Appointed by Donald Rumsfeld in late January as chief of the Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, Garner is in charge of coordinating the military's reconstruction effort in Iraq.
While on leave since January from SY Coleman, Jay Garner remains the paid president of this defense company, which makes components for logistical and surveillance products deployed all over Iraq.
Shortly after Garner got his new job at the Pentagon, SY Coleman's parent company, L-3 Communications, received the group's biggest contract to date: $1.5 billion to provide logistical services on the Iraqi frontlines and elsewhere.
This past fall, federal investigators began looking at a contract SY Coleman (then SY Technologies) had won from the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, which Garner once directed, without having to bid on it. Shortly after the $48 million award was announced, it was withdrawn for lack of funds, and inspectors chose not to probe further.