Marines Ask for Pentagon to Handle Osprey Inquiry

Acknowledging that its credibility is at stake, the Marine Corps asked Wednesday that an inquiry into the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft program be shifted from its investigators to the Pentagon inspector general.

The request came amid signs that alleged falsification of the plane’s maintenance reports may have involved more than one person, two senators said.

Marine Commandant Gen. James L. Jones asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to move the inquiry from the Marine Corps to the Pentagon’s independent inspector general, citing the need to avoid any perceptions of a conflict of interest.

“I am concerned that the nature and gravity of these allegations may invite unwarranted perceptions of command influence or institutional bias,” Jones said in a statement. Rumsfeld, after a morning meeting with Jones, agreed to the shift.

Marine investigators raided the Corps’ Osprey squadron in New River, N.C., last week, after an anonymous internal whistle-blower sent authorities an audiotape and documents suggesting that the squadron commander had urged Marines to “lie” on maintenance reports. The goal, the whistle-blower said, was to exaggerate the readiness record of the Osprey, which flies like a plane and lands like a helicopter.

On the tape, Lt. Col. Odin Fred Leberman, the unit’s commanding officer, is allegedly heard telling subordinates that they should hide the truth about the Osprey’s maintenance requirements and readiness to fly until the program receives final go-ahead for full-scale production.

The allegations raised the possibility that Leberman had been under pressure from above to fudge data and suggested that overseers in Congress and the Pentagon may have made decisions about the plane based on false information.

Meanwhile, the two senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Wednesday that the investigation is turning up allegations that others too were involved in the falsification.

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), the committee chairman, said in an interview there is a “small amount of evidence” that could implicate others in the alleged scheme. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said in an interview that he too understands there is at least some evidence indicating that “this isn’t going to stop” with Leberman.

Warner and Levin sent a letter to Rumsfeld urging him to take the investigation away from the Marine Corps inspector general.

The two said that the allegations raised questions about the “integrity of information” supplied to Congress and the Pentagon. They warned that the program “will not be able to move forward unless and until the Defense Department has restored confidence” in its accuracy.

Though critics have long challenged the Osprey program, there have been few visible opponents of the $40-billion program in Congress. But that could change in response to the maintenance allegations, Levin said.

He acknowledged that a decision to halt the Osprey program would cause problems for the Marines, who have worked for years to develop the Osprey as a successor to an aging, Vietnam War-era helicopter fleet. But, he said, the Pentagon cannot purchase the aircraft, no matter how much it is needed, if “it isn’t safe, if it isn’t doing the job.”

Warner, however, said he still believes that the Osprey is “essential to the mission of the Marine Corps.”

Since the whistle-blower’s allegations came to light last week, Pentagon officials have said that Leberman had acknowledged making the comments captured on the tape. Subsequently, however, Leberman has said that his words were taken out of context.

He was relieved last week from his job with the Osprey squadron. The Marines announced Wednesday that Leberman had been moved to a new assignment, as training project officer for the training operations and education directorate at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The fraud allegations could be especially damaging for the Marines.

The Marines are the smallest military branch, and their leaders have long acknowledged that they owed their existence to strong public support that grew, in part, from their image as uncorrupted warriors.

The allegations could mar that image, as well as put at risk the plane that is their highest priority.

And they pose a personal challenge for Jones, who has had strong support on Capitol Hill and has been mentioned as possibly the first Marine to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.