JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The day after the Wounded Warrior Project announced the firings of chief executive officer Steven Nardizzi and chief operating officer Al Giordano, the group's Jacksonville headquarters was flooded with phone calls.
Six weeks ago, Army veteran and former employee Erick Millette, 38, blew the whistle on the nonprofit's lavish spending. On Friday, he was stunned by the executives' dismissal.
"I'm absolutely surprised that they got fired," Millette told First Coast News. "The whole time I have worked there they've always come across as untouchable."
Since news of Nardizzi's and Giordano's ouster made headlines, the group's founder, Marine John Melia, has told the Associated Press he has an interest in leading WWP once more.
Millette, who worked as a WWP spokesperson for two years, said it always felt to him like he was part of a cult. "I believe it is a cult, not a culture," he said.
The breaking point that led him to become a whistleblower came when the charity spent nearly $1 million on a 2014 party at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colo. That's money, he said, that could have been spent on veterans' programs.
"When you waste that much money so much more good can be done, you could be providing more for veterans," said Millette.
He said he grew more disillusioned in fall of 2014 when he witnessed another example of the lavish spending. "They spent $2,500 on drinking, and I was standing right there and one said, 'Go ahead and pay it.' That was not including dinner," said Millette.
The Purple Heart recipient believes the shakeup is necessary, but said it will unfortunately hurt some veterans the organization aims to serve.
"I think the donors got hurt," said Millette. "But more importantly, the warriors are the ones who got hurt, it is going to slow services down."
Millette believes the board made the right decision to make the Wounded Warrior Project more transparent.
"I think there will be more firings if the board continues to do its job," he said. "And I think there should be criminal investigation, I really do. I think they should go through every piece of paper and see where the money went."
The Wounded Warrior Project serves 83,000 veterans and 15,000 families and caregivers.