Action Reflects Poorly on Navy Brass

That the Navy would try to send the man who blew the whistle on widespread fraud and kickbacks aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk back to the North Island Naval Air Station, where the carrier is docked, raises questions about how serious the Navy is about encouraging disclosures of wrongdoing.

Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Jackson, an auditor on the carrier, has given the Naval Investigative Service and Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego) information about more than $1 million in equipment and supplies, including 31 silver bars, that disappeared.

Jackson went to Bates after trying unsuccessfully to interest officers in his chain of command aboard the Kitty Hawk in what he knew. He says he was threatened by two men aboard the carrier after he talked with his superiors.

In June, about the time he contacted Bates, Jackson requested and was granted shore duty because he feared for his life. But the shore duty at North Island, the carrier’s base, was slight solace and Jackson requested another transfer.

After consulting with his lawyers last week, Jackson was told to report back to North Island.

This would seem to be appalling judgment by Navy officials. To send a whistle-blower like Jackson back with the very men he had reported sends a clear message to others who know about corruption in the service that, whatever they know, they should keep it to themselves.