Air Force Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart, right, was restricted to a military base in Texas for two months following his court-martial conviction. A judge ordered the general to pay nearly $8,000 for his accommodations at the base and denied the officer’s request to make the Air Force pay. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
AUSTIN, Texas — An Air Force general who was restricted to a military base for two months following his court-martial conviction paid nearly $8,000 for his accommodations after a judge declined the officer’s request to make the service pay.
Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart was ordered to remain within the boundaries of Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Air Force Base in late June after being convicted of conduct unbecoming of an officer for inviting a subordinate female officer to spend the night in his hotel room and dereliction of duty for flying within 12 hours of drinking alcoholic beverages.
Stewart’s court-martial also included a charge of sexual assault. But a jury of fellow general officers found him not guilty of sexually assaulting the female officer who served on his staff.
Military judge Col. Matthew Stoffel sentenced Stewart to a reprimand, restriction for two months to Randolph Air Force Base in Texas and to forfeit $10,000 of pay for six months.
In August, Stewart’s attorney, Capt. Jordan Grande, filed a motion with the judge requesting Stoffel order the Air Force to pay the cost of the base hotel. Stewart did not live on the base and would require lodging, according to court documents. The nightly rate at the base hotel was $131.
As part of a clemency request, Stewart had previously asked Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, the commander of Air Education and Training Command and the convening authority on the case, to reduce his fine by the nearly $8,000 cost of the hotel, according to court documents. The request was denied.
Robinson also could have avoided the extra cost on Stewart “by coordinating and securing a dorm room” for Stewart, according to court documents.
“The convening authority is abusing its authority by effectively imposing an additional forfeiture or fine on Maj. Gen. Stewart that was not adjudged at trial,” Grande wrote in court records.
Restriction to base is more commonly used in sentences for those already living there, and if they don’t, the airman’s first sergeant would secure a dorm room for the service member, according to court documents. Instead, Stewart’s command “refused to obtain and fund accommodations for the restriction period.”
“The only difference in Maj. Gen. Stewart’s case is, of course, his rank,” Grande wrote.
Prosecutors responded that requiring anyone other than Stewart “to pay for his accommodations during restriction would be a burden to society.”
Stoffel on Sept. 3 ruled there is no policy regarding who is responsible for payment or reimbursement of any costs accrued to carry out this type of sentence.
Stewart began his restriction to the base 10 days later and completed it Nov. 12, according to the Air Education and Training Command, the unit at the base to which Stewart is assigned.
The general completed the sentence at the base hotel, a spokesman for Stewart said in statement.
“He remains focused on completing his career with professionalism and dedication,” according to the statement.
The command did not provide Stewart’s current job title or position with the command but said he “continues to serve to meet the mission and needs of the Air Force.”
When misconduct accusations arose against Stewart in May 2023, he was commander of the 19th Air Force, which oversees much of the service’s pilot training from its headquarters at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Air Force Base.
There has been no public announcement of Stewart’s retirement plans, the command said. Upon retirement, Stewart, a career fighter pilot with more than 30 years of service, would likely face a grade determination board to determine the last rank at which he served honorably.
