Timothy Michael "Tim" Giardina (born 1957) is a retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

officer and formerly the deputy commander of U.S. nuclear forces. In May 2014, all charges associated with counterfeiting were dropped by the Navy, but he was fined and reprimanded for two specifications of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman. The specifications included 1) not reporting exactly what valuables he found in a casino bathroom when he initially reported finding valuables to casino management and 2) lying to an Iowa investigator in the casino when questioned about the incident. As a result of being suspended pending resolution of the ongoing investigation, Giardina reverted to the rank of rear admiral

Navy career

Giardina graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics.

Counterfeit poker chips

In June 2013, Giardina was caught using three counterfeit

gambling chips Casino chips (also known as poker chips, gaming tokens, or checks/cheques) are small discs used as currency in casinos. Larger, rectangular gaming plaques may be used for high-stakes games. Poker chips are also widely used as play money in ca ...

in a

Council Bluffs Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 62,799 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, te ...

, Iowa, casino. Giardina was investigated by the Navy and suspended from duty in September 2013. Later investigation revealed that someone had altered several $1 chips into $500 chips with adhesive tape and paint. It was further alleged that Giardina would spend approximately 15 hours a week on occasion playing poker. In May 2014, he was found guilty of two counts of "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." He reverted from

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

, was removed from his position as deputy commander at

Strategic Command The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear de ...

, and was given a staff officer position in Washington, D.C.

Guilty plea for obstruction of justice

In 2025, Giardina pled guilty to obstruction of justice after he gave false testimony for a tenant of his during a bail bond proceeding.

References

*Telegraph Group, "Senior admiral uncovered as fake chip gambler," Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand), November 25, 2014

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giardina, Timothy United States Navy vice admirals Living people United States Naval Academy alumni 1950s births United States submarine commanders Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy personnel who were court-martialed Year of birth missing (living people)