Good afternoon,
1. I hope that this message finds you well. This narrative outlines supporting detail to a civil infraction that I committed during my service as a member of the United States armed forces in the spring of 2018.
2. Beginning on 11 October 2017 and until 15 March 2019 I served as a program manager of the Battle Management division at Hanscom Air Force Base, near Boston, Massachusetts. I led a team of ninety-three engineers, logisticians, and information security specialists toward the implementation of a congressionally authorized communications defense upgrade aboard the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) E-3 Sentry aircraft fleet at a program cost of thirty-two million dollars.
3. The E-3 Sentry is a modified Boeing 737 passenger jet which is equipped with specialized radar equipment to direct airborne defense assets such as fifth generation fighter aircraft in order to prosecute an air war. Please see a photo of the E-3 Sentry below.
4. In February of 2018 I unfortunately uncovered fraudulent, wasteful, and abusive practices within the program management office at Hanscom Air Force Base to which I was assigned and I brought these concerns to my leadership. Regrettably, after several weeks, the issues that I identified weren’t addressed. The circumstances included United States taxpayer dollars that were not being utilized in an appropriate manner, and I therefore reported the concern to the 66th Air Base Group Inspector General and the Acquisitions Fraud Legal Counsel at Hanscom Air Force Base. As a result of my reaching out to the Inspector General and representatives of the law, first in Massachusetts and thereafter in New Jersey and in Colorado, I was charged with and I pled guilty to the Uniform Code of Military Justice crimes of absence without leave and insubordination. This offense initiated a cascade of events which led to my pre-trial confinement for seven months, the withdrawal of my admission to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Master of Supply Chain Management program, and my resignation from the United States Air Force under other than honorable conditions on 15 March 2019. 5. While I am no longer an officer of the United States Air Force, if given another opportunity to implement the communications upgrade, I would accomplish the same action that I had previously in reporting the potential misconduct. In my humble opinion, I served the needs of the United States Air Force and the citizenry of the United States of America above my own interests. I remain committed to the United States and I look forward to the future with optimism and a resolve to pursue a career as a public servant.
6. I am grateful for your time in reading this letter and please contact me via email at Sanks@Chapman.edu or by phone at (954)-249-6021 if you have any questions regarding the details of the events that I have outlined above. In any event, thank you for your consideration of this post and please have a good day. Sincerely, WINSTON A. SANKS Anaheim, California
“Morality is doing what is right regardless of what you are told. Obedience is doing what is told regardless of what is right.”
― H.L. Mencken
Their actions are shameful. The sequence of events unfolded with purpose, serving as a reminder that you should take pride in yourself.
-- Rafa H.