TESTIMONY OF TOM
HEEMSTRA
TO GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE
HEARING ON ANTHRAX
OCTOBER 11, 2000
Distinguished
Members of Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen:
First,
I thank you for the opportunity to address you on the Lessons Learned from the Anthrax
Vaccine Immunization Program, focusing specifically on Ft. Wayne—the 163rd
Fighter Squadron, in terms of readiness, retention, and morale. My qualifications and testimony are based on a 20
year military career: I graduated from the
Air Force Academy at the very beginning of my career, where this country graciously
provided me an outstanding opportunity for an education.
The Academy in essence is a leadership laboratory, that includes the finest values,
ethics, and honor training anywhere in the world. Towards
the end of my career, I was fortunate to serve at Ft. Wayne as the F-16 Fighter Squadron
Commander, the highlight of a wonderful career.
Second,
I sincerely thank you, this time, especially on behalf of the backbone of our military
force-our enlisted corps, and many of our 2.4 million troops who do NOT support
this anthrax shot program. How do I know I
speak for these troops? Not a month, week, or
sometimes even a day go by that I am not thanked for fighting this battle for them--because
they have no choice but to risk a court-martial for disobeying this order, an order you
have also found to be illegal. And
according to a USA poll last summer, 83% of Americans think anthrax should be a voluntary
vaccine.
As you are aware, many pilots have
resigned or transferred out of flying positions, leaving the Air National Guard and Air
Force Reserves. About 260 pilots, from 12% of
the units so far, which makes a total estimate of about 2100 pilots lost if the shot
program continues. Over ten billion dollars in training costs could
walk out the door. When I testified to this
Committee on 29 Sep 99, I estimated we would lose 1000-2000 pilots due to anthrax. My projection has proven to be true and right on
track. Unfortunately, DOD leadership, to
protect their own careers, will no doubt still be in denial over this issue. In Sep their answer under oath was “only one
had quit from the Guard because of the shot” despite signed affidavits and testimony
before Congress of 8 resignations from Connecticut. And
at that time 7 pilots had chosen to leave at Madison.
I estimated 15-20 would leave Ft. Wayne. Within
one week 22 left from Memphis and chose not to submit to the “biological oath of
loyalty”. Plus, 30 were lost at McChord,
20 at McGuire, 60 at Dover, and over 50 at Travis from the USAFR. WOW!
But let’s not argue numbers anymore
since they have been manipulated: their’s vs.ours.
How about names, real people, faces I picture clearly of my men who gave up on
trusting their leadership and voted with their feet?
Their names below are represented by coded initials on the graphic to protect their
privacy and their follow-on careers.
GONE
1.
FTRC
12. WMJY
***Keep in mind the leadership at
2.
RAHB
13. BJDE
Ft. Wayne falsely reported to
GAO
3.
WDMD
14. JDMH
and the media that only 9 pilots left
4.
STHJ
15. MAGD
because of the shot. They know as
5.
HEPT
16. MACC
I do, and many could testify, their
6.
HAJF
17. PTRM
numbers are false.
7.
EPTU
18. AJTY
8.
GAPT
19. WWCI
9.
AWGR
20. DBNR
21. ECBH
2 of these 21 pilots listed changed their
minds, came back and agreed to take the shot. However,
then DOD policy changed. They were not forced
to take the shots. However, please note the
leadership at Ft. Wayne offered to get “special permission, a waiver” to violate
current DOD policy, “inventing” their own policy again, to allow them to give
these 2 pilots the shot—presumably out of revenge, definitely out of control.
If DOD or Ft. Wayne wants to “fudge”
the numbers again, let’s look at it another way: who they had to hire to replace the
departed.
REPLACEMENTS
1.
RAMF
11. TDRO
**Note the 5 VACANCIES after
2.
BADJ
12. DIMF
they had to hire 14 new pilots, all at
3.
CHJN
13. MPVR
various stages of flying currencies, &
4.
CECB
14. WBBP
qualifications—some requiring
5.
