US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Martin E. Dempsey as he addresses questions from US military members during a town hall meeting in Baghdad, Iraq, November 15, 2014.
WASHINGTON — Military personnel who report retaliation for blowing the whistle on wrongdoing confront a dysfunctional bureaucracy and long delays, according to an assessment by Congress’ watchdog agency.
The Government Accountability Office found the problems when it analyzed about 124 military whistleblower reprisal cases overseen by the Pentagon inspector general’s office, U.S. officials familiar with the draft of the report told McClatchy. The final report is due out soon.
“The report raises questions about whether uniformed personnel are getting fair treatment and whether the Department of Defense’s inspector general’s office can be trusted to resolve these cases,” said one of the officials. The official asked not to be named because the report has not been published.
In an email, Bridget Ann Serchak, spokeswoman for the Defense Department’s inspector general, said her agency “cannot comment . . . on reports not in the public domain.”
The GAO also declined to comment until the report is released.
The findings are expected to spark a new round of criticism from Democrats and Republicans in Congress who’ve been pushing the Pentagon inspector general’s office to improve its handling of whistleblower reprisal investigations.
Read more at: McClatchy News