Pentagon issues new whistleblower protections
 The Department of Defense has issued new regulations designed to protect civilian and military employees who expose wrongdoing within the department, according to a directive posted online Tuesday by an environmental interest group.
The directive mandates that military inspectors general (IGs) begin investigations within six months of whistle-blowers airing complaints, and it punishes officers or civilian supervisors who seek to suppress complaints or retaliate. Whistle-blower protection is also explicitly extended to disclosures made within the military chain-of-command or to Congress or IGs.
"(Defense) Secretary (Robert) Gates deserves congratulations for taking decisive steps to improve accountability within our military services,” said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which posted the directive online. “This is a crucial time for our people on the front lines to know that telling the truth is expected and suppressing the truth will not be tolerated.”
The war in Iraq has heightened the role of military whistle-blowers, who have revealed prison abuse at Abu Ghraib and contractor fraud, the group said, and the new protections mark a reversal from the policies of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
In one of the most prominent examples of whistle-blower reprisal, the Army Corps of Engineers' top procurement was demoted in August 2005 after she criticized a Pentagon decision to give Haliburton Co. a no-bid contract for work in Iraq.
PEER highlights another case from last year in which a scientist overseeing chemical weapons storage at the Bluegrass Army Depot in Kentucky was abruptly dismissed when he raised concerns about safety measures at the chemical weapons storage site, such as venting of chemical agents into occupied laboratory areas and improper handling of air and waste samples.
The environmental group's director said the strengthened protections in the Defense Department were important because they protect whistle-blowers from reprisal by superiors.
“In some very important ways, Secretary Gates is providing for stronger protections for Defense employees than exist presently for the civilians working inside other federal agencies,” Ruch added. “If this level of openness can be encouraged within our military branches, surely it can be extended to civilian agencies without impeding the efficient administration of government."
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