibillion-dollar procurement scandal that cut short his rise in the Pentagon.
Before government, Roche spent 23 years in the Navy and later became a senior Northrop executive, helping steer the 1994 Grumman acquisition that created Northrop Grumman.