Anniston Star
October 3, 2002

Army reassigns assistant in e-mail scandal

By Matthew Creamer and Jason Landers
Star Staff Writers

A Pentagon employee at the center of the Army's scheme to pin blame for Calhoun County's emergency preparedness woes on the local government has been reassigned.

Larry Skelly, an Army special assistant who wrote e-mails proposing a public relations trap for local officials, has been removed as head of the preparedness program for communities near chemical weapons stockpiles. He still works for the Army as a contractor providing technical expertise, according to a brief statement issued by the Army Wednesday.

The move is possibly the first ripple in a sea of change for the programs tasked with destroying the nation's chemical weapons stores and protecting the communities surrounding them. An Army Undersecretary Wednesday told U.S. Rep. Bob Riley, R-Ashland, that he would seek a review of the current structure of the chemical demilitarization program, opening the door for a possible change in oversight.

Such a review could affect the official at the top of the chain of command, Assistant Secretary of the Army Mario Fiori. Fiori designed the public relations plan and ordered Skelly to disseminate it, according to a series of e-mails leaked to the press nearly two weeks ago. The scheme would have Army and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials invite the local government to participate in exercises, only to seek their refusal and then discredit them in the media.

Fiori took over oversight of the chemical demilitarization program almost a year ago, when, at the urging of key lawmakers, including Riley, it was transferred to his office from another assistant secretary.

Since then, the relationship between Army officials and the Washington lawmakers who represent Calhoun County has been anything but cozy. "E-mailgate," as some Army personnel privately call the plot, is one of many topics that have led Riley, Sen. Richard Shelby and Gov. Don Siegelman to issue blistering criticisms of Army leadership.

"Over the last several months, there has been too much to come out that causes too much concern," Riley said in an interview. "And it's time to take care of the program."

Fiori did not attend Riley's meeting with Army Undersecretary Les Brownlee Wednesday, where the congressman asked for a fundamental restructuring of the program. An Army spokesman declined to comment on the meeting, but Riley emerged from it optimistic that it would lead to change.

"When you look at the totality of what's happened in the last year, I think we've reached a point where you have to have restructuring," he said.

Riley said the meeting was wide-ranging and did not deal exclusively with the e-mails. He noted that Brownlee was receptive to coming up with more than $26 million to pay for the protection of schools near the stockpile. "I feel very comfortable we will get the funding," he said.

Riley said he expects action within weeks, but, with Skelly's reassignment, the naming of his
replacement and the reassignment of another Army official, it's clear that a shakeup has already begun.

The Army statement said Jim Dries will take over for Skelly as the interim head of the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, or CSEPP.

An Army spokesman would not comment on the reasons for Skelly's reassignment, saying only that "We want to move forward with the program and making a change with Mr. Dries will move it along."

Reached at his office at the Pentagon, Skelly, an employee with Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory, dismissed accounts that he is no longer affiliated with the preparedness program, but declined to answer further questions on his status.

Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Burney said he hadn't received official word of the reassignment. "I hope whatever changes are made will be for the good of the community and move the program forward," he said.

Another Army official, who was a dissenting voice in the e-mail exchange, has had her duties changed. Lt. Col. Paula Lantzer, the highest-ranking military official concerned solely with CSEPP, was transferred to work on a special project.

However, Lantzer said the move was a result of the usual three-year officer rotation and her
impending retirement. The Army issued a press release announcing the move with glowing praise from her superiors.