WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from a retired Air Force general who claims he was illegally denied a promotion after the Defense Department said he failed to adequately protect against a terrorist strike.
The justices on Monday left in place a lower court ruling that said Brig. Gen. Terryl Schwalier was not entitled to a second star.
Schwalier was in charge of the unit hit by a June 1996 bomb at Khobar Towers barracks in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 airmen. His promotion to major general had already been confirmed by the Senate, but President Bill Clinton removed him from the promotion list after an investigation found him at fault.
A federal appeals court ruled that presidential action was required to complete the promotion. Schwalier retired in 1997.