The Pentagon is looking into an anonymous letter that alleges criminal activity.
By PAUL DE LA GARZA, Times Staff Writer
Published October 28, 2005
TAMPA - The Pentagon has begun a preliminary investigation into "possible criminal activity" by the leader of the U.S. Special Operations Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base.
The allegations against U.S. Army Gen. Bryan "Doug" Brown were contained in an anonymous four-page letter dated Oct. 19 and addressed to the offices of Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. C.W. Bill Young, and to the Pentagon's inspector general, the agency's investigative arm.
The letter accused Brown of directing lucrative defense contracts to friends and former SOCom commanders, violating federal spending laws and interfering with internal investigations.
Brown called the allegations baseless but said they raised enough questions to warrant a further look by an outside agency.
"The allegations are serious and we need to resolve them in order for the public to have the confidence in the command it has always had," said Col. Samuel Taylor, a spokesman for SOCom, the military unit charged with leading the nation's war on terrorism.
SOCom characterized the allegations as an attempt to deflect attention from an ongoing criminal investigation at the command. SOCom declined to identify that investigation.
At the start of the week, neither Nelson nor Young had received a copy of the letter. The St. Petersburg Times, which received a copy in the mail Tuesday, shared it with both congressional offices and with SOCom.
The Pentagon's inspector general began looking into the matter after receiving copies of the letter from SOCom and an aide to Nelson.
Nelson's office stressed that it did not request an investigation but merely sought to confirm, after an inquiry by the Times, that Pentagon investigators had received the letter.
"I am highly suspicious of rambling anonymous letters and would leave it to other authorities to determine the veracity," said Nelson, D-Fla., who serves on the Armed Services Committee.
Young, R-Indian Shores and chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, declined comment, citing the anonymous nature of the allegations and the fact that only the Times had received a copy of the letter.
The letter - signed "A few former and present USSOCOM Employees" - uses both "we" and "I" to identify the author or authors.
It begins: "We take this opportunity to inform you of possible criminal activity at the United States Special Operations Command ...
"The following examples indicate conflicts of interest, preferential treatment and undue command influence by General Bryan "Doug' Brown with former retired general officers with which he served and other officers that served for him."
SOCom, which oversees the nation's elite commandos, already is reeling from federal investigations into a bribery scandal and charges that it hid $20-million from Congress during the budget process three years ago.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also has ordered an outside review of SOCom after hearing of "diminished capabilities" at the command during a recent classified briefing.
The letter to Pentagon investigators claimed Brown visited the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., in July and said "there are 14 investigations going on at USSOCOM and some of these people are going to do hard time."
The allegations charge Brown awarded a contract to a company "through the General's good old boy network" by sidestepping federal regulations, and that the program has wasted $12-million.
The letter also claims Brown operates a secret "pet" program that has "been falsely briefed to Congress."
"This program is a waste of money when at the time we had Congressional interest in shortages in body armor, armored vehicles and other soldier protection equipment," the letter said.
In another allegation, the letter said that in September 2004 Brown supplied night vision equipment to a Marine unit in Iraq at the request of Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
The letter said Brown spent $96,000 on the equipment, money that legally should go to special operations forces, not Marines.
In an interview Thursday, Hunter acknowledged Brown provided the equipment.
"Gen. Brown should be given a commendation for sending war-fighting equipment to the U.S. Marines in Fallujah, when they were under fire," he said.
Hunter said Brown did what the military services have been directed to do - share equipment.
The letter also claims that SOCom officials who awarded companies contracts worth tens of millions of dollars later went to work for those same companies.
The origin of the letter has not been determined, but it names several people who work or have worked at SOCom and says investigators should talk to them.
"I think it's somebody who has some knowledge of SOCom," said Taylor, the SOCom spokesman. "To what extent he has knowledge will be determined during the investigation."
He said it appeared to be somebody "with a great deal of anger."
The letter said several people "have been administratively fired without cause!"
In a statement Thursday, SOCom said the inspector general "will look into allegations made against U.S. Special Operations Command leadership in an anonymous letter that claimed improper influence in USSOCOM acquisition and contracting decisions."
John Crane, assistant inspector general at the Pentagon, advised Nelson in a letter dated Wednesday that investigators are "currently examining the issues raised with respect" to the letter.
Gary Comerford, a spokesman for the inspector general, declined to discuss the case.
However, in explaining the process, Comerford said if criminal investigators determined the allegations are "credible and actionable," or recent, they would expand the investigation. Investigators also could enlist the help of noncriminal investigators.
Senior officers such as Brown are investigated by a special division of the inspector general's office known as the Directorate for Investigations of Senior Officials.
