Marine Corps Safety Whistleblower Still Facing Retaliation

This Associated Press article delves into the case of GAP client Franz Gayl, a veteran of the Marine Corps, who, as a civilian official at the Pentagon, chose to expose the bureaucratic holdup of putting MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles into combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. MRAPs are better able to protect troops from Improved Explosive Device (IED) blasts than armored Humvees, the most common protective vehicle in service. MRAP availability likely could have prevented an unknown number of American troop deaths, as 40 percent of all American troop deaths during the Iraq War have been the result of IEDs. Instead of approving funding for MRAPs, the Department of Defense simply added more armor to the inferior Humvees and provided “inaccurate and incomplete” information about MRAPs to Congress.

Gayl was retaliated against for blowing the whistle, and as this article explores, is still facing retaliation. Currently, he is the target of an inquiry for “allegedly mishandling secret information.” However, the information under consideration was not classified at the time of Gayl’s report, but the investigators say the documents should have been kept secret because each contained "classified paragraphs.” Undermining the investigator’s case is the fact that Gayl has had continued access to classified information, despite being investigated for this "mishandling" of classified information. From the article:

"What they are doing to him is shameful," said [Tom] Devine, legal director at the Government Accountability Project in Washington. "His supervisors might as well be drill sergeants at boot camp trying to break a recruit's spirit."