JEDF
15. VACANT
attendance at formal F-16 school.
6.
LAGF
16. VACANT
The experience and cohesiveness
7.
DHJD
17. VACANT
of this fighter squadron were
8.
CJLV
18. VACANT
demolished and they are now on a
9.
RJMK
19. VACANT
rebuilding program. Plus, the top
10. DMRL 2 flying leadership jobs
have been
essentially
unfilled for the last 11/2-2 yrs by noncurrent pilots. Ft.Wayne’s flying leadership has been
virtually nonexistent, compared to the way a fighter squadron should be run.
1.
Wing Commander—filled
2.
Operations Group Commander—VACANT of a current F-16 pilot since 25 Feb
99: 11/2 years.
3.
Squadron Commander—VACANT of a current F-16 pilot since 18 Nov 98: 2 years.
Imagine this happening on a grand scale,
nationally, and you will get a picture of what I was trying to warn my leadership at Ft.
Wayne and your committee of last summer. Also
noteworthy: approximately 10 other pilots, in addition to the 21 who resigned or
transferred, said at one time they would not
take the shot, then later changed their mind after agonizing over a very tough choice. Only 2-3 pilots are known to have wanted to take
the shot.
Thirdly,
the troops thank you for your courage, integrity, and leadership in researching and taking
a stand on this issue. America’s sons
and daughters needed a voice in Washington. You
heard, you listened, you acted to protect them, and spoke the truth despite whatever
political, economic, or career pressures you faced. The
exact opposite approach and behavior from DOD on this issue has eroded, if not destroyed
trust in our military leadership. Rightfully so: DOD misled you, the Congress, the GAO,
the American people, and their own troops. They have betrayed the trust of us all.
The arrogance of power, and the abuse of
power seemingly have elevated them above the truth and above the law, causing them to use
an experimental, adulterated drug for an off-label use, on a large scale vaccination
program, violating FDA protocol in administering it, while the FDA discovered a substance
not approved in the vaccine recipe, which DOD also denied, and then calling us conspiracy
theorists and internet malcontents.
Further, they coerced, intimidated,
threatened and punished in order to enforce this program, reference my written
testimony/Chronology up thru the present date, and my colleagues testimony dating back to
the Connecticut 8 pilots. Specifically, they
threatened to put one of my outstanding pilots in jail, Capt Dan Marohn sitting by my
side, as well as punishing me by a forced resignation as a Commander, an illegal
grounding, damaging my personnel file and performance reports, and forcing me into
retirement now against my wishes and in direct contrast to the official documents of the
Headquarters Air Reserve Personnel Center (HQ ARPC) which I have here and offer as
evidence of their punishment mentality. These actions clearly violate Whistle Blower
Protection Laws, Title 10 US Code, DOD Directives 7050.6 and Article 92 of the UCMJ. These offenses and punishments follow Asst
Secretary of Defense Cragin’s declaration under oath that people in the Guard would
not be punished for resigning and not taking the shot.
In Jan I filed an Inspector General complaint with the Secretary of Defense’s
Office citing these violations, and have been largely ignored for the better of 6 months. Perhaps the Attorney General would enforce the
laws our DOD has ignored.
If DOD had listened to your Committee,
when you you inferred that it was an illegal order, we would not have experienced upheaval
at Ft. Wayne and Battle Creek. If they had
listened 6 months ago, when you declared it an illegal order we would be well on our way
to restoring the faith, trust, and integrity our military institution absolutely needs to
have. Out of that comes good order and
discipline. If the Lessons Learned from the Rockefeller Report had not been ignored after
the Gulf War, the abuse of power might have been checked.
If only we had received support from your colleague, the Chairman of the Personnel
Subcommittee who went on the record twice, once in a Congressional joint subcommittee
meeting last November, saying DOD is using the vaccine in a manner it was not approved
for, we might have ended the abuse. The FDA’s term for off-label use is: “investigational”
and that requires informed consent by law. This
was a lost opportunity to be a watchdog and defender of our military troops.
