An independent watchdog is calling on the Air Force to immediately remove from authority a two-star general who is under investigation for threatening to ostracize military whistleblowers and accusing them of treason.
This is the first time that the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit group that exposes government fraud and abuse, has called on the Air Force to strip a general of his leadership position, said Mandy Smithberger, the director of the group’s Straus Military Reform Project.
The group made the request in a letter Thursday to Air Force Secretary Deborah James, which was obtained by The Washington Times.
The Air Force recently began looking into whether Maj. Gen. James Post told officers that they would be committing treason if they were found passing information to lawmakers about the capabilities of the A-10 combat aircraft.
Maj. Gen. Post is vice commander of Air Combat Command.
“Major General Post’s comments seriously call into question his judgment and ability to continue in his role as vice commander of the Air Force’s Air Combat Command,” the letter states. “Major General Post has not denied making these comments, and while we understand that an investigation is ongoing, we think the known facts merit his immediate removal. At the very least, he should be suspended while the investigation is ongoing and removed if the allegations are proven to be true.”
The Air Force began the investigation at the request of Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, after he demanded in late January that the service look at the alleged treason threat.
Air Force officials were unable to immediately confirm Thursday that Ms. James had received the watchdog group’s letter, which paints the investigation into Maj. Gen. Post’s comments as an indication of “a broader problem of a toxic culture against whistleblowers.”
“These comments undermine service members’ constitutional rights to petition their government, and appear to violate statutory protections for military whistleblowers,” the letter states. “Most importantly, they try to interfere with Congress’s ability to learn how these systems are currently performing in combat to address current threats, precisely the kind of information they need to know to conduct their constitutional duties and to oversee the Air Force’s operations and programs.”
More troublesome for the government oversight watchdog is that Maj. Gen. Post’s purported threats come not long after Congress expanded laws that protect military whistleblowers.
Lawmakers strengthened those laws by approving in its fiscal year 2014 defense bill The Military Whistleblower Act.
Both the Government Accountability Office and the Pentagon’s inspector general have documented how difficult it is for military whistleblowers to prove they were retaliated against, Ms. Smithberger of the Project on Government Oversight said.
In recent years the Air Force has weathered whistleblower scandals such as the reprisal against 62 trainees at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and retaliation against pilots concerned about the safety of the on-board oxygen generation system of the Air Force’s F-22 jets.
• Maggie Ybarra can be reached at mybarra@washingtontimes.com.
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