Last week, Franz Gayl was given his life back.
The Marine Corps veteran, who made waves in 2007 when he blamed top military officials for failing to speed the shipment of life-saving vehicles to Iraq, has spent the last few years seeing his vaunted career ripped to shreds. He's been publicly humiliated, reprimanded by his superiors. He had his security clearance yanked and placed on administrative leave for alleged improper use of a flash drive in a secure computer, effectively ending a 35-year career working for the Marines.
So Gayl was at home sitting at his computer last week looking for work as a volunteer firefighter when he got the call that his security clearance had been reinstated, giving him his job back as a science adviser at the Pentagon. "I was flabbergasted, but I am overjoyed that I can now return to my work of supporting the Marine Corps that has been, remains and will always be my life," he emailed The Huffington Post on Friday. He claims that his suspension was in retaliation for his demand that military brass be held accountable for the delay in delivery of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles known as MRAPs.
Gayl's experience is an all too common one. In return for saving lives, highlighting government corruption and saving millions in taxpayer money, government whistleblowers are often punished for their good deeds.
It is likely that Gayl would never have been disciplined if the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act had been in place. The bill, which extends current safeguards to government contractors and bolsters prevailing protections for whistleblowers, enjoys bipartisan support spanning liberal Democrats and Tea Party conservatives. But it remains stalled in Congress, due to the opposition of government bureaucrats and some powerful lawmakers.
"These folks haven't had to worry about anyone looking over their shoulder for decades," explains the Government Accountability Project's legal director Tom Devine, adding that members of the intelligence and military bureaucracy have opposed meaningful changes to current whistleblower protections.
Earlier this month, a version of the bill sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) passed unanimously through the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. But its fate remains unclear in the full House where some lawmakers previously implied -- amid the furor over WikiLeaks -- that it entails disclosure of classified information.
At the end of 2010, the Senate version was killed in the final moments of the legislative session when a mystery senator placed a secret hold on the bill at the behest of the incoming House Republican leadership (the Government Accountability Project and NPR's "On the Media" got every senator but Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) to deny placing the hold).
Gayl's experience is a powerful reminder of the importance of whistleblowers.
When Gayl did a tour of duty in Iraq in 2006, he was shocked to see how many American soldiers were being killed and maimed by improvised roadside bombs. Many of them were driving Humvees, which are particularly vulnerable during such explosions due to their low mass, parts made of flammable aluminum and low ground clearance.
But Gayl was even more devastated to learn that the Corps was "well aware of this vulnerability as early as 1994 when experts reported that the Humvee is a 'death trap' against IEDs," he said over email. Moreover, it had neglected to look for a replacement for years and failed to act on multiple requests by generals and commanders in the field for mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, which were commercially available and known to be nearly impervious to most IED attacks.
"Unfortunately, the civilian bureaucrats in the support establishment had buried the request for 1,169 MRAPs in 2005 leading to a 19 month delay in mass fielding, and a horrendous number of unnecessary deaths and injuries in the vulnerable Humvee, even when the threat and the tangible consequences were known to the responsible bureaucrats," Gayl emailed HuffPost.
The reason for the delay, Gayl said, is that some military bureaucrats wanted to "protect funding already programmed to Humvees and other planned projects."
A 35-year member of the Corps, Gayl grew so frustrated that he went public with his complaints in 2007 to pressure military brass to send MRAPs and to "[make] sure officials were held accountable for what I knew to be corrupted acquisition practices so that such a tragedy would not be permitted to happen in future conflicts."
It wasn't easy for him to do, he explained, citing the Marines' emphasis on loyalty and unit cohesion. "I never imagined becoming a whistleblower. To me and most of the Marines I know the mere word carries with it connotations of being a narc, a snitch, and even a traitor. ... However, my observations in Iraq and futile interaction with the stateside acquisition bureaucracy at all levels led me to do the very thing I would never have envisioned doing beforehand."
His outspokenness eventually helped prompt the Pentagon to expedite the shipment of thousands of MRAPs to Iraq's most dangerous provinces. Soon the death rate for Americans in such explosions plummeted -- Pentagon leaders even praised Gayl for his actions.
And how was Gayl rewarded for his good deed?
Two weeks after Pentagon chief Robert Gates launched a MRAP task force to speed the delivery of the vehicles to Iraq in 2008, Gayl received his first formal letter of reprimand in all his years of military service. And one day in October last year, when he arrived for work at the Pentagon, he was informed that his security clearance had been yanked. He was told to collect his belongings and placed on administrative leave -- basically ending his career. He was told that he was being investigated for using an unauthorized flash drive within a secure facility on several occasions.
