It is past time to talk about it. You know what I mean, if you have been following any of the revelations that are sending shock-waves through the Navy in the Pacific, and like a Tsunami, the reverberations are stirring the normally placid brown water of the Potomac.

I have no idea who these guys are- the latest three, anyway. The first two I do.

According to sloppy redacting in the latest indictment to be publicized as having a connection to Naval Intelligence, Conspirator 1 is some guy named Hall. Conspirator 2 is David W. Landersman, another cypher. The third guy is unknown at this point- maybe I know him, but likely I don’t.

They are accused of steering a sole-source contract for rifle parts to a company owned by a relative, and pocketing the (large) profits. The Command that was supposed to get the rifle silencers- SEAL Team SIX- claims never to have heard of it.

I don’t think the two scandals are connected. The three star that was put on leave in the Pacific bribery and corruption scandal involving a large individual named Fat Leonard is an aviator and old shipmate- his elevation to three stars is intended to enable him to sit over the re-organized information community in the Navy as a line officer- a return to the way things were back when we got bombed at Pearl. In my view, idiocy, but understandable in light of the frustration of the Line with the radio intel guys (then cryppies, now information warfare) the intel guys, the weather-guessers and the communicators who all had their little plots of turf.

The other admiral is an intelligence guy, and also placed on leave.

The Three Star could have got in trouble when he was CO of Nimitz. I don’t know how cozy the relations between Fat Leonard and the elements of the far-flung 7th Fleet. I can’t imagine how the intel guy got dragged into port schedules and chandlery services. Favors accepted? I don’t know. We always had “preferred vendors” ashore in places like Hong Kong and the P.I., but that was all personal services managed personally.

There are accusations for some of the initial round of officers who were busted, not placed on leave. Hookers and free rooms ashore? To what end?

Learning the schedule? Hell, the Wives Club has that information within minutes of publication as CONFIDENTIAL/NF information.

The three guys who steered the contract for silencers? I have not heard of any of them, by name or reputation. They are not “Naval Intelligence” as I knew it. But there are a lot of strange characters who have shown up since the beginning of the Global War on Whatever.

There are certainly antecedent organizations that specialized in black bags and untraceable cash. That goes back to the 1930s, and the break-ins at Japanese consulates to gain access to code books. More recently, it was TF 157, the Navy’s HUMINT organization. The legacy of that one, of which I wrote when Eddie Wilson passed on last year.

Eddie left CIA after a stint from 1955-71, and then was briefly at Navy, in the Task Force 157 organization. His conduct there was sufficient to have the organization dissolved.

Which takes me back to this: I have no personal knowledge of the facts, and will not comment beyond this. But I will tell you this has all happened before, and our pal Mac Showers was there for it.

The community had a black eye back then, when he was leaving active duty and going to work for the DCI to try to implement the recommendations of the Schlesinger Commission, and the mandates of the Pike and Church Committees.

So rather than speculate on what is happening now, I am going to take you back to the interviews that Mac gave me about the last time the Community was off the reservation, out of control, and needed some tough love.

I think you will find it interesting, and this has all happened before. In fact, it is why this is all happening now.

I have to go see a man about a dog, so we will take this up again tomorrow.

I miss Mac. He would have completely understood this mess- and probably told us what needs to be done to clean it up.

Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303