An initial Navy review revealed that the Fort Lauderdale,
Fla.-based company, The Experts, ordered computer contractor Aaron
Alexis back to Washington, D.C., after a police incident in Rhode
Island in August, according to senior U.S. officials. The company
then withdrew his ability to access secret-level data for two days,
said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation. It did
not disclose why his access was reinstated. Less than six weeks
later, the former Navy reservist gunned down 12 civilian workers in
a Navy Yard building, and police fatally shot him.
The Experts did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
The classified access revelation has raised questions about whether
the company's disclosure of the discipline could have brought Alexis
to Navy officials' attention earlier and perhaps prevented the
massacre. The Navy did an initial review into the matter, but it has
not yet been released. Officials also have done a full
investigation, including what prompted the company's decision and
why the government was never told. Naval leaders now are reviewing
that report.
The shooting spree triggered several Navy and Defense Department
reviews into base security and contractor requirements, including
questions about how thorough the background checks are for security
clearances and whether more vigilant monitoring and reassessments
should be done.
While the Navy reviews have not been released, Navy Secretary Ray
Mabus has sent out a notice to the fleet directing all commanders
and civilian leaders in the Navy to scrutinize the records of any
personnel who are allowed to access classified information.
In the message, Mabus said that this new records review should look
at credit card delinquencies, discipline, police or legal reports
and urinalysis reports.
Mabus said that if information is discovered that had not been
disclosed already, it must be reported, and commanders must
determine whether the employee's access to classified data should be
cut off. He ordered commanders to submit full reports to Navy and
Marine leaders on what they found and any actions taken by
mid-January.
According to officials familiar with the Navy investigation, The
Experts removed Alexis' access to secret information on August 7 and
restored access on August 9, but there is nothing in the record
explaining the decisions. The timing, however, aligns with the day
Alexis called Newport, R.I., police, complaining that voices were
harassing him through a wall at his hotel and he worried they might
harm him.
Police said they were called to the Marriott around 6 a.m. on Aug.
7, and Alexis told them he was in town as a naval contractor and
that he believed people were following him and using a microwave
machine to send vibrations into his body so he could not fall
asleep. Police alerted the local Navy base that day that Aaron
Alexis was hearing voices, but the information went no further.
Under U.S. rules, The Experts was required to report any behavior
that could be considered detrimental to security, and that
information was supposed to be passed along to the commander at the
Washington Navy Yard.
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Alexis began working at the Navy Yard this summer refreshing
computer systems.
The Experts said it ran two background checks on Alexis that turned
up only a traffic violation. It also said the Pentagon confirmed
twice that Alexis had a valid security clearance.
Alexis was granted a secret-level security clearance while in the
Navy, and it carried over when he went to work as a computer
contractor. He was granted access to the Washington Navy Yard and to
Building 197 as an employee of The Experts, a Hewlett-Packard
subcontractor.
Hewlett-Packard Co. has said it was severing ties with The Experts,
saying the company failed to respond appropriately to Alexis' mental
health issues. HP has told U.S. officials that it did not receive
any adverse information reports on Alexis before the September 16
shooting.
In a note he left behind and found by investigators after the
shooting, Alexis claimed that he was driven to the shooting rampage
because he was being bombarded by extremely low-frequency radio
waves. The FBI has said that the note, along with peculiar carved
notations on his gun, suggested he was in the throes of profound
paranoia and delusions.
His shotgun, which he purchased two days before the shooting from a
gun shop in Virginia, was etched with messages including "My ELF
Weapon!" — an apparent reference to extremely low-frequency waves —
and "End to The Torment!"
In response to the shooting, Mabus ordered a series of reviews,
including four quick studies on Alexis' Navy career, contractor
obligations, the security clearance process and physical base
security. He also ordered two longer reviews — one on physical
security and one encompassing a full investigation into exactly how
the events of the shooting unfolded. All six reviews have been
completed, but they have not yet been released.
Mabus said that investigation into the shooting must determine
whether HP and The Experts complied with background investigation
requirements; find out who knew about the August police incident and
clearance action; figure out what happened and whether it was
reported as required; and if government or military officials were
notified, find out whether proper procedures were followed.
[Associated
Press; LOLITA C. BALDOR]
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