SAF/IG Dismisses Complaint 6/15/2011

Today received notice from Mr Vincent Debono of the SAF/IG office that the complaint I filed on 9 May had been dismissed on 9 June 2011. The letter conveying the information is below. Please compare it to the IG complaint I filed and you'll think they were dealing with two separate subjects...the SAF/IG response doesn't begin to deal with any of the IG complaints!

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here is the detail page of my IG complaint. Five allegations are made...do you see any answered?
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Note: The complaint was escalated to a DOD/IG complaint effective 18 June 2011.

(from the IG form:)

To the Secretary of Defense Inspector General:

"I submitted an IG complaint to the Secretary of the Air Force on 9 May 2011 and it was rejected 9 June 2011 with the recommendation that the issues I raised be brought to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the AF Historical Office. 

I do not know what rule, law or regulation this may have violated but it isn't the purpose for which the SAF/IG is established.

None of the specifics were addressed in Mr. Debono's response to the complaint. The issues raised were detailed on page 2 of the complaint, and the names of numerous Air Force officers, general officers and enlisted personnel were provided as persons having knowledge of the situation. As best I can determine, none of them were interviewed relative to the allegations. 

I am concerned that the allegations I raised concerned actions by multiple Air Force commands, JAG officers, general officers and the General Services Administration, yet the IG complaint was referred to a base-level IG for resolution.

In addition, while I did not raise the issue of Agent Orange exposure of our aircrews needing to be brought to the attention of the Department of Veterans Affairs for resolution, it would be appropriate for the Secretary of the Army to provide a determination to the DVA that the contaminated aircraft flown by crews between 1972-1982 constitute, together, an Agent Orange exposure site, as multiple Air Force tests clearly indicate. 

Finally, in the response to Mr Debono's email announcing the dismissal of the allegations, I asked if the Secretary of the Air Force's office could at least notify the aircrews involved of the possibility of their exposure to dioxin, an issue obviously of concern to them regarding their health and that of their families. Mr. Debono's response, on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force, was:


"Maj Carter, 
Unfortunately we do not have the ability to identify or notify the individuals in the categories you mention. "

Vincent G. DeBono, Jr., DAFC

Chief, Case Management Division 

Office of the Secretary of the Air Force