THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 12, 1995 TAG: 9508120037
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DEROCHI, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 214 lines
When Matthew Napiltonia picked off a half-dozen rebels during a gunfight in Somalia, he won a medal for valor, and accolades for his ``unrelenting perseverance.''
When the Navy SEAL was graded by the leaders of his elite commando unit, he earned praise and distinction for his ``unstoppable'' presence and his skills as a highly charged warrior.
So, in January, when Napiltonia launched an assault on what he saw as a new and menacing enemy, he thought his determination would again enable him to win.
Instead, he'll probably lose it all.
Embroiled in a controversy over safety violations, Napiltonia has come under fire for refusing to back down from allegations that SEAL Team 8 routinely breaks guidelines governing the handling of explosives and other weapons.
He has leveled the accusations through every branch of the SEAL chain of command and above, vocally challenging the leadership of the Alpha platoon and breaking the traditional silence of the reserved Special Warfare community.
As a result of the controversy, Napiltonia has been removed from his team and given custodial duties at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. His SEAL Trident pin has been yanked, his security clearances revoked. He has been referred to a Navy psychiatrist.
The Navy defends its actions as necessary discipline for a subordinate who has broken ranks.
Napiltonia calls it retribution.
The issue is likely to come to a head this month when a Navy report substantiating many of Napiltonia's claims is reviewed by the judge advocate general, the service's top legal officer.
The report, submitted by the Navy Special Warfare Command in San Diego, acknowledges that the SEALs illegally transported high-powered explosives and attempted to cover up a December 1994 weapons mishap that left a commando permanently injured.
But the report also puts blame on Napiltonia for refusing to return to his platoon, recommending that he be sent to a SEAL training school to start over.
Napiltonia, 23, a radioman third class, has said he won't accept the offer. He is appealing the decision to the judge advocate general.
``It's a whitewash,'' said Virginia Beach attorney Robert B. Rae, who represents Napiltonia. ``It substantiates almost all of the allegations but then it says, `We'll screw you, anyway.'
``It sets him back to ground zero. Why should he start over if he didn't do anything wrong?''
Navy officials declined to comment on the specifics of the case because it is under review at the Pentagon.
``We have welcomed this review of the case since our objectives have always been to ensure that petty officer Napiltonia's concerns are addressed, that any appropriate actions are being taken and that all concerned are being treated fairly by the system,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Jim Fallin, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command.
Napiltonia said he hopes the publicity will force the Navy to own up to its mistakes.
``I'm supposed to willingly go back to a platoon that continually violates state and federal laws,'' Napiltonia said in a recent interview. ``They haven't done anything constructive to fix the problems.
``It would have been so easy to go back in. It would have. But I won't. I can't. If you knew me you would understand.''
Napiltonia has been a SEAL - a sea, air, land commando - since 1991, when he graduated from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, or BUDS, in Coronado, Calif.
On Nov. 9, 1991, he reported to the Delta platoon at SEAL Team 8 at the Little Creek base. His twin brother, Joseph, also a SEAL, was assigned to the same platoon.
Two years after arriving, Napiltonia was sent to Somalia to take part in Operation Restore Hope, where he earned the Navy Achievement Medal with a combat valor distinction.
In a fitness report that year, the Navy's equivalent of an annual evaluation, Napiltonia was praised for displaying ``exceptional leadership and management skills.''
That same month, Napiltonia joined the newly formed Alpha platoon of SEAL Team 8 and was sent to Haiti as part of Operation Uphold Democracy.
It was in Haiti, on a beach outside Cap-Haitien, that the friction between Napiltonia and his command started.
His platoon was charged with securing the beach and two ramp exits to enable a speedy withdrawal, if needed. Mission accomplished, the SEALs were standing watch. A contingent of U.S. Army soldiers was nearby, along with a Bradley fighting vehicle.
The platoon chief put down his weapon and lit a cigarette. Others followed suit.
The scene was later reported by Napiltonia, who complained it presented a safety problem because of the unruly crowds.
SEAL team leaders, notified of the incident, did not agree with Napiltonia's claims.
After returning from Haiti, Napiltonia was counseled, along with other members of his platoon, for an ``overmotivation problem,'' according to Navy documents. The counseling also cited Napiltonia's leadership potential.
That winter, problems in the platoon festered. Napiltonia began noting what he saw as violations of federal laws: a trip to Fort Pickett where uncertified drivers were allowed to transport vans filled with C-4 explosives, 84mm anti-tank rockets and offensive grenades. A stay in a hotel outside West Point, where SEALs stored weaponry in their rooms.
The safety issue exploded on Dec. 13, 1994, at Fort Pickett when members of the Alpha platoon were conducting land warfare training. The SEALs were on a break that afternoon and the range was ``cold.'' No weapons were to be fired.
According to Navy documents, the officer in charge of the platoon picked up a pop flare that had been illegally modified and launched it without warning.
The flare brushed the ground and then shot into the genitals of Operations Specialist Greg Farmerie. The SEAL dropped his machine gun and jumped five or six times before collapsing on the ground, shrieking, ``Get it off, get it off,'' according to Navy records.
