Next time Dick Bavetta makes a bad call he may have to drop and give Ronald L. Johnson 20.

Johnson was named the NBA's senior vice president of referee operations today. He just retired as an Army major general after 32 years as a combat engineer.

He was hired to oversee officiating after the Tim Donaghy scandal. Donaghy is accused of misconduct, including helping the league manipulate playoff results in 2002 and '05.

Johnson is use to big jobs. He was commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region division, from 2003-04, responsible for overseeing $18 billion of reconstruction in Iraq.

The move splits executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson's role into two positions, a plan commissioner David Stern announced last fall.

Johnson will oversee all aspects of officiating, while Jackson will continue to handle all other domestic and international basketball matters.

"Ron's wealth of leadership and management experience, together with his engineering expertise in areas such as systems analysis, processes, and operations, make him an ideal candidate to lead our officiating program," Stern said in a statement. "Our referees are the best in the world but they never stop striving to improve and Ron has made a career out of getting the very best out of people."

As a general he has subordinates who are sworn to follow what he says, in the NBA he'll be dealing with celebrity officials who can only be swayed by suspensions, fines or termination.

Donaghy is scheduled to be sentenced later this month for betting on games he officiated and taking cash payoffs from gambling associates.

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