Accountability at Arlington

UPDATE:  As predicted both Arlington Cemetery Superintendent John Metzler and Deputy Superimdent Thurman Higginbotham are being reprimanded and fired.  Secretary of the Army John McHugh will brief the media today at 2 p.m. EDT in the DoD Briefing Room, Pentagon 2E973.  McHugh will discuss the findings and actions he will undertake resulting from the Army Inspector General review of management and operations at Arlington.

National Cemetery that he directed on Nov. 13, 2009.

The Army’s Inspector General has wrapped up an investigation into slipshod management practices at Arlington National Cemetery and will release its findings as soon as tomorrow.

Sources tell me the review will address a wide range of problems at Arlington including burial mix-ups and poor recordkeeping AND that that heads may roll.    Arlington Cemetery Superintendent John Metzler suddenly announced last month (not this week) that he is stepping down, retiring next month after 19 years as Super.

But Army officials say that would not preclude administrative action against him if the facts warrant that.   Metzler’s Deputy Thurman Higginbotham could also face punitive action, sources say.

You may recall that last November Army Secretary John McHugh widened the investigation of cemetery operations after an initial probe by the Military District of Washington unearthed several irregularities including the inadvertent burying of two sets of remains in the same gravesite.

At the time Secretary McHugh said, “This is the place where valor rests, a place of reverence and respect for all Americans… As the final resting place of our nation’s heroes, any questions about the integrity or accountability of its operations should be examined in a manner befitting their service and sacrifice.”

“We will take appropriate action as the facts dictate,” McHugh promised back in November.   That “appropriate action” is expected to be announced Thursday at the Pentagon.

A copy of the Army’s previous Regulation 15–6 investigation can be found at HERE.

Tags: Arlington Cemetery, John McHugh