We now know the recipe for executing an
illegal order and the results that follow. Take
a bad policy:
that ignores US law, FDA regulations, the
historical and ethical lessons of Nurmburg, Agent Orange, and radiation testing,
that ignores
basic human rights, Congressional declarations of “unlawful”, sick and injured
people, Gulf War Illness, improper influence/corruption in the acquisition process,
that ignores
lack of testing and quality control standards, consistent historical failure of the
program, lack of proven necessity;
then apply it
on a massive, grand scale;
add fear,
intimidation, coercion, punishments, greed, careerism,
throw more
($$$) money into it,
add politics,
and put it in the hands of some powerful people:
the result—a
travesty!
I accurately predicted the results of
this policy failure last September when I said:
We will lose 1000-2000 pilots. We’re on schedule to lose 2100 if the program
continues.
We will lose 25-50% of our pilots. We lost 53-58% at Ft. Wayne.
We have sick people. Many of these will remain secretly sick to protect
their careers.
We will have a breakdown of trust. My fault, I should have said meltdown!
I also said: We’re the guinea pigs. We know it. And
so do you. Now the FDA proved it.
What can be done?
1.
Restore faith in the system. Through
legislation and your influence with colleagues protect your troops, since military
careerism won’t. Halt the program
immediately based on its grandiose failure.
2.
Establish a process for safe acquisition of necessary force protection
measures that will be effective with full FDA oversight, regulatory authority, and
accountability for all vaccinations so we never go down this road again.
3.
Completely restore through funding, medical assistance, and blanket immunity all
who were injured by this program: physically/medically and occupationally in their
professional military careers.
Please protect our military against
future abuses of power.
CHRONOLOGY (dates are accurate to the best records and recollections of
multiple witnesses)
OUTLINE OF EVENTS AT THE 163 FIGHTER
SQUADRON
CONCERNING THE ANTHRAX VACCINE
Mar 99
Squadron members learn and research more about the vaccines potential negative
affects and mandatory compliance. We are put
on an artificial deadline for an “invented” base policy to be vaccinated on Aug,
9 months early. Tension is high and time is
short to find out about safety of the shot. I
traveled to Maine to meet with Dr. Meryl Nass, a civilian anthrax expert, to research,
study, and enlist her help.
17 Apr 99
In accordance with DOD’s goal of educating our people about the shot and with
the full knowledge of our leadership at Ft. Wayne, I invited Dr. Nass to visit Ft. Wayne
and educate our people. The Wing CC’s
order prevented her from coming on base. I
was then told educating the troops meant telling them DOD’s versions of the facts. I questioned whether this was “censoring the
truth” and questioned our responsibility as trustees of their health to find out the
truth, but was ridiculed. The meeting with
Dr. Nass lasted 5 hours, 20 pilots attended and 30 enlisted personnel. All who attended were convinced by the facts to
avoid the shot, and convinced that DOD had been less than truthful.
Apr-Jul 99
The Indiana Assistant Adjutant General for the Air National Guard from State
Headquarters made an indirect threat to my career saying:
“you should have fired the son-of-a-b____ five years ago when you had the
chance”. He was referencing a time when
I previously exercised my Constitutional rights as a “citizen-soldier”. As a Whistle Blower I informed Congress of
the money waste and deceit of American taxpayers in trying to take away fighters from Ft.
Wayne and replace them with tanker aircraft, in the interest of saving money under the
Bottom Up Review. The truth came out on this
issue and the fighters remained at Ft. Wayne. However,
this punishment mentality frames the behavior of the base leadership. Three pilots, myself included, were punished by
grounding for 3 months for exercising our Constitutional rights.
5 May 99
After several meetings with the leadership questioning the legality of the order,
and the unethical, unsafe, and ‘ineffectiveness on the battlefield’ aspects of
the shot; I recognized our military leaders lack of interest. Pilots were criticized for
their lack of patriotism, lack of commitment, disloyalty, and distrust in the system. Participation in the operational flying for
part-timers began to seriously drop off. I
then contacted several Congressmen in person, spending a week in Washington to try to
inform them of the severe potential impact of this shot on the health and safety,
retention and readiness, and the negative impact on morale.
