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WASHINGTON The Air Force mortuary that receives America's war dead and prepares them for burial lost portions of human remains twice in 2009, prompting the Air Force to discipline three senior officials for "gross mismanagement."
A year-long Air Force investigation reviewed 14 sets of allegations of improper handling of war remains as reported by three whistleblower workers at Dover Air Force Base, Del. That is where all war dead are received from foreign battlefields to be identified, autopsied and prepared for transfer to their families.
The Air Force inspector general concluded that no laws or regulations had been violated, as alleged, but an independent agency that reviewed the probe said the Air Force failed to accept accountability for its mistakes.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has asked for a separate investigation.
The Air Force determined that the mortuary's top leadership failed over time to respond to clear signs of weakness in accounting for human remains a task the Air Force says it considers one of its most solemn duties.
Two of the three officials who were punished are still work at Dover but not in supervisory jobs. None was fired.
In reviewing the Air Force's probe, the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative agency, sharply disputed the conclusion that none of the allegations of mishandling of remains amounted to violations of law or regulation. The special counsel submitted its own report Tuesday to the White House and to the House and Senate armed services committees that oversee the Air Force.
The special counsel's office, which triggered the Air Force probe by referring to it the Dover whistleblowers' allegations, said some of the Air Force's conclusions "do not appear reasonable" and in some cases are not supported by available evidence.
"In these instances the report demonstrates a pattern of the Air Force's failure to acknowledge culpability for wrongdoing relating to the treatment of remains of service members and their families," the special counsel's report said.
"While the report reflects a willingness to find paperwork violations and errors, with the exception of the cases of missing portions (of remains), the findings stop short of accepting accountability for failing to handle remains with the requisite `reverence, care and dignity befitting them and the circumstances,'" it said.
In addition to the two cases of lost body pieces, the Air Force reviewed allegations that mortuary officials acted improperly in sawing off an arm bone that protruded from the body of a Marine in a way that prevented his body from being placed in his uniform for viewing before burial. The Marine's family had requested seeing him in his uniform but was not consulted about or told of the decision to remove the bone.
The Marine, whose identity was not released by the Air Force, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in January 2010. The 2009 cases of lost body pieces also involved troops killed in Afghanistan.
The Air Force inspector general began his investigation in June 2010. It concluded that the mortuary had not violated any rule or regulation by removing the Marine's bone as it did. But the Air Force has since changed procedures to ensure that a representative of the deceased's service in this case the Marine Corps has a formal say in whether the family should be contacted before altering the body so significantly.
The Office of Special Counsel took a different view. It noted that the Air Force said the decision not to seek family consent was based on a desire to spare the family "undue distress." But the special counsel said it does not believe the Air Force actually even considered these issues in deciding not to consult the family "but rather were reasons used to justify their actions after the fact."
A total of four families affected directly by the investigation were told of it last weekend by Air Force officials. In addition to the Marine's family, three military families are affected by the two cases of lost body parts one related to an Army soldier's remains and two involving remains of Air Force crewmen.
Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview with The Associated Press and reporters from three other news organizations that the three senior officials who were disciplined had failed to "connect the dots" that should have framed a set of serious shortcomings at Dover particularly with regard to keeping track of portions of remains that must be handled and examined.
The three are Col. Robert H. Edmondson, who was in overall command of the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations at Dover at the time; Trevor Dean, who was Edmondson's top civilian deputy; and Quinton "Randy" Keel, director of the mortuary division at Dover.
When Chris Smith's son arrived at Dover Air Force Base in a flag-draped case, the Hornell, N.Y., man was told Marine Lance Cpl. Zachary Smith's body was not viewable. The Marine, 19, was killed Jan. 24, 2010, by a bomb in Afghanistan, which blew off one leg and badly mangled the other. To the surprise of his grieving parents, base mortuary employees were able to make the body presentable for an open-casket funeral. "We got to observe him after being told there was nothing to observe," Chris Smith said. "You don't know how grateful I was to see my boy." Melinda Kane, of Cherry Hill, N.J., whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Jeremy Kane, died Jan. 23, 2010, in an Afghan suicide bombing, said that in the case of the Marine whose limb was dismembered the family should have been informed first. "It had to be horrible for that family to find out that their wanting to view the body ends up doing more damage," Kane said.
Air Force spokesman Todd Spitler said Wednesday that the family of the Marine whose arm was sawed off was notified after an internal investigation was completed earlier this year. Decisions by mortuary staff are made under "difficult" pressures, Spitler said. "I cannot overemphasize in terms of the sad reality of wartime challenges that can present the folks at (Dover Port Mortuary) in having to make these 24-7 difficult decisions in how to perform restorative actions," he said. The work of the base's Mortuary Affairs Operations Center was in the national spotlight after disclosure of a report detailing alleged misconduct. Among problems highlighted in an Air Force Inspector General's report were two instances of missing body parts and the alleged mishandling of other remains. The report found flaws in administrative procedures but concluded that no laws were broken. However, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel concluded there was "gross mismanagement" of the mortuary's operations in a scathing report sent to the White House. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered a Pentagon review.
