WASHINGTON — Two laptop computers with personal information on about 31,000 Navy recruiters and their prospective recruits were stolen from Navy offices in New Jersey in June and July, the Navy disclosed on Wednesday.

It was the third time in little more than a month that personal data on Navy personnel has been lost or unintentionally released publicly over the Internet.

"There have been no reports of illegal usage of personal data identified by these incidents," said Navy spokesman, Lt. Bashon W. Mann <siteSearch('Bashon W. Mann');>, adding that the Navy is identifying the affected individuals.

He said the information on the laptops was secured by several layers of password protection.

According to the Navy, one laptop was reported stolen from a recruiting station in Trenton, N.J., in early June, and the other was taken from a Jersey City, N.J., recruiting station in early July. While the thefts were initially reported to the police, the head of Naval personnel was not informed until mid-July.

Information on the computers included a list of applicants and recruiters as well as information from selective service and school lists. About 4,000 included Social Security numbers.

The police and the Navy Criminal Investigative Service are investigating.

In early July, Social Security numbers and other personal information on more than 100,000 Navy and Marine Corps aviators and aircrew were discovered on the Naval Safety Center's Web site. And in mid-June Social Security numbers and other data for 28,000 sailors and family members were found on a civilian Web site.

Individuals who believe they may have been affected by the thefts can contact the Navy or check the Web site: www.npc.navy.mil

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

Navy says sailor in brig stole laptop, gave out classified info
By KATE WILTROUT, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 9, 2006
Last updated: 11:51 PM

NORFOLK - After refusing to release full details on a pending espionage case involving a petty officer held in the Norfolk brig, the Navy on Tuesday provided some specifics about the charges.

The Navy's charges depict Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann as a sailor who stole a Navy laptop computer, deserted his ship for more than eight months and traveled the globe, both attempting to give and actually delivering classified defense information to an undisclosed foreign government.

Weinmann, a fire control technician previously assigned to the submarine Albuquerque, had an Article 32 hearing July 26 in Norfolk, said Ted Brown, a spokesman for the Navy's Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk.

Brown said Weinmann is represented by two Navy attorneys, Lt. Cmdr. Karen Somers and Lt. William Tansey.

"At this point in the proceedings, it is not in my client's best interest to comment on the case," Somers said Tuesday through a spokeswoman.

Brown's supervisor, Capt. James Taylor, the command's public affairs officer, on Tuesday provided a copy of the six charges Weinmann faced at his Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing.

Arguably the most serious charges are three counts of espionage in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The first count alleges that in March 2005, in or near Manama, Bahrain, Weinmann did "attempt to communicate, deliver or transmit" classified information relating to national defense to "a representative, officer, agent or employee of a foreign government."

The two subsequent charges allege that months later - after purportedly deserting his Connecticut-based submarine - Weinmann did "communicate, deliver or transmit" information classified as confidential and secret to a representative of a foreign government.

According to the charges, those events occurred in Vienna, Austria, around Oct. 19, 2005, and around March 19, near Mexico City, Mexico.

Weinmann was picked up at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport days after the incident in Mexico, according to the charges. Brown said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was involved in the case.

It is not known to whom Weinmann is believed to have given classified information; Brown said he could not comment on further specifics.

Brown said Weinmann is a native of Oregon who enlisted in July 2003.

The Navy has also charged Weinmann with failing to properly safeguard and store classified information, making an electronic copy of classified information related to national defense, communicating classified information to a person not entitled to receive it, and stealing and destroying a government computer.

While espionage carries a maximum punishment of death, it's too soon to know whether Weinmann will be court-martialed on the charges.

As is standard in the Navy court system, an investigating officer who attended the Article 32 hearing must first issue a recommendation on whether there is enough evidence to refer the charges to court- martial.

That report is then sent to the convening authority - in this case, Adm. John B. Nathman, Fleet Forces commander - who ultimately decides how to proceed.

The Navy had refused to release specifics of the charges against Weinmann or even the date of his hearing.

An article published in The Virginian-Pilot on Friday highlighted the lack of public information about Weinmann's case.

In that article, Brown was quoted as saying that the command "is attempting to provide as much unclassified information as is reasonable, while maintaining an appropriate concern for the privacy of the individual involved."

Tuesday, Brown said that "in view of the public interest generated by Friday's story, the decision to release the document was made."

Eugene R. Fidell, a Washington-based lawyer and president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said he wasn't satisfied with that explanation.

Although it may be necessary to close part of a hearing for testimony about classified information, Fidell said the military can't arbitrarily waive public access.

"I thought the right to a public trial and open legal proceedings in general was something that federal agencies had an obligation to do whether people hammered on their door about it or not," Fidell said. "The notion that fundamental legal documents would only be made available as a matter of grace, after a significantly loud howl, is deeply disturbing."

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

NORFOLK, Va. — A sailor accused of stealing a Navy laptop computer and peddling its classified contents to an undisclosed foreign government pleaded guilty Monday to espionage, desertion and other charges.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann, 22, of Salem, Oregon, faces a sentence of life in prison without parole, a dishonorable discharge from the Navy and forfeiture of all pay.

Under a plea agreement, Weinmann pleaded guilty to one of three counts of espionage and one count each of desertion, failing to properly safeguard and store classified information, copying classified information, communicating classified information to a person not entitled to receive it, and stealing and destroying a government computer.

Weinmann pleaded guilty to trying to transmit classified information related to national defense to a representative of a foreign government on Oct. 19, 2005, while he was in or near Vienna, Austria.

He pleaded not guilty to a count of espionage for trying to give classified information to an agent of a foreign government in March 2005 in Bahrain and a third count to trying to deliver confidential information on March 19, 2006, in Mexico City.

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

"Let's Go Downtown" - Flight of the Intruder
 

http://www.327infantry.org/second/c_co 

Same Mud Same Blood - NBC documentary filmed 1967 RVN, chronicle Frank McGee