The former budget officer at Arlington National Cemetery warned the Army, the Defense Department's inspector general, the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Management and Budget about problems at the center of the scandal now unfolding at the cemetery. His concerns were mostly ignored and, at least in one case, smacked down by an Army official with oversight of Arlington.
The former budget officer, Rory Smith, tried repeatedly to blow the whistle on the cemetery's budget irregularities, as top officials began to squander millions in taxpayer dollars, ostensibly to computerize burial records and prevent the interment mistakes documented by Salon over the last year.
As a result of his attempts to communicate his concerns to Army higher-ups, Smith was reprimanded and suspended for insubordination. A 20-year cemetery staffer, Smith later joined a long roster of cemetery workers who quit in disgust or were fired after reporting problems to cemetery and Army officials.
Smith's account is the most damning evidence to date showing that Army officials were repeatedly warned about budgetary, management and record-keeping problems at the cemetery. The Army, which oversees Arlington, has said it was kept in the dark about the problems there. Army Secretary John McHugh told the House Armed Services Committee recently that the cemetery was "somewhat of a satellite sitting off by itself."
A Senate subcommittee is investigating Arlington and has requested that several of the major players in Smith's story, revealed for the first time in this article, testify at a hearing set for July 29.
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