WASHINGTON — Federal investigators have concluded that Air Force officials at the military mortuary in Dover, Del., illegally punished four civilian workers for blowing the whistle on the mishandling of war remains.
The Office of Special Counsel said in a report released Tuesday that it has recommended to the Air Force that it discipline the three officials who allegedly retaliated against the whistle-blowers. The three were not named.
In an earlier investigation report, the Office of Special Counsel said it had found “gross mismanagement” at the Dover facility, where small body parts of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan were lost on two occasions. The Air Force said at the time that it took disciplinary action — but did not fire — three senior supervisors there for their role in the mismanagement. The reprisal accusations — including job termination, indefinite administrative leave and five-day suspensions — were investigated by the Special Counsel under the Whistleblower Protection Act. The Associated Press