Gayl said he supports the passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, saying that both Senate and House version are great improvements on status quo protections. He emphasizes that his success at getting his job back is an anomaly and should not be the exception "that proves a rule, but rather be the rule itself by means of enhanced whistleblower protection having teeth; legislation of the sort that will hopefully be signed into law by the President before the end of the year."
Here is the full transcript of my interview via email with Franz Gayl (my questions are in bold), preceded by a brief introduction written by Gayl.
To begin, I want to express my deepest thanks to all who have steadfastly supported me throughout this ordeal. In particular this pertains to fellow civilians, and the countless active duty, reserve, and retired Marines of all ranks from around the world who have remained in contact with and reached out to me, often risking their own careers in the process. This five year saga in my professional life has deepened my life-long commitment to the Marine Corps that has formed the foundation of my purpose and identity since I first enlisted in 1974. With the recent favorable adjudication by the Department of the Navy regarding my security accesses and the cancellation of my suspension I am energized to return to work hard in support of all Marines in the capacities for which I was hired. Again, the moral support provided to me by so many of my fellow Marines throughout has been a sustaining gift for both me and my family.
Also, as a general comment, DoD civilian whistleblowers today have no due process legal rights for a hearing other than those stated in the existing Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). While the DoD IG can investigate and make recommendations, it has been a Trojan horse that teams up with the agency to finish off whistleblowers naively seeking its help. However, one major change in the climate is noteworthy. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has been transformed under the inspiring leadership of Carolyn Lerner. Since her arrival in the summer of 2011 OSC has truly come to fulfill its intended mission as a Federal guardian of whistleblower rights. For example, OSC's determination to request a stay of - an indefinite salary cutoff that would have starved me out of the Marines - and the Merit Service Protection Board's (MSPB) willingness to support it, was the turning point in my case during the darkest hours this fall, when I thought it would be necessary to sell my home and give up. I don't think it was a coincidence that the Department of the Navy then issued a favorable security adjudication that now permits me to get back to work. Several others like me have received similar support from OSC recently, examples that spell hope for current and future Federal civilian whistleblowers. With strong committed leadership at the helm of OSC, the MSPB, and related organizations an effective line of defense against agency reprisals can be drawn in anticipation of enhanced WPA protections that will, and must be signed by the President this year.
First of all, how did you feel when you found out about the reinstatement?
It was at first hard to believe the news when I got the call from my attorneys at GAP. I was flabbergasted, but I am overjoyed that I can now return to my work of supporting the Marine Corps that has been, remains, and will always be my life. The news of a favorable security determination was completely unexpected, especially after all of the derogatory comments that my supervisors at all levels had officially made on the record over the years regarding my trustworthiness, reliability, and judgment. But then I reflected on the fact that the Department of the Navy made the security determination, not the Marines. I have always had and have great faith in the professionalism and objectivity of the Department of the Navy Central Adjudication Facility (DONCAF). DONCAF has stood above and outside of the Marine Corps' political fray concerning me, looking at all the facts dispassionately and fairly, both favorable and unfavorable. That favorable determination by DONCAF was a simple reaffirmation of the professionalism of that organization. As for the same-day job reinstatement by my supervisors, I respect them greatly for acting immediately to put me back to meaningful work. I intend to redouble my efforts to serve them and the Marine Corps well again, as it was frustrating not to be able to do my job during the past year.
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misconduct, fraud, cover ups, etc. That we need to train employees in local towns, county,
state and in federal government on every level how to spot and report corruption or misconduct.
We could even use the military to plant people in local towns, county, state, and federal govern-
ment that would report any forms of corruption. We need to do something to keep our country
and its officials honest.
A monument which labels their names for posterity and a night of red carpet awards for these deserving heros might also encourage many more to speak up for integrity and truth.
http://projects.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/?gclid=CObu_4-J1KoCFYcZQgodPwk-XQ
3/27/03 testimony before a Senate Appropriations Hearing
Rumsfeld:
I don't believe that the United States has the responsibility for reconstruction, in a sense...[Reconstruction] funds can come from those various sources I mentioned: frozen assets, oil revenues and a variety of other things, including the Oil for Food, which has a very substantial number of billions of dollars in it.
Wolfowitz:
We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.
Former US Attorney admits leaking document to smear Fast & Furious whistleblower
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2804898/posts
First.........the acceptance of the fact that "“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Second. Finding out first hand that. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men"
The classic no win scenario, when doing what you know is right, will cost you dearly.
Been there, done that, can't say that I recommend it.
I fear that corruption has become so ingrained in U.S. society, that the bad guys already won. Life is really like what they show in the movies.
"Life ISN'T really like what they show in the movies"
Unless its a really dark movie.
The good guys don't necessarily win.....................I suspect in most cases, it's the opposite that is closer to being the truth.
Realizing the truth that "
I'll never understand.................