HUNTSVILLE, AL—
Redstone Arsenal's Army Aviation and Missile Command is the nerve center of the Army's missile and rocket programs. A Commander's Inquiry was convened after a WHNT NEWS 19 Taking Action investigation.Our investigative reports, called "Breach of Trust", exposed how Chris Oleyte, the Army Aviation and Missile Command's Director of Readiness used a fake diploma to secure a promotion and catapulted up the chain of command. AMCOM Commanding General Jim Myles' inquiry revealed in addition to Oleyte, there were six other AMCOM employees touting bogus credentials at taxpayer expense.
WHNT NEWS 19 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking for full disclosure and names. When the FOIA request arrived, it was almost completely blacked out, but corroborated our findings. It revealed how the area's largest federal employer, with 25,373 employees, allows civil servants to enter data on to their resume without having to provide official transcripts. The documents also revealed AMCOM employees and supervisors are not aware of the Office of Personnel Management's policy forbidding fake diplomas. However, it did not reveal the list of names of the six Department of Defense personnel caught touting fake degrees on Redstone Arsenal.
WHNT News 19 challenged the Redstone FOIA office. It, in turn, forwarded our challenge to the Judge Advocate General at the Pentagon for review.
More than four months after filing the initial FOIA request, JAG has also denied to name names. The decision comes "Based upon guidance from the Office of the Secretary of Defense." Lieutenant General Dana K. Chipman, the Judge Advocate General, ruled releasing the names of Department of Defense personnel with fake degrees "Would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."
The decision can be appealed to the Secretary of the Army within 60 days.
