Via Steve Clemons, from somebody named "JR" who flew with Duke Cunningham:

[I]n 1984 Cunningham was squadron commander of an A-4 aggressor squadron in a huge exercise in the California-Nevada desert that was a practice for a showdown with the Soviets in Iran. Our two squadrons, based at Nellis AFB, were the "Red" air simulating the bad guys, and again we Air Force fighter pilots lionized this legend.

I have no sympathy for him, given what he has done, and it has been a long time coming. However, it is a national tragedy nonetheless, that someone who performed so heroically in combat could allow himself to become so corrupted by Washington. I think it speaks to the corrupt environment as well as to the man. (emphasis added)