James G. Burton

James Gordon Burton (born May 3, 1937) is a former Lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force who became famous for his actions as a whistleblower on the development of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and his subsequent book The Pentagon Wars: Reformers Challenge the Old Guard, later adopted into the 1998 HBO military comedy film The Pentagon Wars.

James G. Burton
Burton pictured in the 1959 United States Air Force Academy yearbook
Nickname(s)Bird
Born(1937-04-03)April 3, 1937
Normal, Illinois, U.S.
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branchUnited States Air Force seal United States Air Force
Years of service1955–1986
RankLieutenant colonel

Biography

Born at the end of the Great Depression in rural McLean County, Illinois Burton was a member of the inaugural class of the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1959. He was described as one of the outstanding leaders of the class, and was twice selected for Group Commander duty in his final year.[1] He was an above-average student academically and a power-hitting outfielder on the baseball field, and was one of four outstanding members of the class selected to meet President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the White House.[2]

He was removed from flying status after a fainting episode revealed internal bleeding. Unable to diagnose the cause (partly due to a malformed stomach he was born with), doctors treated him for a bleeding stomach ulcer. This stopped the bleeding, but, due to the time that diagnosis and treatment took, saw him permanently grounded and led to a second career in weapons procurement at The Pentagon.[1] He moved to the Development Plans Office at the Pentagon and moved rapidly up the ranks.[2]

In his Pentagon roles, Burton became part of a small cadre of military officers and civilians in government service who started to internally challenge the way in which weapons systems were procured, and in the early 1980’s began to tell "anyone who would listen about weapons systems that would cost billions of dollars more than advertised, or perform far less effectively than was claimed, or both."[3]

Bradley Fighting Vehicle
An M2 Bradley during a training exercise at Fort Irwin National Training Center, February 2013.

Working for the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Burton advocated for the use of live-fire tests on fully loaded military vehicles to check for survivability, something that the Army and Air Force agreed to, establishing the joint live fire testing program in 1984.[4]

An investigation by the House Armed Services Committee found that Burton’s claims were due not to malfeasance but rather the result of “a long-standing fundamental disagreement over testing methodology and, more importantly, the inability of OSD and the Army to reach an agreement on how the test is conducted."[4]

Retirement

Burton retired instead of accepting a transfer in 1986.

In 1993, Burton released his book The Pentagon Wars: Reformers Challenge the Old Guard.[5] The book was adapted into satirical comedy film The Pentagon Wars in 1998.

Burton was played by Cary Elwes in the 1998 HBO comedy adoption of his book.

References
  1. Polaris 1959 (Volume I ed.). The United States Air Force Cadet Wing. July 1, 1959. p. 120. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  2. MacPherson, Myra (May 8, 1986). "The Man Who Made War On a Weapon". Washington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  3. Weiner, Tim (October 3, 1993). "Corrupt From Top to Bottom". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  4. Haworth, W. Blair (1999). The Bradley and how it got that way : technology, institutions, and the problem of mechanized infantry in the United States Army. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30974-4. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  5. Weiner, Tim (October 3, 1993). "Corrupt From Top to Bottom". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
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