Marine Officer Accused in Cover-Up of Osprey Records

WASHINGTON —  In the latest blow to one of the Pentagon’s most controversial programs, the Marine Corps on Thursday suspended the commander of its MV-22 Osprey training squadron amid allegations that he had urged subordinates to falsify maintenance records.

Lt. Col. Odin Fred Leberman, commanding officer of Marine Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Squadron-204, was relieved of duty after officials received an anonymous letter and an audiotape that allegedly recorded Leberman telling subordinates to falsify information to “put the aircraft in a better light,” said Marine Maj. Patrick Gibbons, a spokesman.

The Pentagon’s top testing official said in a study last November that the Osprey has unusually high maintenance needs and suffers from problems that, unless corrected, would make it unreliable and often unavailable for missions.

Leberman was reassigned following an initial review of the tape-recording last weekend. Gen. James L. Jones, the Marine commandant, ordered an eight-member inspector general’s team to the New River Marine Corps Air Station in Jacksonville, N.C., to begin a full investigation, officials said.

Marine officials said that nothing turned up in the investigation so far indicates that the alleged wrongdoing compromised the safety of the aircraft or contributed to two fatal Osprey crashes last year. A crash near the New River station on Dec. 11 killed four Marines. An April 8 crash in Arizona killed 19.

“We have no reason to believe that any of the allegations, if substantiated, would have any effect on the flight safety of the aircraft,” Gibbons said.

Advocates have said that the Osprey will revolutionize warfare because of special rotors that can be tilted from a horizontal to a vertical position, enabling the craft to take off and land like a helicopter and then fly like an airplane. In combat, the Osprey would ferry as many as 24 Marines for distances of 2,000 miles and drop them off and retrieve them in landing zones inaccessible to airplanes.

Despite strong support from Marine leaders and Congress, the $40-billion program has been troubled by four accidents that have killed 30 Marines since 1991.

A Marine investigative team convened after the December crash has been piecing together its causes, while a special high-level study panel has been convened to examine broader issues related to the aircraft. All eight of the Ospreys at New River have been grounded since the December crash, awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

While Marine officials and others have insisted that the airplane is fundamentally sound, critics of the program have contended that it may have still-undetected mechanical weaknesses and could suffer from conceptual flaws related to its innovative design. The program has already moved from the development stage to low-rate production, and critics said that the Marines are pushing too fast to replace their Vietnam era helicopter fleet.

Despite the criticism, most analysts believe that the program will go forward. Military acquisition programs are rarely killed at such a late stage.

Brig. Gen. John F. Sattler, the Marine public affairs director, said that, because of concerns about compromising the investigation, Marine officials will release no further details of the whistle-blower’s allegations.

CBS News, which was sent a copy of the tape on Jan. 5, said in its evening broadcast that the recording was made Dec. 29 and captured Leberman urging his squadron to “continue to lie” about the Osprey’s maintenance problems, its air readiness and the number of aircraft available to be flown. Sattler declined comment on that report.

The New River squadron, the Marine’s only Osprey unit, has eight of the tilt-rotor planes and a complement of 241 Marines, including 32 officers.

Leberman, 45, is a 21-year Marine veteran from Hatboro, Pa., who was trained as a pilot of Marine CH-46 helicopters. He became the new squadron’s first commanding officer on June 11, 1999.

Leberman was relieved based on the initial review of the allegations and has not yet been reassigned, Gibbons said.

The spokesman said that the whistle-blower’s allegations were first sent to the office of Navy Secretary Richard Danzig. He said that falsifying maintenance records is an offense that could lead to criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The investigative team includes two specialists in Marine helicopter maintenance from the Marines’ Miramar Air Station in San Diego. The team plans to interview all Marines at the station, he said, and “take a very detailed look at the entire squadron.”

The Osprey is built by Boeing Co. and Bell Helicopter Textron.