ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 7, 1996 TAG: 9608070036
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Air Force has punished 16 officers in connection with the crash that killed Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, including reprimands to a general and a colonel for ``dereliction of duty,'' officials announced Tuesday.
The April 3 crash of the Air Force CT-43 in Croatia killed Brown and 34 others.
Brig. Gen. William E. Stevens, commander of the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and his operations commander, Col. John E. Mazurowski, were given letters of reprimand under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It is the most serious punishment possible in the military short of a court-martial.
The men had been stripped of their commands in June. The actions are considered ruinous to their careers.
However, criminal charges will not be brought, and the reprimands close their cases, Air Force officials said.
A three-star general also received a letter of reprimand. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Cliver, former director of operations for U.S. Air Forces in Europe, was faulted for ``failing to exercise effective oversight'' over his organization.
In June, the Air Force said an investigation into the crash found Air Force commanders in Europe had violated regulations in allowing Brown's plane to land at Dubrovnik's Cilipi Airport. Also, although Air Force headquarters had issued an order against landing at a foreign airport without first conducting a safety review, that order was ignored, the report found.
As the report was announced, Air Force chief of staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman asked, ``How can we have an Air Force instruction in the field that was not being complied with at the mission command level? ... In my view, that's the start of this chain of events. ... That, more than anything else, haunts me.''
A letter of reprimand also was given to Col. Roger W. Hansen, the former vice commander of the 86th Airlift Wing, faulted for ``failing to take appropriate measures'' to ensure the wing complied with directives. Hansen already was stripped of his assignment in June.
Stevens was punished ``for dereliction of duty for negligently failing to ensure'' that government directives had been followed in regarding reviews of airport safety under his command.
Mazurowski was penalized for ``dereliction of duty for willfully failing to ensure'' that the same directives had been followed.
Letters of admonishment went to four colonels and two lieutenant colonels. Letters of counseling went to two lieutenant colonels and two majors, while two lieutenant colonels received verbal counseling, the Air Force said. None of those individuals was identified.
``The actions taken today reflect the Air Force's commitment to ensure accountability for, and to learn from, the tragic events of April 3,'' the Air Force statement said.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB