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The second in charge of the US nuke program has been demoted following a gambling fraud investigation involving counterfeit poker chips at an Iowa casino. Little details were provided over the matter other that it occurred this summer.
Vice-Admiral Tim Giardina was relieved of his duties at the US Strategic Command in Nebraska outside of Omaha. He was also stripped of his rank. The US Strategic Command oversees all of America’s cyber warfare activities and military satellites in addition to providing a storage facility for the world’s largest nuclear stock pile.
The Navy's top spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said that Vice Adm. Tim Giardina will drop in rank to two-star admiral.
Giardina is being reassigned to the Navy staff pending the outcome of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe of allegations that he used counterfeit gambling chips at a casino in Iowa, not far from his base in eastern Nebraska.
The removal of such a high-ranking commander of nuclear forces is extremely rare in the U.S. military.
-Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