I spoke with Congressmen as a civilian, a “citizen-soldier” in an
unofficial role, not representing my unit, and in civilian attire.
26 May 99
Stop Loss goes into effect as a result of the war and pilots are not allowed to
resign. This causes serious concern with
pilots potentially being forced to take an unsafe, ineffective, unproven shot that
could threaten their civilian airline careers and the future health and security of their
families.
May-Jun 99
I was given a ‘gag order’ to cease discussions about the anthrax
vaccination on base. I complied with this
directive as much as possible by not initiating any conversations, and minimizing or
diverting any that were initiated by the troops, and by not impacting the mission.
Jul-Aug 99
All Commanders at the base were “encouraged” to take the shot. Here, I
was questioned whether I would support the shot policy.
I clarified the current DOD shot policy as “not being required until just
prior to deployment”, for us, then, it would not be required until around Feb 2000. Since safety was being investigated and hearings
were being conducted in Washington, I stated “in light of these questions I was
uncomfortable taking the shot”. I was
told we would then need another Squadron Commander. I
then asked if it was better for me to resign or be fired.
I was asked to resign as Squadron Commander. I
was told my performance reports would not
reflect negatively if I resigned vs. being fired.
Note: I had not and never have refused to take the shot, but merely said, based on
the current DOD policy and negative safety reports, and ongoing hearings in Congress, I
was “uncomfortable at this time” taking it so early, and conflicting with DOD policy. This
new base shot policy, where taking the shot 9 months early was encouraged for Commanders,
was certainly targeted at me-to coerce me into taking it, to manipulate compliance base
wide and end my negative stance toward this policy, to silence the critic, or make it
possible to remove me because this new base shot policy was not applied uniformly to all commanders. Not all were specifically asked to take the shot,
not all did take the shot. However, I was the
only one fired, or forced to resign. This
action had a negative affect on morale and made many pilots angry at the punishment
mindset of our leadership. Prior to resigning
I attempted to have two of my pilots promoted. The
Wing Commander would not promote them if they were not going to take the shot, which still
had not been ordered. So these pilots still
had not made their decisions, nor were they required to so early. Pilots were told they could be easily replaced by
rental pilots. One of our crew chiefs became
sick from the shot, kept a diary, was not offered a VAERS form from the clinic, and was
finally told his illness is from a pre-existing condition and not from the shot. However, that was not what he believed about his
illness. The base leadership was not informed
initially about this sick person, for a long period of time because of distrust, future
career worries, and knowing the tendency of DOD to dismiss these cases without helping the
sick individual. Others are sick even today
on the base, but are fearful to speak up because of how it will negatively affect their
career. Finally, on 14 Jul our sick crew
chief reported to the base clinic.
Sep 99
After this punishment of forced resignation for not complying with an encouraged
policy, that coincides with an unlawful order”, the Congressional Committee on
Government Reform invited me to testify on 29 Sep 99 which I did.
24 Nov 99
After flying 3 sorties that week and one that day, Wed morning, the day before
Thanksgiving, I was scheduled to fly with the Wing Commander in the afternoon. After my first flight the Ops Group Commander
asked me if he could talk to me, was very nervous and said I was grounded. The only reason offered was stress. Although, there was no unusual stress affecting my
performance and my performance was excellent as witnessed by several that week in air-air
(kill of blue air as red air in a handcuffed scenario) and air-ground (excellent bomb
scores). I even flew a single-ship sortie. No other reason besides stress was offered for my
grounding, and this was never documented. Many
witnesses will verify how arbitrary and mean-spirited this grounding was due to my public
stand on the anthrax issue and testifying to Congress in Sep vs. my flying performance or
emotional/mental health. This retaliatory and reprisal action violates
Whistleblower Laws, Title 10 US Code, Section 1034, DOD Directives 7050.6 Military
Whistleblower Protection, and Article 92 UCMJ.
