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Troubled colonel busted to O-2 when booted

Twenty-six years ago, Col. Michael D. Murphy joined the Air Force as a first lieutenant. On April 1, Murphy will leave the Air Force as a first lieutenant.

The demotion is Murphy’s punishment for spending much of his career practicing law without a license. It goes into effect the day he walks out the door and will cost him more than $1 million in retirement pay over the next 30 years.

Murphy, once considered one of the service’s top judge advocates generals, declined to be interviewed by Air Force Times but issued a statement through e-mail.

“The past three and [a] half years have been difficult and grueling for the Air Force, the Judge Advocate General Corps, my family, my friends and me,” he wrote. “I cannot express my relief that this process has finally ended. I am grateful to the many people who have sustained and supported me throughout this ordeal. I am especially grateful to my counsel.”

Air Force officials settled on one silver bar because it was the highest grade Murphy “satisfactorily held,” according to Lt. Col. Barbara Carson, a spokeswoman.

The director of the Air Force Review Boards Agency, Joe Lineberger, approved the recommendation made by the Air Force Personnel Council. Murphy is assigned with full pay to the Air Force Legal Operations Agency, a unit at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., that he commanded in 2005 and 2006. He has been detailed the past two years to the Air Force District of Washington’s operations and plans directorate at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.

In December 2006, after it was discovered that he lacked a law license, Murphy offered to retire. The Air Force, however, refused his request because of the ongoing investigation. He offered to resign in 2007 and 2008 in lieu of a court-martial, requests the service again turned down.

Retiring on first lieutenant’s pay — $2,885 a month —wasn’t what Murphy envisioned for his future just a few years ago. And it wasn’t what the Air Force had in mind, either.

A shining star

Murphy had plum assignments — commandant of the Judge Advocate General’s School, the top attorney for Pacific Air Forces, general counsel at the White House military office. For classified work in Iraq during the 2003 invasion, Murphy earned a Bronze Star for valor, rare recognition for an airman whose primary tools were law books.

The high image of Murphy collapsed in 2006 when the Air Force learned Murphy had been disbarred more than two decades earlier for actions as a civilian attorney in Texas — he failed to file an appeal on time — and then lied to the service about his qualifications.

Texas didn’t disbar Murphy immediately for his 1981 mistake; it suspended him first. The suspension allowed him to join the Air Force because he still technically had a law license.

Aware he would be disbarred in Texas, though, Murphy applied to the Louisiana bar — lying about his suspension. The Bayou State granted him a license. Texas finally disbarred him in May 1984. Louisiana followed suit in September 1985 when it learned what was going on.

Murphy never told his bosses about the legal problems, and the Air Force at the time did not require lawyers to prove they had a law license.

After the Air Force learned of Murphy’s problems, it began requiring all its judge advocates general to prove they are members of the bar.

In the intervening years, Murphy not only tended to the Air Force’s legal matters, he volunteered to teach ethics and best practices to civilian attorneys and third-year law students at Louisiana State University.

Legal complications kept Murphy’s case from reaching a court-martial until March 2009. After a three-day trial, a 10-member military jury found Murphy guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer, theft by filing fraudulent vouchers and failing to maintain his legal qualifications.

Because his defense attorneys could not present evidence of Murphy’s “good conduct” as a White House staff member because of the classified nature of his work, an Army judge ruled Murphy’s sentencing hearing would not be fair. Murphy, the judge ruled, could not be ordered to prison — he faced a maximum of 41 years — or fined.

Minus a million bucks

Murphy could not avoid one fate for many disgraced airmen — the loss of retirement pay.

Although convicted in March 2009, Murphy didn’t learn his retirement rank until February.

Several reasons led to the 11-month span between Murphy’s court-martial and retirement decision.

The appeal process did not end until late July, Carson said. The trial record itself measured 2 feet high.

With the conviction review over, Murphy filed his retirement papers Aug. 13 and the officer-grade determination process began, according a summary provided by Murphy’s legal team for the court-martial and retirement rank review.

Instead of retiring as a 26-year colonel with annual retirement pay of about $71,400, Murphy leaves with a 26-year first lieutenant’s pay of about $34,620, according to the Air Force figures. Other benefits such as medical care were not affected, Carson said.

Over 30 years, Murphy loses more than $1.1 million, not including inflation.