By BRYAN RAHIJA
Franz Gayl isn't exactly a household name, but he should be. Thanks to him, thousands of troops' lives in Iraq and Afghanistan have been saved.
Don't take it from me though--take it from former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who recently said in an interview that "thousands and thousands of lives have been saved and multiples of that in terms of limbs" by Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs).
What's the connection between Gayl and MRAPs? Gayl, a science advisor to the Marines, blew the whistle in 2007, alleging that the Pentagon was ignoring urgent requests for MRAPs from Marines in Iraq. After his disclosures, Congress started to ask questions, spurring the Pentagon to hustle and secure delivery of thousands of MRAPs to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The troops eventually got what they needed. Gayl, however, got retaliated against. In October he was stripped of his security clearance, a move that effectively ended his career.
Not only is this retaliation a gross injustice to a patriotic public servant, but it sends a troublesome message to others who witness wrongdoing in the federal government: stay quiet.
Now, POGO, along with our friends at the Government Accountability Project (GAP) are urging our readers and supporters to help right this wrong. If you'd like to take a stand for whistleblowers, government accountability, and the troops, please take a moment today to write Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and urge him to reinstate Gayl's security clearance so that Gayl can have his career back. Gayl deserves praise for his courageous actions—not retaliation.
Bryan Rahija edits POGO's blog. You can read more about Gayl in a recent profile in The Washington Monthly and on GAP's blog.
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