Gen. Jim Amos' most dogged critics are not letting him quietly retire as commandant of the Marine Corps, raising fresh allegations of wrongdoing even as he prepares to end his tenure on Oct. 17.
At issue is whether Amos attended basic Marine officer training in 1972 as he said in the career service record he provided Congress four years ago upon his confirmation as the service's 35th commandant.
Amos was a Navy pilot and lieutenant junior grade who cross-decked to Marine Corps aviation and bypassed The Basic School, a rite of passage for all Marine officers. The Corps says its top officer did complete TBS – five years later than claimed and via correspondence course.
A spokesman for Marine Corps headquarters said it was impossible to provide documentation late Friday afternoon, at the front end of a three-day weekend. Marine Corps Times had sought details on Amos' TBS history since Wednesday.
The controversy, raised by longtime critics of Amos, centers on a signed and sworn document showing Amos' attended TBS as portrayed during his confirmation process.
The commandant's spokesman, Col. Dave Lapan, on Wednesday told Marine Corps Times that there was proof Amos completed the time-honored training regimen, but refused to provide that proof to anyone but Congress.
"Marine Corps records confirm the commandant came into the Marine Corps through an inter-service transfer from the Navy and he completed The Basic School," Lapan said.
Now, one member of the House Armed Services Committee is calling for a formal Pentagon investigation. The request was made by Congressman Walter Jones, a Republican whose district in eastern North Carolina includes three Marine Corps installations. When Jones' staff inquired with Marine Corps headquarters Friday, Marine officials responded with an email stating Amos did not attend TBS.
"As discussed, [Office of Legislative Affairs] informed me that Gen. Amos did not attend the Basic School in that he was an inter-service transfer from the Navy," the email says. In follow-up conversations, Marine officials corrected that to say Amos completed TBS through a correspondence course in February 1977, but provided the congressman no documentation. Amos left the service one year later and served as a commercial airline pilot for Braniff Airlines until 1982.
Jones took issue with the fact that the official resume presented to Congress states Amos attended TBS in 1972.
"You just should not achieve a position based on falsehood," Jones said. "When you are going before a [congressional] committee seeking the nomination for the highest position in the United States Marine Corps, you know that he read the information many times before he would sign it."
The congressman sent a letter asking Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to investigate the matter. It reads, in part: "I hope the commandant can provide you with the proper documentation that he did attend TBS. Misleading or falsified information presented to Congress is a very serious charge. I ask you to please investigate this matter and give it your utmost and immediate attention."
The matter was brought to light by Lee Thweatt, a former Marine attorney and outspoken critic of the commandant. His findings are included in an 80-page report sent to a number of Pentagon and congressional leaders. Thweatt also asserts that Amos has had a history of undue command influence during his tenure as commandant, allegations the Defense Department inspector general did not substantiate.
In his letter, Thweatt said Marine Corps records do not contain reference to any Marine officer named James F. Amos until 1973, "and even then, there is no reference to the January 15, 1972, date of commissioning General Amos listed on his résumé."
Read: Thweatt's letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
Some Marine Corps naval aviators were exempted from the six-month TBS to quicken their entry into combat operations in Vietnam, Thweatt explained. That exemption was rescinded in the late 1970s. Thweatt also provided other details he contends show Amos did not attend TBS in 1972.
Thweatt found and provided photographic evidence that Amos was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, from 1971 to 1972. In fact, Amos is shown to have ejected from an F-4 Phantom on or about July 12, 1972.
Lapan shot down Thweatt's contentions with assurance of evidence to the contrary.
"Just because he has selected certain documents and things to prove that [Amos] didn't complete The Basic School doesn't mean that's everything there is," he said. "We have records that say otherwise. Whether the individual didn't have access to that, or omitted them, I can't explain. But we have evidence to the contrary."
