Aiming Too High, Maybe…

In an instance evocative of a Monty Python skit, a senior U.S. government scientist artfully duped his boss into hiring a prostitute to a handsomely salaried position within a prestigious research team tasked with developing hypersonic missiles for the U.S. Air Force.

The scandal’s architect, Dr. James Gord—a prominent academician and holder of multiple degrees, awards, and patents—advocated passionately for the prostitute’s appointment to long-time USAF contractor, Spectral Energies. Gord disingenuously claimed the woman held degrees in biochemistry from both the University of Tennessee and the University of Cincinnati medical school. In point of fact, the individual to whose advancement Gord so earnestly plied his reputation and resources was 32-year-old Amanda F. Savino—a sex-worker Dr. Gord had frequented in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Notwithstanding her abject ignorance of physics, engineering, and even the most basic tenets of word processing, Savino quickly rose to workplace popularity by providing such expertise as she did possess to numerous scientists and researchers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base—one of whom was so impressed with her acumen that he paid Savino $20,000-a-year to clean his apartment in the nude before …

Gord’s boss, Spectral Energies CEO Sukesh Roy, became frustrated with Savino's incompetence and looked into her ostensible qualifications—which he determined straight-away were contrived. Confronted with Roy’s findings, Gord owned up to the true nature of his relationship with Savino. Gord also admitted to patronizing 27 additional prostitutes across the country during his travels on U.S. government business. Gord explained to a disbelieving Roy that he’d paid the women by taking cash advances against his government travel card—thereby ensuring his personal finances were unaffected by his philandering.

Despite the mind-boggling revelations, Gord asked Roy to expand Savino's technical research responsibilities and to include her name on research publications. Gord further urged Roy to entrust Savino with the conduct of all Spectral Energies business outside the Dayton, Ohio, metropolitan area.

Roy’s refused the preposterous requests and set about the delicate endeavor of terminating a high-paid, government hooker. Upon learning of Roy's intention to oust Savino, Gord stated he would kill Roy and himself.

The problem seemed to self-resolve, however, when Savino announced she was leaving Spectral Energies to take a technical research assistant position with Innovative Scientific Solutions Incorporated (ISSI)—an engineering company specializing in the production of measurement instrumentation.

Roy determined in short order that Gord had orchestrated Savino’s move to ISSI via the same underhanded tactics he’d used to secure her position at Spectral Energies. In March 2019, Roy initiated a complaint about Gord's behavior to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).

Gord died under mysterious circumstances before charges against him could be filed. Whether or not charges will be brought against Savino remains unknown.

FMI: www.af.mil