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| FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2003 file photo, autopsy and embalming tables are seen at the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. 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 officials for "gross mismanagement," officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Dee Marvin, File) |
Tuesday - 11/8/2011, 2:34pm ET
AP National Security Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - 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. source
