From NBA.com :

The National Basketball Association has named United States Army Major General Ronald L. Johnson to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Referee Operations, it was announced today by NBA Commissioner David Stern. General Johnson will be responsible for all aspects of the NBA™s officiating program, including recruiting, training and development, scheduling, data management and analysis, and work rules enforcement.

General Johnson, a two-star General, recently retired from active duty as Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — the second highest ranking engineer in the Army — after completing 32 years of military service as a combat engineer. As Commanding General of the Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division, from 2003 to 2004, he was responsible for overseeing $18 billion of reconstruction in Iraq. He also commanded the 130th Combat Engineer Brigade in Bosnia from 1996 to 1998. General Johnson is a 1976 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds several advanced degrees, including a Masters in Operations Research and Systems Analysis from Georgia Tech’s School of Industrial Engineering and a Masters in Strategy from the Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies.

An interesting P.R. move to be sure in the wake of Tim Donaghy’s headline-grabbing accusations. Whether or not Johnson has any real basketball credentials is a fair question, but I look forward to future accounts of Steve Javie’s 30 days in the brig.