Uncovering Pay Abuse At Ft. Lewis -- Whistleblower May Lose Army Career As A Result

FORT LEWIS - Paul Paine's problems started three years ago after he turned in a pregnant soldier for getting $110-a-month parachute pay when she hadn't jumped out of a plane for months.

Sgt. Paine was told the pay would be stopped, but it wasn't, and he complained to fraud investigators.

Before long, the Army found it had given parachute pay to hundreds of Fort Lewis soldiers who didn't deserve it. Soldiers who were in hospitals and prison, soldiers who had long since left parachute units, soldiers who got pre-dated signatures from careless commanders.

The pay abuse added up to more than $100,000 a year at Fort Lewis alone - and possibly millions of dollars at Army bases around the world.

In some circles, Paul Paine might be regarded a hero.

But here at Fort Lewis, he was regarded a pain.

After he complained, Paine, who holds a master's degree and was manager of a parachute packing unit, was transferred at one point to a job counting maps in a warehouse. For months, he said, he was harassed, threatened, slandered and shunned. And now, his career in the Army is being threatened.

"It's been a long, ugly story," Paine said this week.

Many didn't believe him, but a week ago Paine finally got a measure of vindication. A new report by the Department of Defense Inspector General confirmed he was the victim of retaliation.

The inspector general found that Paine's career is being shortened because of the "distinct animosity" of some of his commanders toward his persistent complaints.

But the vindication might be too late to do him any good.

The report says Paine should get his old job back or an equivalent position, but he's still facing a forced retirement.

Sergeants who don't get promoted, like Paine, have to leave the Army after 22 years. The clock is ticking. He has to file for retirement by Nov. 1 or lose his benefits.

"Everything looks great on paper, but the bottom line is that in 90 days, I'll be shuffled out of the service unless the system stops dragging its feet," he said.

WANTS TO STAY IN ARMY

Paine, 39, said he still hopes to stay in the Army. But he's not sure who will help him.

"I haven't given an inch on this, and I've paid a hard price," he said.

The inspector general's report asks the commander of Fort Lewis to consider disciplining Col. Harry Fleming, the former director of logistics in air delivery, and two subordinates who used unsupportable reasons to accuse Paine of poor performance.

But Fleming, who declined comment, retired two months ago.

Last year, all the officers and soldiers at Fort Lewis who took illegal jump pay - more than 700, by one estimate - were given blanket immunity from possible fraud or larceny charges.

The issue was closed with an Army finding of "widespread confusion and mismanagement of the parachute pay program, both at Fort Lewis and apparently throughout the U.S. Army."

Paine didn't think that was good enough.

He thought the rule on hazardous-duty pay was clear enough: It says you have to parachute with Army equipment at least once every three months to get the jump pay.

Michael Ewing was the Army investigator who documented the pay abuses.

"There was a lot of dirty dealing there," Ewing said yesterday.

Now working as a state insurance investigator, Ewing said Paine's troubles also stem from turning in another former boss for contract fraud.

The boss's wife had received a $17,000 contract for parachute work, but after Paine complained, his boss was reprimanded, fined and transferred. He could not be reached yesterday.

GOOD OL' BOY CLUB

"The retaliation stems from the good ol' boy club" that Paine was bucking, Ewing said, adding that while Paine "comes across as a lunatic" at times, he has always been completely factual and honest.

Any help for Paine now would have to come from the commander of Fort Lewis. Gen. Carmen Cavezza met with Paine for about five minutes in January; he has watched the situation since, and had a staff person meet with Paine.

The general had no comment yesterday because he hadn't seen the inspector general's report, dated July 8, which was obtained by The Times.

Asked why it was taking so long and when the general could comment, spokesman Col. John Lundberg said:

"I have no idea. You know, you've got a full colonel since retired, you've got a senior civilian, you've got a captain that are all involved (in alleged retaliation). I guess they're just looking at all legal aspects of it."

Paine wrote the general's staff Monday seeking help on extending his time in the Army.

He said he would like to see court martials for those who retaliated against him.

The inspector general report focuses on three months from November 1991 through January 1992, when Paine was given the lowest job marks of his career. It says Paine's supervisors accused him of various traits frowned upon in the Army.

They said he "talked too much and rambled, and had a tendency to find fault with the leadership."

He also was accused of being paranoid, and unmilitary in his bearing. The inspector general didn't believe those claims.

". . . Insignificant incidents were exaggerated, and the officials in the chain (of command) showed a distinct animosity toward SFC Paine," special agent Sandra Royston wrote.

When officials unaffected by his whistleblowing have supervised Paine, he has received good marks.

Sgt. Maj. Joaquin Cruz supervised Paine for parts of 1990 and 1991. "The guy's outstanding," Cruz said this week. "Outspoken, and outstanding."

MEDAL DOWNGRADED

But when Cruz referred Paine for a Meritorious Service Medal last summer, Col. Fleming refused. Cruz asked again, and Fleming agreed to a lesser award, the Army Achievement Medal.

Fleming, the former director of logistics at the Air Delivery Section, retired after 30 years July 1. Reached at his home in Steilacoom, near Tacoma, Fleming declined comment on the inspector general's report, saying it was "still under action."

Paine's rater for the period in question could not be reached for comment, and his senior rater, Richard Trimble, deputy director of Logistics for the Air Delivery Section, declined comment.

Trimble, who had approved a high rating for Paine in October 1991, gave Paine the lowest possible score on his potential for promotion earlier this year. He told the investigator that Paine "caused friction in the work area" and "promoted mistrust in his chain of command."

Once Paine started blowing the whistle, he refused to stop. Last year he alleged safety problems in the parachute unit. He was written up for phoning an officer from another unit to talk about the problem.

The inspector general recounted a telling interview on the incident with Capt. Darrell Beck, one of Paine's supervisors.

FIGHTING CITY HALL

"He wanted to fight city hall," Beck is quoted as saying.

The inspector general reminded Beck that Paine had won the fight on parachute pay.

"And obviously he didn't learn anything, did he?" Beck is said to have replied.

Beck, who has left Fort Lewis, could not be reached for comment.

Paine and his wife think they have been targets of retaliation in other ways.

Somebody blew up their mailbox.

One of their prize Rottweiler dogs was poisoned. An airplane flew low over their house and dropped rags soaked in flammable liquid on their roof.

The airplane incident was witnessed by Sgt. Gary Barth, a 15-year Army veteran who says he had been trying to help Paine until he transferred to Germany two years ago.

"I guess the game plan is to wipe me out," Paine said. "But I guess they found out I don't wipe out so easily."

Paine has gotten the attention of Sen. Brock Adams.

In fact, the inspector general said Paine's complaints to Adams for the past two years were one reason behind the retaliation.

But even the senator couldn't help the sergeant.

In a May 7 letter to Cavezza, Adams complained about "delays and inconsistencies" in information provided him on handling Paine's complaints.

Adams has also written that he believed Paine suffered reprisals.