William A . Cugno Major General William A . Cugno was born April 4 , 1948 , in Waterbury , CT . He was the son of Anthony and Marie Cugno of Harwich , MA . He graduated from Waterbury ' s Crosby High School in 1967 . He earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic , CT in 1984 and a master ' s degree in public administration from Shippensburg University , Shippensburg , PA , in 1991 . General Cugno served as the adjutant general and commander of the Connecticut Army and Air National Guard from June 1999 until his retirement in April 2005 . Prior to becoming the adjutant general , during his 38 year military career , he served in several command and staff positions . General Cugno was a combat veteran of Vietnam where he served as a platoon leader from August 1968 to 1969 with the 9th Infantry Division . He joined the Connecticut Army National Guard in 1970 and held several staff and company command positions to include the 1st Battalion , 192nd ( coastal ) Artillery ; Headquarters and Headquarters Co . , 242nd Engineer Battalion ; 130th Public Affairs Detachment . Following his company commands , General Cugno served as the Connecticut National Guard ' s Recruiting and Retention Manager for eight years . He then served as the commander of the 242nd Combat Engineer Battalion . Upon graduation from the U . S . Army War College , General Cugno was assigned as the commander of the 85th Troop Command , a brigade - size command , and served until 1994 when he was named the State Director of Plans , Operations , and Military Support for the Connecticut Military Department . In 1996 , he served as the chief of staff for the City of Waterbury and was responsible for the day - to - day operations of city government . Scandal and resignation . The Department of Defense Inspector General investigated MG Cugno focusing on several e - mails with sexual content with a Chief Master Sergeant Kristine Shaw in March 2004 . Shaw denied any relationship with Cugno claiming she was the victim of jealousy and gossip . Shaw was a personnel administrator with the Air National Guard and did acknowledge she did work for MG Cugno beyond her normal duties , including travelling with him . In an interview , Shaw denied any close or improper relationship with Cugno . Both are married . " I think it ' s pretty nuts , " she said . " I never felt like he wanted a relationship , or he implied a relationship . As a matter of fact he would yell at me as much as he yelled at everyone else . " She said others in the National Guard have resented that she has worked closely with Cugno . " I ' m not the only one with a direct line to him , " she said , but all the others are men . " I am a female , and there are a lot of jealousies . " Shaw acknowledged sending at least one e - mail with suggestive language to Cugno , but she said it was a bogus , intentionally provocative message designed to expose someone within the state military who she thought was snooping into e - mails sent by her and a few others who were close to Cugno . The Hartford Courant obtained a printout of one purported e - mail exchange between Kristine Shaw and Cugno , dated March 1 , 2004 . In it , Shaw purportedly wrote Cugno that " it will be important to be able to have enough time for at least 3 or 4 times , " with later language in the brief message becoming more suggestive . The printout also included a reply sent to Shaw soon after her suggestive message . The two - word message - " I promise " - appeared to have come from Cugno ' s military e - mail account and bore an electronic signature indicating it had been sent over his Blackberry wireless communication device . As a result of the investigation and publicity , MG Cugno submitted a request for retirement to Connecticut ' s Governor , M . Jodi Rell effective May 1 , 2005 .