Pentagon Investigates Controversial Admiral

WASHINGTON —  The four-star admiral forced into retirement for an impolitic comment about the rape of a Japanese girl is under investigation for allegedly using a military jet to cross the Pacific to visit girlfriends.

Adm. Richard C. Macke, 58, commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific, allegedly had his air crew fly him twice from Hawaii to Miramar Naval Air Station in California and once to the Washington, D.C., area on trips that were mainly personal, military sources said.

The Defense Department’s inspector general is also looking into allegations that on one of the trips, Macke left his crew at Miramar four days while he took a commercial flight to Las Vegas with a Marine lieutenant colonel based at Camp Pendleton whom he was dating, military sources said.

Macke is also under investigation for dating a Navy lieutenant commander. It is against military policy for service members of significantly different ranks to date.

Macke was forced to accept early retirement Nov. 17, hours after saying the servicemen accused of raping a 12-year-old Japanese girl could have hired a prostitute for the amount they paid to rent the car they used to abduct her. He has not yet left his post.