Whistleblower says Corps Targeting Him

WASHINGTON -- A Marine Corps whistleblower says military officials are trying to force him from his job for exposing failures to deliver lifesaving equipment to troops in Iraq.

Franz Gayl, a senior civilian employee, alleges a series of punitive actions that underscore the challenges President Barack Obama faces in fulfilling a campaign pledge to treat federal whistleblowers as patriots instead of pariahs.

Public interest groups cheered Obama's promise. But Gayl's case points to the difficulty of transforming a culture, particularly within the military, where whistleblowers often are viewed with contempt.

"That is going to be hard to change," said Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org. "But the reality is, whistleblowers will have an improved situation over what they've had for the last eight years."

Gayl, 52, is the target of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service inquiry for allegedly mishandling secret information, according to Tom Devine, his lawyer. Gayl had accused the Marine Corps of "gross mismanagement" for failing to answer the call in 2005 for heavy-duty trucks that could withstand roadside bombs in Iraq.

Devine calls the military probe an "illegal bluff" aimed at punishing Gayl for ignoring his supervisors warnings and giving then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and other lawmakers copies of an unclassified study he wrote. Gayl's 2008 action in providing Biden with the study prompted the Navy investigation, Devine says.

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