Lt. Col. Craig Perry, who was controversially fired from command of a basic training support squadron for favoritism last year led to counter-accusations of toxic leadership, has retired.
"My appeals were obviously going nowhere, and the Air Force had no intention of leveraging my background and training, so I decided it was time to go ahead and retire," Perry said in an email. "I should be at Air War College right now, and pinning on O-6 next year."
His effective date of retirement was Nov. 1, but Perry said he had an "awesome" outdoor retirement ceremony Aug. 3, officiated by his former squadron commander, Maj. Gen. Veralinn "Dash" Jamieson. Since the ceremony, Perry has been on permissive TDY and terminal leave.
Perry said he is writing a book about his "curious case," as he put it, and how it relates to the sex scandal involving military training instructors at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas and the Air Force's current leadership climate.
"I've been able to gather dozens of stories of airmen who were wronged without recourse, and I'm painting a compelling picture of cover-up and corruption," Perry said in his email. He hopes to publish his book in early 2016.
Perry, who was once seen as an up-and-coming officer likely to make colonel, was relieved of command of Lackland's 737th Training Support Squadron in March 2014 — after just six months on the job — and given a letter of reprimand that effectively killed his career. A commander-directed investigation report in January 2014, obtained by Air Force Times, found that he carried on unprofessional relationships with noncommissioned officers in his unit, that interactions with his subordinates undermined wing leadership, that he made comments critical of his commander and that he allowed his favoritism to affect the way he treated a subordinate.
Perry and his wife, Caroline, denied those accusations and said officials distorted their work reaching out to airmen in Perry's squadron. For example, Caroline Perry revived the squadron's inactive Key Spouse Program.
His story went viral after being reported by Air Force Times last year, and sparked heated debate. Some readers felt Perry was unjustifiably punished for taking an interest in his airmen's lives, as Air Force brass encourages its leaders to, although others felt there was probably more to the story that led to his severe punishment. Navy Capt. Michael Junge, a Naval War College professor who studies investigations that lead to officers' removals, reviewed Perry's case and concluded the official Air Force report made conflicting statements and appeared to draw contradictory conclusions.
After being removed from command of the 737th, Perry became an analyst for the Joint Information Operations Warfare Center at Lackland. He appealed his firing and filed a complaint with the Air Force inspector general, without any luck.
Aside from writing his book, Perry said he will soon start a new job as a senior intelligence analyst with a government contractor and is pursuing a master's degree in futures studies at the University of Houston.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