My protected disclosures and communications with Congress were always in a civilian
or “citizen-soldier” status, and never in uniform or representing my military
unit. In fact, prior to testifying I inquired
with Mr. Larry Halloran of the Congressional staff, whether I would need a protective
subpoena because I had been already punished once, being forced to resign. Now I was being punished again by an arbitrary and
unwarranted grounding.
4 Dec 99
We all received a letter from the Indiana Adjutant General called the “verbal
order” to take the shot with no date, or timeline on it and no specifics as to how
refusers would be treated if they still had a commitment to the Guard.
2 Jan 00
Because of the illegal reprisal actions and punishment I had been exposed to for
exercising my Constitutional rights, I filed an Inspector General complaint with the
Secretary of Defense Office and informed the Operations Group Commander.
Jan 00
Many pilots were shocked and surprised to find they had been grounded early in
January because “someone” believed they would not take the shot when it was
projected to become mandatory on Feb 13, the date we expected to receive the written order
to take the shot. A letter was mailed on 7
Jan informing them that their decision was needed by 8 Jan.
Of course, this letter was not received in the mail until after our decision was
already required. Many were caught off guard
since the December order did not have any dates/timeframes associated with it and many of
us wanted to know then what to expect. We
asked but received no specific answers. Considering
the secrecy, surprise, and grounding a month earlier than necessary, it seemed to be an
attempt to coerce and manipulate people, short notice, into taking the shot, or at least
make a decision once again earlier than required in order to keep flying. The number of names on the no-shot list was
approximately 21. The press was told there
were only 9. The base also misled the press
saying, “these pilots are not grounded” (although that terminology was good
enough for the pilots). They were told the
pilots were just not allowed to fly right now!
13 Feb 00
All personnel had to take the shot or resign/transfer. I decided to transfer and discussed this the Ops
Group Commander. He and the personnel office
were unprepared for how to do this and the paperwork required. So I informed him at the same meeting I would
retire, since I was within 120 days of the Adjutant General’s “120 day window”
and that was the recommendation of my Area Defense Council.
I emphasized several times I had no intention of ever disobeying an order.
1Apr-4May00 The squadron deployed to
Saudi Arabia without enough pilots to do the mission.
Six (6) pilots from 2 other bases, Terre Haute and Syracuse helped us with our real
world deployment by providing these pilots.
07
May 00
My retirement papers were filled out for me without consulting me and I was asked
to sign in an attempt to coerce me out at the earliest opportunity. Since the shot policy could change and I was still
earning retirement points for a good 20th year, and I still had an IG complaint
pending with little action; I was unsure if I was even legal to retire/resign. So, I refused to sign. In another attempt to punish me, I found my
performance reports in my personnel file had been negatively written despite assurances to
the contrary if I would resign rather than be fired as Squadron Commander. Specifically, I was cited for not yet obeying by 4
Dec a verbal order to take the shot. This
negative “4 Dec” comment not only fell outside the reporting period that expired
on 1 Nov for that particular performance report, but also by Nov 1, we still had not been
ordered to take the shot. This blatant
punishment to end my career should not have been placed in my performance report. Also, there is no mention in my performance report
of me being the Squadron Commander, an elite position that should have been rightfully
recognized.
1 Jun 00
I hand-delivered a letter of resignation and transfer request to the Academy
Liaison Officer program which I was already doing as an additional duty. By the time I got off the plane back in Cincinnati
a few hours later, I had a call from Ft. Wayne telling me they were not going to approve
my resignation/transfer because I would not be within the 120 day window (Wrong! Order
to take the shot: 13 Feb + 120 days = 12 Jun.) I
immediately called the Wing Commander and was assured they would coordinate for my
transfer to take place, possibly to the Inactive Ready Reserve. I expressed my concern and belief that the
Inactive Ready Reserve transfer was incorrect and would possibly hurt my ability to
smoothly transfer to the Academy LO job because it might force a re-application. (I was already active and did not want to go in an
“inactive” status, and perhaps a refusal, since I had been punished twice now
and transfers were generally being handled negatively throughout the Air Force Reserves
because of the shot program and DOD’s punishment mindset. This might jeopardize or delay my eventual
retirement if the transfer paperwork messed up credit for good years etc.) It should have been a simple parallel type
transfer since I was already doing the job as an additional duty the last 5 years. I was assured it would be properly handled.
