Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a review of what he considers "obscene" compensation paid to retired senior officers advising the military under senior mentor programs, and he also wants changes to guard against potential conflicts of interest, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Gates "has real concerns about the levels of compensation and the potential for conflict of interest" in military mentor programs, Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters at a briefing.

"He believes … that the money is obscene for government work, and that those participating in this valuable program should be motivated to do so out of service" and not monetary gain.

The secretary's move comes in response to a USA Today investigation into the military's senior mentor programs. Senior mentors help run classified war games that examine future strategies and weapons systems, even as they consult for defense contactors with a keen interest in the military's future needs.

Some retired officers earn hundreds of dollars an hour as mentors and even more from defense companies, while collecting pensions of as much as $200,000 a year.

The newspaper reported last month that roughly 130 retired generals and admirals have held taxpayer-funded military jobs advising the services while also working as employees, consultants or board members for defense contractors.

The Pentagon began its review of the senior mentor program in late November after USA Today published its first story. Morrell said Gates was "concerned" by the review's findings.

While Gates supports the idea of hiring retired generals as mentors, Morrell said, he has asked Deputy Secretary William Lynn to lead a review of how to overhaul the program.

"We got to figure out how we can do [mentoring] in a way that still allows these very, very experienced and committed and bright retired senior military leaders to devote their time and their expertise," Morrell said, "and yet pay them in a way that most people would expect government employees and government consultants to be paid."

The Pentagon also has to determine how to deal with the appearance of conflict of interest created by the mentors' defense contractor dealings, he said.

Gates has a history of dealing swiftly with public relations embarrassments. In 2007, he fired the Army secretary after revelations of poor patient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He also sacked the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force last year after learning that nuclear weapons material had been improperly secured.

Much of the compensation paid to mentors is hidden from public view, but in one case, the Army paid retired Gen. Dan McNeill $281,625 for his work from December 2008 through August 2009 — in addition to his pension of $219,000 a year, federal records show.

In mid-2007, records show, the Army awarded three contracts worth $226,285 to John Vines. Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gary McKissock has been awarded contracts worth $1.2 million since 2005, in addition to his military pension of about $119,000 a year.

Since the retired generals and admirals are hired as contractors or subcontractors, they are not subject to ethics and disclosure rules that would apply if they were brought in as temporary government employees.

Other than the Marines, which contract with mentors directly, the services have declined to release data on how much mentors have been paid, arguing that such information is not public because the retired officers were not hired directly by the government.

On Tuesday, USA Today reported on the case of retired Marine Lt. Gen. Emil "Buck" Bedard, who pushed the Marines to purchase a video system during a period he was working as a mentor for the military's Joint Forces Command.

Earlier this month, the newspaper revealed that the Army had used a loophole in federal ethics law to award contracts to two recently retired officers. The Army sidestepped a law that prohibits newly retired senior employees from representing a company before their former agency for one year.

Congress has also begun its own inquiries into the military's use of senior mentors with defense ties. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who is leading a Senate oversight committee investigation into the practice, wrote Gates last month asking that the Pentagon give her subcommittee records relating to senior mentors by Dec. 22.

Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said in reaction to the stories that retired generals should not participate in war games that have the potential to impact companies that are paying them.

Tom Vanden Brook and Ken Dilanian are reporters for USA Today.