AN Army chopper pilot triggered a mutiny over claims he had affairs with two of his crewmates’ wives.
Comrades refused to fly with married Captain Simon Boeg, 42, after the alleged betrayals.
Bosses in the Army Air Corps grounded him on safety grounds and launched a misconduct probe.
A pilot told The Sun: “Flight safety is everything.
“If a pilot says, ‘I don’t want to be in the same cockpit as him,’ it is a flight safety hazard.
“That is why the military has really strict rules about behaviours that affect the cohesiveness of a unit, or its operational effectiveness.”
Boeg was accused of romping with the wives of his co-pilot and door gunner — both close friends of his — in two separate affairs.
A Wildcat helicopter instructor, Boeg rose through the ranks before commissioning as a late-entry officer.
His co-pilot and door-gunner were both sergeants who had “grown up with him” in the Air Corps.
A source said: “They flew together many times over many years.
“They were all close friends.
“They went to each other’s weddings.”
In 2022 Boeg faced a probe known as “administrative action” for allegedly romping with the door-gunner’s wife.
By that time the door gunner was promoted to a senior instructor and had two years left to serve but quit over how the probe was handled.
Boeg was then posted 7,000 miles away to Brunei, with his wife and children, as a jungle flying expert.
But on frequent trips back to Britain he often stayed with a fellow Wildcat pilot at his family quarters on RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, where their 652 Squadron is based.
When the co-pilot was sent to the US for a training exercise last year, Boeg allegedly embarked on an affair with his wife.
All three marriages have since broken down, a well-placed source told The Sun.
The Army launched a probe into the second alleged affair in November.
A source said: “The husband had tried to keep it quiet.
“He wanted to rebuild his marriage.
“But when he realised that wouldn’t happen he lodged a complaint with the chain of command and that’s when the squadron got wind of what had happened.
“At first it was just one person who was on the list to fly with Boeg and they refused.
“But as soon as that person refused, everyone else followed suit.
“It is a tight-knit community and people were really p***ed off.
“The chain of command had to ground him because no one would fly with him.”
In 2022 the MoD introduced a policy of “zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviour”.
It creates “a presumption of discharge from the Armed Forces for any person who behaved in a sexually unacceptable way”.
An Army spokesman said its soldiers “are held to the highest standards”, adding: “If individuals fail to meet these standards then appropriate action will be taken.”
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
