Erik Eriksen
199 Laurelton Street
Springfield, MA 01109
27 August, 2007
The Honorable James Whittemore
Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse
801 North Florida Avenue
Tampa, Florida 33602
RE: COL (Ret) Tom Spellissy
Your
Honor,
I am a West Point classmate of COL (Ret) Tom
Spellissy. Over the last year, I have been following the bribery scandal
involving Tom and his company: Strategic Defense International, Inc. I
have read the Appeal Brief that he is mounting to defend himself (Case No.
06-14287-BB). I have, also, read information gleaned from the 'West
Point' network as well as many articles from the archives of the St.
Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune.
While I understand that even people you think you know
can make terrible errors, there is a line that we can trust our friends and
acquaintances not to cross. I believe, sincerely, that Tom Spellissy is a
victim of bureaucracy and collusion and not a participant in a crime.
What is most disturbing to me is that, while there is a lot
of reporting of specific events, nobody seems to be looking at the big picture
and investigating the whole situation. As an uninvolved third party, it
seems clear to me that MG (Ret) Hennies and General Brown engaged in collusion
to financially damage or destroy COL Spellissy (an up and coming business
competitor) for the express purpose of strengthening Hennies
business. It is, also, clear that Special Agent Robert Calvert of
the Department of Defense violated his integrity and abused his authority by "presenting an affidavit with
misstatements of fact, statements made in reckless disregard for the truth and
omissions of favorable, material facts" (U.S. District Judge James Whittemore). There is no doubt in my mind that he did this to
support GEN Brown and the ranking hierarchy of the military bureaucracy.
While the "good ol' boy" network is sometimes
useful in getting things done expeditiously, it is usually done at the expense
of 'proper procedure'. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon in the military,
or in government or politics in general. However, in this case, Brown and
Hennies crossed the line into blatant cronyism and abuse of authority.
Manipulating the legal system and our national agencies to damage a
competitor's business venture for financial gain is way outside of the realm of
networking. It is wrong and it is illegal.
Does this kind of behavior exist in the upper levels of the
government? Probably. Is cronyism and abuse of authority
commonplace in politics? No doubt about it. So...why does this
situation bother me so much? Because it is taking place in our
military! By high level leaders!
I don't know if you have any friends or relatives that have
served their country and been in harms way. Perhaps you know of someone
who has lost a loved one. Our servicemen and servicewomen are
involved in securing our nation's safety, fighting for freedom for others all
around the world, and engaging in humanitarian efforts on almost every
continent. We deserve to have our loved ones under the charge of
only the very best. They deserve to be led and protected by the very
best.
No officer is perfect. No officer can insure the
safety of every person serving, either in a combat or in a support role.
No officer can control every situation. But every officer can, and must,
control his own attributes. All officers must strive, at all times,
to be perfect in their adherence to such attributes as: loyalty, honor,
professionalism, duty, teamwork, and judgment. The list could go on and
on. However, above all else, they can, and must, be perfect in one
attribute: integrity.
Integrity is not a popular, or even well understood,
concept. It is an ideal. Many times the 'real world' infringes on
our ideals. Many officers, me included, have had to make choices during
our careers: integrity or advancement. Some of us saw our goals as
being the most important factor in our choice. Others of us saw the
maintenance of our virtue as being the most important. What is the right
choice for some may be the wrong choice for others. In Tom Clancy’s non-fiction
book, “Battle Ready”, General (Ret) Tony Zinni states: “Careerism
is corrosive to the principle of truth telling. So is political expediency.
In both cases, the hope of personal gain outweighs personal integrity
and honor. ‘Don’t rock the boat’ leads
to moral blindness about threats to the mission or the lives and welfare of the
troops and of their families.” That
a person of Hennies' stature would give up his integrity for a contract
agreement is beyond my understanding.
Spellissy was leaving the military after years of
service. He was embarking on a civilian career in the same industry that
he was involved with during his service. He had experience and skill in
these endeavors. Other officers have left and pursued similar careers
before him, and others will do so in the future. One of them,
however, Hennies, saw Spellissy as a competitor that could obtain some of
the contracts that he, Hennies, would otherwise get. He decided to combat
this. That is a business decision and companies and businesses all over
the world combat competitors every day.
However, the way that Hennies (and Brown) went about
combating Spellissy was both immoral and illegal. That this heinous
breach of integrity was done by officers that will forever represent our
military is tragic. That their greed and lack of concern for doing the
right thing should endanger our soldiers and sailors in combat is abysmal.
Finally, the actions of Special Agent Robert Calvert are
unconscionable. LTC (Ret) William Burke accused Calvert of using threats
to gain evidence against Spellissy, which eventually led to Burke's 'perjury'
and to the embarrassing court scene where the U.S. case against Spellissy fell
apart. Calvert manipulated the U.S. District Court by procuring a search
warrant for Spellissy's home by deliberately misleading the Judge via
omissions and misrepresentations of fact. It is clear that Calvert is
dishonest and 'dirty'. What is not clear is whether or not he has been
investigated or disciplined for his indefensible behavior in this case.
What is not clear is why the focus has not shifted to the "big
picture" with Spellissy trying to make a living on one side of this
conflict and Brown, Hennies, and Calvert subverting the military and the
courts on the other side.
I don't know if you are in a position to take
action in this situation. I don't know if you have any interest, beyond
your current role, in these detestable events. I don't even know if you
share my values and believe that Brown's, Hennies', and
Calvert's actions are reprehensible. However, I felt compelled to
write this letter. I am outraged. I believe in this country and the
values that we must venerate and emulate. I hope that you will take the
time to read this letter and to peruse the timeline that I
have attached. I hope that you will have the interest and take
the time to investigate the big picture and to take some form of action.
Alternatively, I hope that you will forward this letter to someone who will
take the next step.
Thank you for your time and patience.
Sincerely,
Erik
Eriksen
(413) 783-2097
cc: Richard Lardner Tampa Tribune on-line
Carrie Weimar St. