By MIKE MCCGRAW
A Nebraska mechanic who raised concerns about maintenance on U.S. spy planes joined other whistleblowers Monday in Washington, D.C., to push for improved legal protections.
The concerns of civilian Air Force mechanic George Sarris about maintenance on RC-135 reconnaissance planes at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Neb., were first reported in The Kansas City Star in November 2008.
Two months later, Air Force officials suspended Sarris’ security clearance and assigned him to odd jobs around the base.
Sarris is fighting the suspension with help from the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit advocacy group that helped plan this week’s National Whistleblower Assembly.
Sarris spoke on a panel that included Robert MacLean, a former federal air marshal, and Coleen Rowley, a former FBI agent and 9/11 whistleblower.
Tom Devine, legal director for the accountability project, said whistleblowers such as Sarris currently have almost no protection from retaliatory investigations and other punitive actions by employers such as the Air Force.
“George did everything the system told him was his duty,” Devine said. “He turned in evidence that reconnaissance aircraft were dangerously neglected, and in response the government put him under investigation, yanked his security clearance, assigned him to an empty room and told him not to leave.”
Top Air Force officials have always insisted that the planes are properly maintained. A spokesman could not be reached for comment Monday.
The planes fly global intelligence-gathering missions. While they are among the oldest in the Air Force’s fleet, the planes carry the latest equipment for detecting troop movements, enemy radio transmissions and nuclear emissions.
Sarris, who has more than 30 years of experience, told The Star in 2008 that he had been waging a long battle to bring his safety concerns to light.
“I have found inspections that are 17 years past due, hydraulic and fuel hoses that should have been changed 15 years ago, and recently several emergency system hoses that were 30-plus years past time change,” Sarris said.