THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9608020515
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 51 lines
The Navy's inspector general says a former Virginia Beach-based SEAL commander mishandled safety complaints and allegations of a cover-up voiced by one of his men.
Matthew Napiltonia, a member of SEAL Team 8 at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, went to his boss, Cmdr. Keith P. Carl, with concerns over a 1994 training exercise explosion that injured a team member.
Carl placed Napiltonia on custodial duty and pulled his security clearance. He also ordered Napiltonia to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
But Vice Adm. James Fitzgerald wrote in a June 26 report that Carl, now assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., ``mishandled this matter from the very beginning, causing an unnecessary escalation of what should have been a complaint capable of fair resolution at the command level.''
In the accident, a member of Napiltonia's platoon, Greg Farmerie, was burned in the groin when an improperly modified flare was fired without warning during training at Fort Pickett. Farmerie has returned to duty. Napiltonia said platoon leaders tried to hide the accident.
Napiltonia spent his final year in the Navy cleaning SEAL barracks, though an investigation confirmed the modification to the flare, a false report on the explosion and other safety violations.
Fitzgerald faulted Carl for being too quick in dismissing Napiltonia's allegations and too willing to allow subordinates to discredit Napiltonia.
Napiltonia, who left the Navy in May, is attempting to get back the special-duty pay withheld during his final year in the Navy along with his confiscated trident, the distinctive uniform pin worn by the service's elite commandos.
In June, Napiltonia was presented a $10,000 check and a citation for his ``moral courage,'' from the Cavallo Foundation of Cambridge, Mass., which rewards government ``whistleblowers.''
The ceremony took place at a Capitol Hill reception where Cmdr. Tom Katana, a retired SEAL and Napiltonia's former commanding officer, presented the young sailor his own trident.
``Since the Navy has chosen to abandon you and declined to (return) your trident, I offer you mine,'' Katana said at the time.
The Inspector General's report has been forwarded to Navy officials, including the vice chief of naval operations. > ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Matthew Napiltonia is seeking special-duty pay and the return of his
confiscated trident.
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY SEAL INVESTIGATION
by CNB