WASHINGTON — A high-ranking U.S. Army chaplain is planning to leave the military to take over as the head corporate chaplain for Raytheon on Capitol Hill, raising fresh questions about the so-called “revolving door” between the Pentagon and the defense chaplain industry, sources confirmed today.
Lt. Col. Daniel Collins, S.J., a Catholic chaplain for the Joint Staff, will retire and take over as the head of Raytheon’s Washington-based chaplaining arm on Jan. 1, company officials said. He will join nearly 400 high-ranking defense officials and military officers in recent years who have shifted into the private sector to become high-powered corporate chaplains, defense industry lobbyists and consultants, or convicted felons.
“The revolving pew between the government and the corporations it does business with often creates the appearance that government officials are improperly favoring a company in awarding or managing federal programs and contracts,” said Mandy Smithberger, a director at the Project on Government Oversight. “And I think you can see the conflict of interest in having God favoring Raytheon over Boeing or Lockheed Martin.”
