Letter to Colonel Thomas P. Leavitt Department of the Army Inspector General Agency

Dear Colonel Leavitt:

Your name was given to me as a member of the Inspector General Agency who would give our problem a careful and fair consideration. Militec was harmed by the improper actions of a civilian employee of the Department of the Army, Mr. LaPera, Chief of Fuels and Lubricants, as is explained in the attached letter.

Our first reaction was to seek legal redress and to inform members of Congress of this attack on my company's good name by an Army official. I was dissuaded from that action by a friend who suggested it would be better to let the Army take care of its own "problems" and that this course would be more effective. Following this advice, I contacted Colonel Huff, the AMC Inspector General and he turned the matter over to Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Smith.

After conducting his investigation, Colonel Smith informed me verbally that the allegations made were founded and that if Mr. LaPera ever used his official position to publicly malign my company again, they would throw the "book at him". I asked if he were going to take any other action, and he said no. He followed up with a letter that whitewashes the problem and looks as though it could have been written with Mr. LaPera's assistance. The letter also fails to note why false statements made by Mr. LaPera to Mr. Burke about "MILITEC-1" and me are not against any statute or regulation.

We hope that the Inspector General system would not become compromised to the point where real and genuine concerns would just be covered up with no action. Militec is a small company that would like to do business with the Army, but wonder what our chances are with an openly hostile key official and an organization that indicates that it may ignore his transgressions.

We are writing to you with the continuing hope that the Army will redress the wrong that was done. We have not sought any monetary compensation, just a fair hearing and assurance that appropriate corrective action will be taken.

I would also appreciate further assurance that my company will not be subject to retaliation by Mr. LaPera or his office in the future, because this matter was brought to the attention of the Inspector General.

Thank you for your attention and any assistance you might render.