The most glaring complaint revealed that mortuary staff sawed off the mangled left arm of a Marine, who was not identified, in February 2010 to fit him into his uniform. Mortuary staff did not seek permission from the Marine's family to cut off the arm, prompting an employee to make a formal complaint against then-Port Mortuary director Quinton "Randy" Keel. Keel and two superiors have since been demoted or reassigned to different jobs at the Dover base or Pentagon. "There's no justification for that without notification of the family," said Leonard Smith, an Army scientist from Clarksburg, Md., whose son, Marine Sgt. David Smith, died Jan. 26, 2010, in Afghanistan. "To me, that disgraces this person."
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Ghastly!...
Military mortuary flap stirs emotions
9 Nov.`11 Following disclosure Tuesday that Dover mortuary employees sawed off the arm of a Marine without family permission, parents of other servicemembers who have died were split on the emotional issue of what measures are appropriate to memorialize their children.
When Chris Smith's son arrived at Dover Air Force Base in a flag-draped case, the Hornell, N.Y., man was told Marine Lance Cpl. Zachary Smith's body was not viewable. The Marine, 19, was killed Jan. 24, 2010, by a bomb in Afghanistan, which blew off one leg and badly mangled the other. To the surprise of his grieving parents, base mortuary employees were able to make the body presentable for an open-casket funeral. "We got to observe him after being told there was nothing to observe," Chris Smith said. "You don't know how grateful I was to see my boy." Melinda Kane, of Cherry Hill, N.J., whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Jeremy Kane, died Jan. 23, 2010, in an Afghan suicide bombing, said that in the case of the Marine whose limb was dismembered the family should have been informed first. "It had to be horrible for that family to find out that their wanting to view the body ends up doing more damage," Kane said.
Air Force spokesman Todd Spitler said Wednesday that the family of the Marine whose arm was sawed off was notified after an internal investigation was completed earlier this year. Decisions by mortuary staff are made under "difficult" pressures, Spitler said. "I cannot overemphasize in terms of the sad reality of wartime challenges that can present the folks at (Dover Port Mortuary) in having to make these 24-7 difficult decisions in how to perform restorative actions," he said. The work of the base's Mortuary Affairs Operations Center was in the national spotlight after disclosure of a report detailing alleged misconduct. Among problems highlighted in an Air Force Inspector General's report were two instances of missing body parts and the alleged mishandling of other remains. The report found flaws in administrative procedures but concluded that no laws were broken. However, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel concluded there was "gross mismanagement" of the mortuary's operations in a scathing report sent to the White House. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered a Pentagon review.
The most glaring complaint revealed that mortuary staff sawed off the mangled left arm of a Marine, who was not identified, in February 2010 to fit him into his uniform. Mortuary staff did not seek permission from the Marine's family to cut off the arm, prompting an employee to make a formal complaint against then-Port Mortuary director Quinton "Randy" Keel. Keel and two superiors have since been demoted or reassigned to different jobs at the Dover base or Pentagon. "There's no justification for that without notification of the family," said Leonard Smith, an Army scientist from Clarksburg, Md., whose son, Marine Sgt. David Smith, died Jan. 26, 2010, in Afghanistan. "To me, that disgraces this person."
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Seeking to allay concerns over revelations of mismanagement at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary, Panetta said US Air Force Secretary Michael Donley has been asked to examine whether sufficient punishment had been meted out to the three supervisors held responsible, who were penalized for the abuses, but not sacked. I want to make certain that we have taken all appropriate disciplinary action here and for that reason, thats why Ive asked the secretary to review that, Panetta told reporters. He also said he wanted the air force to look into allegations that employees who alerted authorities of the sloppy handling of remains at Dover were targeted with reprisals from managers.
A government investigative agency, the US Office of Special Counsel (OSC), was looking into the allegations and once it completed its work, the air force secretary was expected to review the findings, Panetta said. This is a serious issue, he said. Panetta said he had directed Secretary Donley to report back to me, once the OSC investigation is complete, to ensure that all appropriate action has been taken in light of that report. The secretary of defense said the Pentagon had to be held fully accountable. Panetta faced tough questions two days after the air force acknowledged gross mismanagement at the Dover mortuary, with body parts missing in two cases and other remains mishandled. All US service members killed in combat abroad are transported to the Dover base, where they are identified and prepared for transfer to their families. Since 2003, the mortuary has received the remains of more than 6,300 dead troops, mostly from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
US Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz told lawmakers earlier on Thursday that remains left over from the embalming process at Dover were cremated and placed in a landfill until the air force halted the practice in 2008. Human remains are now buried at sea, but the news has further angered some military families. Panetta said he was first briefed on the problems at Dover when took office in July, when the air force was still investigating the case and he said the families involved deserved an apology. Listen, absolutely we should apologize. If we havent handled those remains properly, then it is our responsibility and we do owe those families an apology, he said.
However, Panetta appeared confused about some details of the case, saying he was unaware that families were not informed of the problem until last weekend. The OSC has sharply criticized the air force for failing to notify families months ago and that top air force officials generally failed to acknowledge culpability. The return of troops killed on foreign battlefields carries special symbolism in a country where less than 1 percent of the population serves in the all-volunteer force, which has been stretched to the limit in 10 years of war. None of us will be satisfied until we have proven to the families of our fallen heroes that we have taken every step possible to protect the honor and dignity that their loved ones richly deserve, Panetta said.
Pentagon chief orders review of war dead abuses - Taipei Times
