AN OPEN LETTER

A Sincere THANK YOU to Our USCG Service Men and Women

        First, I wish to immediately express my sincere respect, awe and gratitude to the overwhelming majority of the members of our treasured United States Coast Guard. They place themselves in harm's way on a daily basis for an increasingly unappreciative population. I've never encountered any response from any of them that wasn't similar to the humble understatements, "I'm just doing my job and fulfilling my duty." Thank you.

        A helicopter they chose was bad. But the coverup was even worse. Look at the devistating manufacturer's secret report listing the Top 50 production line failures in one pre-delivery year and see if you would have flown or crewed this helicopter.

        Think about it. Only 96 HH65 Dolphin helicopters were produced but 66 signal data converters failed, 62 altimeters failed, 57 control monitors failed, 45 horizontal gyroscope adapters failed, 40 other signal data converters failed, 33 triple tachometers failed, 22 air data computers failed, 22 tail rotor blades failed, etc., in one 12 month period. No wonder the report cover said to not let anyone else see it.

        This list doesn't even include the engines that were the subject of what the Wall Street Journal called the "largest fraud settlement in history."

        The flight crews were and are continually exposed to the ultimate penalty and, if lucky, something short of their loss of life. Even one injury is unacceptable. 30 years after I entered the defense industry aviation field, I can only say that the flight crews are truly the modern day heros... test pilots and barnstormers fixing and flying bailing wire aircraft. They pluck the stupid, citizen sailor from the sea, disarm and detain the drug dealers from distant lands and keep virtual vigil over our ports and oceans. Thank you and Keep Well!

        The ground crews, mechanics and logistical support staff have endured the theft of their personal time-off-work to stay at work. They repeatedly expended every effort to maintain and support a system saturated with additional known, but undisclosed, defects. This, as everyone now knows, included uncorrected design and manufacturing defects and flaws. These massive but unpaid overtime hours were stolen from them, their spouses, children and loved ones. It was unacceptable then and is unacceptable now.

      Best Evidence: Government Report, DOT Report Number RSPA/TSC-CG096-TM-1, dated 09/25/89. Text Notes.

      • Excessive Labor Costs: TN48 - As discussed in Chapter 2, uniformed Coast Guard personnel currently work many unpaid overtime hours to maintain the existing engines.

      • Excessive Materials Costs: TN13 - Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) commercial price list (CPL) prices quoted in Preston Moore, op. cit. Per 9/25/89 phone conversation with Textron Lycoming's Director, LT 101 Program, the Coast Guard would receive a 40 percent discount from these prices. (Note: USCG had been required to pay full retail list price until this date.)

      • Excessive Program Costs: Page xiv - "The cumulative 10% discounted cost for the engine improvement program over the period 1989 to 2005 is estimated at between $69 and $90 million (in 1989 dollars), versus $114 million for continued use of the engine with no improvements."

        The contents of this website are (1) dedicated to all American service people, (2) a "desk-jocky's effort to do his part and (3)a direct indictment of only a few controling politicians, attorneys, Officers and self-serving idiots that took the easy way out. When these idiots cover up the known and flagrant defects and life threatening safety of flight issues involved in the HH65 helicopters' hardware, software and services, it is our flight crews and support staffs that suffer the most.

        Sadly, we, as taxpayers, are currently paying again to have the same avionics, engines and helicopter systems replaced even though they were clearly and specifically identified to the USCG attorneys and Justice Department attorneys as non-contract compliant, unairworthy and defective in my original fraud lawsuit and is why I personally placed all engines on a Quality Assurance "hold" and grounded the fleet at one time. My "red tag" was trumped by the manufacturer's corporate officers and my responsibilities removed.

        The Coast Guard is one of the oldest organizations of the federal government and, until the Navy Department was established in 1798, the Coast Guard served as the nation's only armed force afloat. Ironocally, Semper Paratus (Always Ready), the Coast Guard motto, seems ludicrous when we shamefully allow Justice Department and USCG attorneys (and a certain few past and present USCG personnel) to knowingly place our service men and women into defective equipment that cannot do the job.

        They deserve better... and some other people deserve court martials or jail.

        Finally, if you are expecting help from the Department of Justice to stop fraudulent behavior and delivery of defective goods, you are a fool. Never expect or trust any words, letters or help from the Main Justice attorneys. The Department of Justice's history of misconduct, in the fraud cases that it "cherry-picks", speaks for itself. Here is a very good example of their "cherry-picking" thinking openly and boldly stated by the specific individual that was tasked to investigate and punish serious allegations of DOJ attorney misconduct:

  • "...The government has too many criminal items in the pipeline to worry about cases that are fraught with any problems, including Brady issues."

  • "...No (federal) prosecutor ought to bring a case that isn't close to a slam dunk."

    Michael Shaheen, Former Director, Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility.
    http://www.fed-soc.org/Publications/Transcripts/mcdade.htm, 2003 The Federalist Society.

Respectfully,
Bob Ballew