The #2 officer at U.S. Strategic Command, the department in charge of all nuclear war fighting forces, is under investigation for introducing counterfeit gambling chips in an Iowa casino poker game.

Stratcom Commander General Robert Kehler suspended Navy Vice Admiral Tim Giardina (pictured) from his post more than three weeks ago, but the action was only recently made public. While details remain scant, officials familiar with the case told the press the incident “definitely involves issues with gambling” and allege that the decorated military man tried to pass $1,500 in fake chips at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs last June.

Days after the affair was made public, the state of Iowa declared that it would take no legal action against the officer, claiming his spotless criminal record and illustrious military career would only result in a deferred sentence. Giardina, however, is still under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and could be hit with Federal charges. “They assured us they would have the ability to deal with him,” said Pottawattamie County prosecutor Matt Wilbur.

For the moment, Giardina is still officially assigned as Deputy Commander at the U.S. Strategic Command, but is prohibited from performing duties involving nuclear weapons or tasks requiring security clearance. The head of Strategic Command, General Kehler, has recommended to the U.S. Defense Secretary that Giardina be reassigned.

Giardina wouldn’t be the first powerful military man to fall due to slip-ups in his personal life. David Petreaus, the four-star general who commanded coalition forces in Iraq, was forced to resign as Director of the CIA after it was discovered that the he had been having an affair with his biographer.

The military treats such events extremely seriously; private indiscretions could make high-ranking officials with access to classified material susceptible to recruitment by foreign intelligence agencies. “Gambling in the military is a huge problem for national security that the military tries to ignore,” said John Kindt, author of the 2012 research paper “The Gambling Threat to National and Homeland Security: Internet Gambling.”

“Think about the vulnerability a gambling addict represents in that kind of command,” Kindt told the Des Moines Register. “If they’re losing money and have dug themselves a big hole, they are more susceptible to agents who are working against the interests of the United States.”

Many of the espionage cases uncovered by U.S. authorities have involved high-ranking officers with access to extremely sensitive information being paid handsomely to divulge their secrets to foreign governments. Former CIA agent Aldrich Ames, former FBI agent Robert Hanssen, and former Navy officer John Walker Jr. were all paid millions to pass classified material to Russia during the Cold War and beyond.

Once casino fraud investigators learned of the stature and prominence of Giardina, they decided to hand the information over to NCIS. Passing counterfeit poker chips is a serious crime in Iowa, classified as a felony and punishable by five years in prison and fines of up to $7,500. Iowa gaming officials have also looked into the case and declared that the Horseshoe Casino had adequate security to detect counterfeiting and was not at fault.

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