White Quits as U.S. Army Secretary

WASHINGTON -- The civilian who oversees the U.S. Army, Thomas White, has submitted his resignation, the Defense Department said on Friday, after controversy over his role in the failed energy trader Enron Corp. and support for an artillery system killed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Reuters reported.

The Defense Department, in a two-paragraph statement, gave no reason for the resignation, and the effective date of White's resignation had not been determined, the Pentagon said.

Before President Bush named him as the 18th Army secretary in May 2001, White worked for 11 years for Houston-based Enron, which filed one of the biggest bankruptcies in U.S. history in December 2001.

His most recent corporate job was vice chairman of Enron Energy Services, which allegedly traded millions of megawatts of electricity with other Enron divisions, artificially jacking up prices.

White failed to divest himself of Enron shares as quickly as he promised the Senate during his confirmation hearings. As a result the Senate Armed Services Committee publicly rebuked him.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 04/28/03