The 27-year Air Force veteran and former AFMC command chief appeared stunned as Col. Robert Keirstead, president of the jury of six Air Force officers, read the verdict. There was a gasp from his wife, Tracie, seated in the front row.
Earlier Friday, Gurney had made a tearful, 20-minute apology to the jury, saying he regretted the embarrassment he caused the Air Force and the pain he caused his wife and two daughters, 15 and 11, who were in the courtroom.
Defense lawyer Maj. Lance Wood had asked the jury for mercy, asking for no jail time and a less severe reduction in rank. Capt. Tania Bryant, a prosecutor for the Air Force, recommended two years of confinement and reduction in rank to airman basic.
Gurney is to be initially confined at Scott Air Force Base, which was assigned to handle the case. He is to be transferred within weeks to a military penitentiary. The Air Force declined to give the age of Gurney, who is in his mid-40s.
The dishonorable discharge will cost Gurney his military pay, benefits and retirement income. He pleaded guilty to, or was found guilty of, 15 charges, including dereliction of duty; indecent conduct; failure to maintain professional relationships; maltreatment of two airmen by pursuing sex relationships with them; and adultery, for admitting to having had sexual intercourse with four married Air Force women.
The jury acquitted him of three charges, including unwanted touching of an airman’s breasts and buttocks, and attempts to influence the assignment of two airmen to where he could have access to them.
Adultery is a crime under military law, for undermining order and discipline and bringing discredit to the military.
Gurney, in his statement to the jury, said that he and his family have lost friends since he was charged in November 2009 and removed from his job as the AFMC’s command chief at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He was replaced by Chief Master Sgt. Eric Jaren, who is still in that job.
“I essentially lived a double life in which my actions were not those of a senior leader at a maj-com (major command) of the Air Force,” Gurney said, crying and pausing several times as he read from a statement. “I am not a bad person. I made some bad decisions. I got caught up in a cycle of sin.”
He apologized by name to his wife and daughters; the AFMC’s commander and his boss, Gen. Donald Hoffman; and former AFMC commander Gen. Bruce Carlson, retired, who had hired Gurney.
The AFMC issued a statement noting that Gurney will have access to legally required post-trial proceedings. Because he received a dishonorable discharge and more than a year in prison, Gurney’s sentence will be automatically referred to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals for review. It is also subject to review by Lt. Gen. Robert Allardice, commander of the 18th Air Force at Scott Air Force Base.
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