On the road in his Ford F-250, Chris Koury’s thoughts flash like the dashes on the highway. The man whose friends joke that he’s been tilting at windmills is a warrior again.
Armed with a pen and a sticky notepad, the Navy Reserve captain can trace a line of suspicions, alleged misdeeds and compounded falsehoods that leads to a letter he received Oct. 7.
His mind rolls back, he connects the dots, the square yellow notes to himself fill the console of his crew cab.
Koury, a Weaver native who served at U.S. Central Command for 11 months before his orders were terminated in 1999, has received an official letter that refutes charges sthat he was serving at CentCom on illegal orders. The charges had effectively ended his military career.
Koury, who in four years’ time never felt so close to vindication, is elated.
“I felt exhilarated,” he said.
The intelligence officer alleges, with more than a few others, that leaders at U.S. Central Command ignored warnings about a security breach in a high-security area, then mishandled the situation so badly it became an embarrassment. They had to get rid of the evidence – not the sources of the breach, but Koury and two other officers, he contends.
Officials at Central Command have repeatedly refused to comment on the accusations.
“I would refer you to (our previous) statement and it remains unchanged,” Air Force Maj. Mike Escudie said. He told The Star last week that commenting on the allegations would be “inappropriate.”
The command canceled Koury’s orders in July 1999 after bringing the Navy Reserve officer up on unrelated charges Koury contends are “trumped-up charges.”
CentCom’s director of intelligence, Brig. Gen. Keith Alexander, wrote Koury a month after his July dismissal in response to Koury’s offer to return. Koury’s orders, which were to conduct the three-year periodic update of the headquarters’ manpower needs, had been canceled over budgetary issues, Alexander explained, not over security matters.
This, despite that, on his last day of service, Koury had written a memo to Alexander’s subordinate, Air Force Col. Stanley Silverman.
“The (manning) project is not complete, and I am willing to continue the project to completion without pay,” it read.
Over the next few years, Koury persuaded Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to request more than one Pentagon review. In its final response refusing to investigate the issue, the Department of Defense inspector general reasoned:
? That Gen. Alexander’s recommendation to reprimand Koury was based on an investigation by CentCom leaders.
? That because Koury chose to fight the charges against him in a court martial, which the leadership elected not to pursue, technically there was no reprimand.
? And, that the termination of his orders was based on manning concerns.
“For example, Capt. Koury had been on temporary duty orders longer than allowed by regulation, his prior extensions were not properly approved …” stated the letter, which was signed by Deputy Inspector General Donald Mancuso.
Koury says the new letter is part of his evidence that contradicts that. It was written by Navy Reserve Capt. Kenneth Newton, of the Naval Air Reserve Force in New Orleans, the man responsible for oversight, approval and issuance of all active-duty orders for all members of the U.S. Naval Reserve Intelligence Program.
In it, Newton wrote:
? That Koury’s orders, pay and any extensions were done only as requested by the command itself.
? That Koury had no ability to influence the type of orders issued or approval of any extensions.
“Those matters were conducted solely between my office and the requesting command,” Newton wrote. “When Capt. Koury’s orders were ended in July 1999, it was only because CentCom decided not to pay for any more extensions.
“I was never contacted by the U.S. CentCom Inspector General about the characterization of Capt. Koury’s active duty orders,” he concluded.
Koury believes this new information may help him. At the prompting of Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., the Department of Defense inspector general’s office recently re-opened Koury’s case. Koury sent the office Newton’s letter.
An office spokesman, Steven Anthony, would not say when a response would be given, but Rogers’ chief of staff, Rob Jesmer, said an answer is on the way: “We’ve been informed by DOD that a response is imminent.”
