An Air Force colonel who was fired a year ago as the commander of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio will face a court-martial on charges of having an affair and “fraternization,” the military’s term for an unethical relationship with a subordinate. After an investigation, Col. Christopher B. Meeker was charged on Oct. 25 under three articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, base officials said in a release Wednesday.
Meeker was removed from command of the 88th Air Base Wing and as the base commander of Wright-Patterson on Dec. 29, 2023 by Lt. Gen. Donna D. Shipton for what officials termed a “loss of confidence in his ability to lead,” a boiler-plate phrase used in the military when a leader is relieved. Meeker had assumed command in July 2022.
According to the Air Force’s online UCMJ docket, Meeker faces charges of disobeying a lawful command, extramarital sexual conduct and fraternization.
No details of the charges were available but Shipton — the general who would have been the convening authority in Meeker’s court-martial — is a “potential” material witness and transferred the case to Maj. Gen. Charle Bolton, the 18th Air Force Commander at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
Meeker waived an Article 32 preliminary hearing. A trial is currently scheduled for June 9, 2025.
Wright-Patterson is a major research and logistics base. As the headquarters for Air Force Materiel Command, the base is home to maintenance and supply depots, laboratories, and much of the Air Force’s acquisitions and development work. Just outside Dayton, Ohio, Wright-Patterson embraces the region’s ties to the origin of powered flight through the Wright brothers, who did much of their early work on the Wright Flyer in Dayton (the brothers’ first flight took place in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina). The base has some flying units, but its mission differs from many other Air Force bases in that it is primarily a hub for logistics.
It is also home to the Air Force Museum and Air Force Marathon.
According to his Air Force bio, Meeker graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2000 and trained in the Air Force as a civil engineer. He has deployed four times and commanded the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron, at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, and the 86th Civil Engineer Group at Ramstein Air Base.
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