title:  Rocked By Scandal, Wounded Warrior Project Fires Top Execs (VIDEO)
text: On Thursday, two top executives with the Wounded Warrior Project were fired.The dismissals came after a CBS investigation exposed the charity organization s outrageous spending on lavish parties, high-priced travel arrangements and luxury accommodations for staff.As Addicting Info reported here, one four-day  team-building  conference for Wounded Warrior Project staff cost more than $3 million.Under CEO Steven Nardizzi, who first began working for the organization in 2009, spending on conferences and meetings went from $1.7 million in 2010, to $26 million in 2014.A former employee told CBS that Nardizzi  rappelled down the side of a building,  at one company event, while at others  he s come in on a Segway, he s come in on a horse. Both CEO Steven Nardizzi, and COO, Al Giordano were terminated by the board of directors, following an internal audit.The organization has been the subject of rumors and accusations for a number of years, many of which were focused on the higher-than-average salaries paid to Wounded Warrior Project executives, along with questions about the amount of money the charity spends on fundraising.While other veterans charities spend as much as 98 percent of money raised on veterans, the Wounded Warrior Project only spends about 60 percent. According to the CBS report, anywhere from 40 to 50 percent of money raised by the Wounded Warrior Project goes to staff and fundraising, instead of veterans.If that s bad enough, the charity may not use the small percentage of funds it does spend on veterans in the way you might think.The Wounded Warrior Project claims some 56,000 veterans as  alumni,  veterans who have registered with the organization.But according to The Daily Beast, many of the veterans counted as  alumni  in 2014 had no contact with the organization during that year. Just 62 percent of so-called  alumni  of the Wounded Warrior Project had participated in even one activity in 2014.As The Daily Beast reports here, Ken Davis, a veteran who served in Iraq before being injured, is considered among the  alumni  of the Wounded Warrior Project even though he said he no longer wants to be associated with it. Davis told The Daily Beast, I receive more marketing stuff from them, [and see more of that] than the money they ve put into the community here in Arizona. It s just about numbers and money to them. Never once did I get the feeling that it s about veterans. He is not the only veteran to report this experience. As Addicting Info reported here, Courtney Leigh Schumacher reached out to the Wounded Warrior Project when her husband lost both his legs in the line of duty.Rather than answer her requests for help with the things her family needed, the Wounded Warrior Project sent her a lot of useless stuff, including  hats, stickers, magnets, clothing and backpacks,  all displaying the organization s logo.There s no doubt that firing Nardizzi and Giordano is a step in the right direction.Yet that step alone may not be enough to fix the charity s negative image, or restore the trust of veterans and the public.Here s more on this story via CBS News:Image credit: video screen capture via CBS News