Uh, no.

It’s funny you use the entertainment arena for your story, considering that I believe that the firing was really due to the Thunderbird multimedia contractor scandal. AF had a hand in mis-labeling the missile fuzes, but it was DLA that shipped them to Taiwan. While the Chief of Staff may be ultimately responsible for the handling of the nuc’s transported unsecured from Minot to Barksdale, he responsibly allowed the commander of ACC to investigate and punish (appropriately), with his own vetting process through Dick Newton (whatever your opinion may be of him.) But, no one can allow the heavy hand of command to influence contracts in favor of any special interest, even if that contractor is an old buddy with whom you have a lot of trust. If your subordinates are doing it without your supervision, then you are delinquent. That’s where Gates is exposed, and he acted in classic CYA fashion

It just makes sense.