The Army's recent non-disclosure order has nothing to do with a Blue Grass Army Depot whistleblower's recent statements, according to a Chemical Materials Agency representative.

Donald VanWinkle of Berea recently filed a federal whistleblower complaint alleging improper air monitoring inside the weapons storage igloos at the depot.

According to VanWinkle, nerve agent monitoring devices used to detect leaking chemicals in storage igloos have been inoperative until very recently.

He has worked as an air systems monitoring operator since 2002 and was relieved of his duties shortly after making his statement and was given work in another area at the depot.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), an organization which represents whistleblowers employed at facilities where the environment could potentially be harmed, refers to the Army's order as a "gag order" in a press release issued Wednesday.

The Chemical Materials Agency's (CMA) order reads "Recent incidents should remind all of us that the current security environment poses serious threats to our military as a whole. We must all ensure that we are doing everything possible to protect the lives of our soldiers and their families and ultimately to not put our soldiers, civilians and contractors at risk through inadvertent disclosure of classified or sensitive information."

"What we have here is an interpretation from PEER," said Greg Mayhall, public affairs officer for the CMA. "I do not believe that when it came out, it was directed to VanWinkle."

Mayhall said the Army's statement refers to a much broader range of security measures, including military members sending certain things home such as pictures and letters describing what is happening in the area where they are stationed.

"Sending pictures home may give away where you are," Mayhall said.

However, VanWinkle going public regarding ineffective air-monitoring equipment is listed as a restriction in the Army's order, which states, in part: "Examples of inappropriate information for public release include: equipment capabilities, limitations, vulnerabilities; test locations and dates, sensitive, unclassified reports for internal Army use; unclassified technical data with military applications; and lessons learned that could reveal sensitive military operations, exercises or vulnerabilities."

VanWinkle learned a particular lesson at a conference in Atlanta that did just that.

"In February or March of this year, I, along with other BGAD employees, attended training sessions with the manufacturer of the air-monitoring equipment we use," VanWinkle wrote in his official affidavit released Aug. 24. "During our training, we learned that the sampling configuration being used at BGAD to monitor the seven igloos that store munitions containing (nerve) agent VX was incorrect."

The problems VanWinkle shared at a work meeting in February were taken into consideration and changed by Lt. Col. George Shuplinkov, commander of Blue Grass Chemical Activity at the depot.

According to the Army's order, VanWinkle should have went through the proper chain of command before publicly announcing his findings.

"We live in a great country," Mayhall said of the right Americans have to voice their concerns and complaints granted by the First Amendment. "If you feel like you're not getting the results you want, you have the opportunity to take it even higher."

However, Richard Condit of PEER says that going through the chain of command may only be a way to water down the truth.

"Federal law allows public employees to report precisely the sort of information covered by this order to the proper authorities and to Congress without prior permission of the Army," Condit said. "In fact, Congress has declared it an illegal use of public funds for an official to issue a gag order without making allowances for public employees to blow the whistle on threats to public safety."

VanWinkle remains the subject of an internal investigation at the depot and results have yet to be released.

Ronica Brandenburg can be reached at rbrandenburg@ richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.