Colorado Springs – The No. 3 commander at the Air Force Academy is taking a leadership job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, one month after he was cleared of an allegation that he used his position to proselytize non-Christian cadets.
Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida, whose promotion to major general has been held up in the Senate, has been the academy’s commandant of cadets since April 2003. He and other commanders were brought in to help the recover from a sexual assault and harassment scandal.
Weida will become director of capabilities integration and transformation at the Air Force Material Command at Wright-Patterson.
He will be replaced by Col. Susan Desjardins, a 1980 academy graduate and commander of the 437th Airlift Wing of the Air Mobility Command at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C.
Air Force Academy officials did not immediately return a call for comment.
On Sept. 7, the Air Force inspector general cleared Weida, an evangelical Christian, of the last of seven allegations of proselytizing, including his June 2003 “guidance” to cadets that said they are “accountable first to your God.” He was cleared of the first six allegations in June.
Weida’s promotion to major general also had been put on hold while the inspector general’s office investigated the allegations.
