what a bummer for the (Lt) Col. What I find most aggravating is despite his 28 years, multiple deployments, thousands of flight hours etc, three minutes of (minor) misjudgments forces his retirement.
I will caveat with my own personal experience - I faced a similar situation where I could have had the book thrown at me but a cooler head (sts, a three star general in this case) prevailed and instead of an Art 15 I was given a stern talking to about the finer points of the foreign clearance guide and how it spells out applicable curfews to airmen travelling to foreign countries. I don't believe reactionary leadership is systemic in the Airforce, but it sucks that the new retired Lt Col befell its wrath.