7 Jun 00
I received a threatening letter from the Ops Group Commander dated 25 May. The letter contained several misstatements and
deceptive points trying to rewrite history, which I corrected in a letter dated 12 Jul. The letter threatened Administrative Action for
disobeying a lawful order of not taking the shot. Since
I had taken care of this before the 3 Jun deadline (according to the 25 May letter) to
comply with the shot, by hand-delivering my transfer/resignation, I should have been okay.
14 Jun 00
Received a letter from the Wing Commander and forms to sign transferring to the
Inactive Ready Reserve contrary to what I believed was correct and best, since I just
wanted to transfer laterally to the Academy Liaison Officer job.
27 Jun 00
I went to Ft Wayne and found out it was the Base Commander (who’s actions have
been legitimately suspect in another pilot’s case) who had coordinated, supposedly
with the Academy, for my transfer to the Inactive Ready Reserves. I immediately called the Academy and was told
emphatically not to transfer to the Inactive Ready Reserve.
I confirmed it with her and asked if I should talk to anyone else. They said I could call ARPC in Denver. So, I immediately did. He said the same thing. Do NOT transfer to the Inactive Ready Reserve, it
will only cause a big mess. I queried also
about a Stop-Loss program for LO’s and was told that no transfers were being approved
until 1 Oct. I asked if this applied to the
Guard. He said to call my base personnel
office. So, I immediately did and was given
the same answer: No transfers would be approved until Oct 1. At this point I realized my career was being
negatively manipulated again by a Base Commander, who as a supervisor of the personnel
office should have known better. Because of
this I could not sign the new paperwork sent to me by the Wing Commander. Why were they pressing me to transfer when it
would not be approved prior to 1 Oct? Why
were they putting me in an Inactive Ready Reserve status after I specifically had
suggested it probably was not proper and the Academy confirmed it?
17 Jul 00
The base receives a change in the shot policy.
It is no longer required if troops will not be on the ground in a high-threat area
more than 30 days.
20 Jul 00
The Ops Group Commander asked me what I wanted to do: transfer or retire? Knowing the transfer option as designed by them
was a trap, and considering the threats, intimidation, coercion, punishment, harassment,
and discrimination I had already received, and after already trying to transfer twice and
retire a previous time, I chose to retire once again; of course under duress, not wanting
to really do this, and not knowing DOD had changed the shot policy, but knowing I am not
getting fair cooperation, and I am frustrated and tired of being harassed and deceived. The Ops Group Commander said he would personally
escort me to the base personnel office to make sure I signed. Once there, the retirement form instructions said
to call ARPC before filling it out. I
suggested we should probably do that to the visible disappointment and grudging agreement
of the personnel assistant and my Ops Group Commander.
Planning initially to retire on 5 Aug, ARPC then told me I could not retire before
20 Sep 00, 60 days from now. Knowing I now
had bought some time to do the transfer paperwork correctly, or the possibility of a
change in the vaccination policy as they ran out of un-quarantined anthrax vaccine like we
told them would happen in Congressional hearings, I signed the papers for 20 Sep with my
Commander overlooking to make sure I signed them. As
I signed I considered writing a comment about duress on the form and asked the personnel
assistant the purpose of one of the blank blocks on the form, but was told it was not
allowed for my purposes. So I signed without
noting duress on the form but knowing I still had options to prevent execution of my
retirement. NOTE: I was not informed that on 17 Jul 00, 3 days prior
to me being coerced to sign, the base had received a change to the shot policy not
requiring me to take the shot or to transfer or retire.
