Three of the eight U.S. Marine Corps officers charged with wrongdoing in the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor scandal have been found liable to some of the administrative charges. The other five officers and men were cleared of charges that they participated in a scheme to falsify maintenance records. (It should be stressed that being found in violation of a charge is not, under the code of military justice, the equivalent of criminal conviction.)
Col. James Schleining, command- ing officer of Marine Aircraft Group 26, was found guilty of dereliction of duty and received a punitive letter of reprimand, with the Marine Corps officials saying he should have known of the false maintenance reports. Col. Schleining was cleared of a charge of violating a lawful order by allegedly failing to report the suspected falsification of maintenance reports.
Squadron CO Reprimanded
Lt. Col. Odin Leberman, former commanding officer of the Marines’ only tiltrotor training squadron, was found in violation of two charges, dereliction of duty (because he was found to have known of the false reports) and conduct unbecoming an officer. Lt. Col. Leberman also received a punitive letter of reprimand but was cleared of a charge of making false official statements.
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