``They weren't supposed to fire,'' Napiltonia said. ``We were all in a circle when it happened. None of us saw it. We were just standing around the fire.
``All I saw was Farmerie down, his pants all burned up.''
Farmerie was taken to a medical clinic and treated for second degree burns. He has since returned to SEAL Team 8.
Once he was transported, members of the Alpha platoon gathered on Range 16. The officer in charge and others who were conducting the training told the platoon members not to tell anyone what happened. It was to be reported as an accident during live weapons training, they said.
At 8:45 p.m., a training officer called the Little Creek amphibious base and reported the incident. He said Farmerie had received a ``minor burn'' after a pop flare hit a tree and bounced off the ground, according to a written record of the phone call.
No mention was made that the range was cold or that a warning had not been given. No mishap report was filed with the Navy Safety Center, as is required by Navy guidelines.
Officials at SEAL Team 8 would later say they didn't know such a report was required. It would not be submitted for more than three months.
On Dec. 14, the day after the Farmerie incident, Napiltonia told his platoon leaders he would not go along with the cover-up and would not keep quiet.
On Jan. 4, Napiltonia met with Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Brown, the executive officer of SEAL Team 8 at the time.
That same day he received three counseling chits - written reprimands - for allegedly missing several duty calls. They were the first chits Napiltonia had received as a Navy SEAL.
One week later, Napiltonia met with Cmdr. K. P. Carl to try to resolve the problems. Napiltonia told Carl of the safety violations and of his concerns. He said he wanted an investigation into the platoon.
Carl told Napiltonia he wanted him to drop the charges and return to duty or he would be administratively discharged.
Napiltonia refused.
Carl assigned Napiltonia to the Master At Arms, which handles all maintenance and custodial duties for the SEAL team. Carl asked that administrative discharge proceedings be started against Napiltonia.
What ensued was an escalated and often angry string of exchanges between Napiltonia and Carl.
Napiltonia said the command officers continually tried to pressure him into dropping his complaint, suggesting they would remove the counseling chits from his record if he did. They threatened to kick him out of the Navy.
``They kept saying, `What do you want?' '' Napiltonia said. ``I kept saying I'm not making any deals. This isn't a corporate merger. This is a friend who got hurt.''
Carl, according to Navy documents, was frustrated because Napiltonia would not return to the platoon. He would later tell investigators he thought the SEAL was obsessed with problems that, in his view, did not exist. He accused Napiltonia of trying to manipulate the Navy into giving him a transfer to another SEAL team.
``In the high risk business that SEALs are engaged in, you pose a risk to any SEAL who has to depend on you,'' Carl wrote Napiltonia in a memo.
On March 13, Rae, the Virginia Beach attorney, contacted Carl to inform him he would be representing Napiltonia and filing a grievance complaint on the SEAL's behalf.
The next day, Carl ordered Napiltonia sent to a psychiatrist for a mental evaluation.
On March 15, Lt. Cmdr. J.P. Stratton, the team's new executive officer, entered a Page 13 reprimand - a permanent notation - on Napiltonia's record, citing the December infractions.
The reprimand, issued three months after the alleged incidents, was later withdrawn by the Naval Special Warfare Command to ``remove any appearance of impropriety.''
On April 4, Napiltonia's security clearance was yanked and he was banned from the team offices, unless under escort.
Three weeks later, he was evaluated by a psychiatrist at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center and pronounced fit for duty.
On May 2, his Trident was revoked.
Napiltonia, who is still assigned to the Master At Arms, is awaiting word on his grievance complaint, which was sent to the judge advocate general in Washington. He wants to be reinstated as a SEAL and transferred to another team to serve out the end of his tour.
Napiltonia has filed two additional complaints against SEAL Team 8, claiming the commander openly distributed mental health and other private records throughout the command.
In a recent interview, Napiltonia said he was pleased that the report by Rear Adm. R.C. Smith, commander of Naval Special Warfare, substantiated many of his safety concerns.
Smith, writing in a June 6 memorandum to the judge advocate general, recommended that two of the SEALs involved in the December 1994 mishap be given nonjudicial punishment for directing subordinates to make false reports.
Smith also requested that the Navy examine the ``command climate'' at SEAL Team 8, to ensure that safety procedures are followed.
``The mission of this community includes more than enough inherent hazard,'' Smith wrote. ``We do not need to make it more dangerous by failing to follow the regulations intended to make it safer.''
Still, even with those words, Napiltonia said, the investigation has not gone far enough because it suggested there was no evidence the Navy had acted out of retribution in his case.
Napiltonia pointed to a recent fitness report, which criticized him for putting thoughts of himself above his platoon. He was given a 2.8 out of a possible 4 and was not recommended for promotion. It was noted on the report that he broke the rules by, in one instance, using a SEAL team fax machine.
``It's so obvious, this is their way of getting even,'' Napiltonia said. ``It seems like we're at the end of the road and we have nothing.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
Matthew Napiltonia won't back down from allegations that SEAL Team 8
routinely breaks guidelines governing the handling of explosives.
KEYWORDS: INVESTIGATION U.S. NAVY SEAL by CNB