'Rent-a-General' Business Is Booming for Contractors

For America's military generals, retirement is when the real money starts pouring in. It's no secret that former officers often show up on the payrolls of defense contractors, but a Boston Globe investigation into what it terms the "rent-a-general" business puts some eyebrow-raising numbers to the trend: 80% of retiring three- and four-star officers went to work as consultants or defense executives in 2004-'08. That's up from 50% a decade ago.

What's more, many work for defense contractors and as consultants to the Pentagon, a conflict of interest met with shrugs. Another: Defense firms routinely begin recruiting generals while they're still in the military. “We are changing the perception and maybe the reality of what it means to be a general,’’ a retired Air Force officer tells the Globe. "The fundamental question is whether this is shaping the acquisition system and influencing what the Pentagon buys. I think the answer is yes." Read the full investigation here.
(More Pentagon stories.)