AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — A female first lieutenant assigned to the 31st Mission Support Group will spend 30 days behind bars after being found guilty of adultery and fraternization with a male staff sergeant in a court-martial that ended late Tuesday night.
Chelsea Baca-Hodroff, who will serve her time at the military’s correctional facility in Mannheim, Germany, was acquitted of more serious charges, including misuse of a government computer.
The military judge, Col. Gordon Hammock, lessened the charges after Baca-Hodroff’s defense counsel, Chadwick Conn, successfully argued for the suppression of dozens of pages of incriminating e-mails.
The case centered on the officer’s relationship with Staff Sgt. Daniel Blair, who is assigned to the base’s fire station. Blair is married to Staff Sgt. Melissa Blair, who is also assigned to Aviano.
Both Blairs testified, with Baca-Hodroff only reading a statement before sentencing.
Daniel Blair, who was granted immunity for his testimony, admitted to lying to his first sergeant when first confronted with the allegations, leading Conn to question the veracity of his testimony.
Testimony revealed that Baca-Hodroff received an Article 15 for fraternization with other enlisted members in April 2005 and the relationship with Blair continued afterward.
Article 15s are nonjudicial punishments and those records are not open to the public. She lost her position as a section chief and was transferred to other units — and to Ramstein Air Base in Germany at one point — before the other allegations surfaced.
Baca-Hodroff is set to leave the service in October as part of the Air Force’s force-shaping initiative that will also see hundreds of other junior officers forced out.
