THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 17, 1995 TAG: 9505170096
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
A Navy SEAL who complained about safety violations after a fellow SEAL was badly burned by a flare has been released from the elite commando force, his attorney said.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Matt Napiltonia spent months cleaning toilets and mopping stairwells after he blew the whistle on a December munitions accident.
But the case of Napiltonia, 23, who is based at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Norfolk, is being reviewed after a congressman's inquiry into the matter.
Napiltonia took part in a series of live-fire training exercises by members of SEAL Team 8 based at Little Creek late last year at Fort Pickett, an Army post about 40 miles southeast of Petersburg.
On Dec. 13, Petty Officer 2nd Class Greg Farmiere was hit in the groin by a mistakenly fired flare, according to an internal investigation report obtained by the Daily Press of Newport News.
Eyewitnesses said Farmiere's pants caught fire and his thermal underwear fused to his upper left thigh. He was treated at the Fort Lee Army hospital in Petersburg.
But Farmiere was not transferred to Boone Clinic at Little Creek for follow-up treatment as Army doctors assumed would happen. Instead, he was treated by the SEALs' own doctor, Lt. Robert E. Stambaugh.
Robert Rae, a Virginia Beach attorney who is representing both Farmiere and Napiltonia, said Stambaugh told Farmiere a visit to Boone was not needed. As a result of the injury, Farmiere has lost the ability to attain an erection, Rae said.
After the accident, Napiltonia complained to his commander, Cmdr. Keith P. Carl, about lax safety in transporting and handling explosives. But Rae said Carl warned Napiltonia against ``throwing rocks in a glass house.''
Meanwhile other SEALs who witnessed the accident told the newspaper they were ordered to keep quiet about it. Stambaugh, citing patient confidentiality, refused to be interviewed about Farmiere's case.
After Napiltonia filed his complaint, Carl, his commanding officer, assigned him to work in a room full of janitorial supplies. Napiltonia hired Rae in February to seek an investigation by the Navy Inspector General after the Navy tried repeatedly to persuade Napiltonia to drop his complaint.
Carl filed a report on the accident on March 20, three months after it occurred and a month after Rae got involved in the case. Lt. Dawn Peters, a spokeswoman for the Navy Safety Center, said such reports are required within 24 hours of an incident.
In response to Napiltonia's complaints, Carl wrote that he did not know about the reporting deadline. Carl also described Napiltonia as ``obsessed'' about safety and denied Napiltonia's request for a transfer to another SEAL unit. Earlier this month, Carl stripped Napiltonia of his SEAL classification and obtained orders to transfer him to a ship in the Mediterranean.
Carl has refused requests for interviews.
Napiltonia called his congressman, Rep. George W. Gekas, R-Pa., who contacted Navy Secretary John Dalton's office, an aide to Gekas said. Rae said Napiltonia's transfer is on hold pending a Navy review.
Rae said Napiltonia wants to clear his name, get his SEAL status restored and get proper treatment for Farmiere. by CNB