U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Phillip A. Stewart, 19th Air Force commander, gives closing remarks during the 19th Air Force change of command ceremony August 19, 2022, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. Stewart oversees top level instruction and flying operations manning, contracts, logistics and maintenance trends. (Tyler McQuiston/U.S. Air Force)
FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — A jury Saturday found an Air Force general not guilty of sexually assaulting a female subordinate but convicted him of dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming stemming from a night of sex and alcohol at an air base in 2023.
Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart had pleaded guilty Monday to adultery and a second count of conduct unbecoming for pursuing an unprofessional relationship with the woman, a lieutenant colonel who worked in his office at the 19th Air Force.
Military judge Col. Matthew Stoffel sentenced Stewart to a reprimand, restriction to Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Air Force Base in Texas and a $60,000 fine. Stewart will not be dismissed from the service.
“You’ve thrown a lot away as a result of your actions,” Stoffel said. “You owe it to those individuals (who support you), your family and the U.S. to return yourself to a productive member of society.”
The sentence landed in the middle of what both sides asked for during a sentencing hearing following the verdict.
Lt. Col. Pete Havern, a prosecutor, had called for a $50,000 fine, dismissal from service and some months confinement for Stewart.
Stewart’s legal team requested the judge to consider jail time before dismissal.
Stewart, a fighter pilot, addressed the judge during sentencing and tearfully pleaded not to be dismissed from the service. He also noted during his five-minute statement that it was the sixth birthday of his younger of two daughters.
“It’s hard to think about life outside the service,” Stewart said. “I am so much more than this. I apologize for letting the Air Force down.”
He spoke of the more than three years he’s spent deployed during his 31-year career to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan and that he is the fourth generation of Stewart men to serve in the military.
Stewart’s service history and lack of any previous discipline were part of the sentencing decision, Stoffel said. Because alcohol was involved in the allegations against Stewart, the judge encouraged him to seek treatment.
Stewart earns roughly $18,000 a month and his fine will be forfeited from his pay for six months. Air Education and Training Command’s Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson will write the reprimand as he decided to court-martial Stewart.
Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force attorney, said she agreed with the verdict of the jury but the sentence seemed “disproportionately light” given that Stewart commanded thousands of airmen.
“Instead, this meager sentence exposed the rank hypocrisy present in senior officers seemingly living by a different set of rule. This woefully light sentence also demonstrates a grave procedural defect in the military justice system — the lack of independent judges who, under their robes, are military officers concerned about their careers and as supplicant to senior rank as everyone else. I’m disgusted,” she said.
A special victim counsel read an impact statement from the lieutenant colonel who accused Stewart of misconduct and described the impact the reporting process and court-martial had on her marriage and career. She is retiring in November.
Reasonable, sober belief
The jury of two women and six men, all three-star generals, deliberated for roughly eight hours Friday afternoon and Saturday morning before reaching the verdict about the sexual encounter that occurred in April 2023 at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
There was no dispute that the two had sex, leaving the jury to decide whether the woman’s compliance without verbal consent was sexual assault or if she only felt guilty for cheating on her husband.
During the night the two had sex, the subordinate officer accepted an invitation to share a glass of wine alone with Stewart at his Altus hotel, according to testimony in court.
In the weeks between the encounter and her reporting to the Air Force Office of Special Investigation, the woman and Stewart sent personal messages to each other.
The judge instructed the jury to consider a defense known as mistake of fact, which meant they should consider if a sober, reasonable person would have believed there was consent.
The jury selection began June 18 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in Texas with 18 general officers coming in person for selection. It took six days to seat the jury.
They began hearing testimony Monday from the officer who accused Stewart of assault. She spent nearly seven hours answering questions. Stars and Stripes does not name individuals who identify as victims of sexual assault.
Eleven more witnesses testified before final arguments were heard Friday morning. Among them were the officer’s husband, two enlisted members who were also drinking at Stewart’s hotel the night the sexual encounter occurred, and the captain who was in charge of the flight at Altus where Stewart took the controls after a night of heavy drinking.
