The general court-marital of a former commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is slated to begin Tuesday. Col. Christopher Meeker is charged with three violations of the Articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
He was removed from command Dec. 29, 2023, after about a year and half in the position. He was charged on Oct. 25, 2024.
Meeker is accused of engaging in a personal and sexual, extramarital relationship with an enlisted staff sergeant; and willfully disobeying an order from his superior officer to have no contact with that person.
The trial had been scheduled to take place at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois under the convening authority of Maj. Gen. Charles D. Bolton because Meeker's superior officer, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Commander Lt. Gen. Donna D. Shipton, may be called as a witness.
According to a statement from the Air Force, the trial was moved back to Wright-Patt by mutual agreement for the convenience of trial participants. Maj. Gen. Bolton remains the convening authority. Col. Matthew Stoffel is docketed to be the presiding military judge during trial.
Meeker assumed command of the 88th Air Base Wing in July 2022. According to his biography, Meeker joined the Air Force in 2000 after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is a career civil engineer who served at five base-level assignments, Headquarters Air Force, the Air Force Personnel Center, and Air Force Civil Engineer Center. His previous commands included the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany; and 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.
He was promoted to colonel in February 2020.
Two months prior to Meeker assuming command, a now-retired former major general at the base near Dayton was convicted during a general court-martial for abusive sexual contact. William T. Cooley, then a two-star general, was the head of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson at the time of the court-martial in April 2022. He was removed from command Jan. 15, 2020, following allegations of sexual assault. He is the first Air Force general to have his case adjudicated by a court-martial. He lost both stars and retired as a colonel.
On Jan. 28, 2025, Brig. Gen. Erik Quigley was fired from his position as program executive officer of bombers and director of the Bombers Directorate. It's part of Air Force Material Command, housed at Wright-Patt. The Air Force said an investigation revealed the one-star general had inappropriate personal relationships. A base official confirms no charges have been filed at this time. Quigley is currently serving as special assistant to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center commander (Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton), performing duties as assigned.
At more than 30,000 employees, Wright-Patt is the largest single-site employer in Ohio. The 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patt is one of the Air Force's largest air base wings with more than 5,000 officers and enlisted Airmen, Air Force civilians and contractor employees.
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