This policy change was never briefed in detail on the base, but largely glossed
over. Many had to do their own research to
find the documents and details that covered the change.
Jul-Aug 00
Two pilots who initially chose not to take the shots, changed their mind and came
back to fly. They had to agree to take the
shot. However because the shot policy changed
they were not forced to take it. In a
vindictive manner though, they were both told the leadership could “request special
permission, a waiver to give them the shot,” contrary to DOD policy.
3 Aug 00
Informed now the policy had changed, I went to the personnel office to withdraw my
retirement papers. I was told by both an
enlisted person and an officer, I would need a letter approved by the Ops Group Commander
and the Wing Commander with their approval before I could change my mind on retirement. Knowing this was probably not true, nor was it the
counsel they had given a previous retiree, I very specifically questioned each of them. “Is there any written guidance or regulations
that cover this situation?” They both
said “No”. Suspicious of such an
absolute answer from an organization that lives and breathes by regulations, and
suspicious of their motives influenced by the Base Commander from an office that already
tried to hurt my career by transferring me to the Inactive Ready Reserve, and to avoid
more resistance from the base, I immediately called ARPC.
They confirmed my suspicions of base personnel when I asked what was required to
withdraw my retirement papers. They said what
I was told was not true. All that was needed
was a letter to ARPC from me. I verified it
to be sure, and asked if a fax was okay. They
said it was okay. They said my base had not
yet projected me out, so it will be easy to take care of and it will be like it never
happened (like I had never submitted my retirement papers.)
I immediately wrote a fax and sent it, quoting the conversation. I also sent a certified copy of the same letter on
7 Aug to ARPC.
5 Aug 00
Since I was no longer retiring and had this confirmed with ARPC and because the
shot was no longer required, one of our other pilots and I together informed the Ops Group
Commander we would like to fly F-16s and stay in the squadron. He said concerning the shot, that it was not a
change in policy, even though the policy had changed.
Now the shot was not required if we were not going to be on the ground in a
high-threat area more than 30 days and now we should be allowed to come back and fly. He said we would have to agree to take the shot
(even though this would violate current DOD policy) like 2 other pilots who changed their
minds and decided to come back and fly, (even though they were not required to take the
shot). He then offered to get “special
permission, a waiver” so we too could take the shot, directly counter to DOD policy
in order to harass the 2 of us who wanted to continue our military flying careers.
18 Aug 00
ARPC sent me a confirmation (and left a phone message saying that my retirement was
withdrawn.) ARPC also faxed the base to let
them know I had withdrawn my retirement papers and Ft. Wayne must gain me back into their
system.
20 Sep 00
I faxed a letter to my Ops Group Commander. Since
my retirement was withdrawn with ARPC sending me confirmation documents, I requested to be
reinstated as a pilot and reinstated as Squadron Commander.
26 Sep 00
I went to Ft. Wayne to report for duty, my last drill of the fiscal year. The Ops Group Commander informed that I was now
retired and “that my 20 Sep 00 fax was the first anyone at the base knew anything
about me wanting to continue my career” apparently ignoring the documents and
witnessed conversations I had with him personally and with 2 personnel at the personnel
office. So, after informing him, my immediate
supervisor and commander, the base personnel office, then ARPC HQ Personnel, I was told I
had not gone through proper channels. I was
also told ARPC considered me retired.
27 Sep 00
I informed Congressman Souder’s office of this latest form of punishment that
ended my career, prematurely and in a very negative fashion.
2 Oct 00
I contacted HQ ARPC to find out their version of my status. They say I am still in, and the base must “gain”
me back into their system. Ft. Wayne seems
intent on punishment and keeping me out. At
this point a court of law, a positive Inspector General investigation and resolution, or
maybe a good ‘ole-fashioned act of Congress may be required to correct this
situation.
11 Oct 00
What next?! Following my testimony
before you today I will be ready for the next round.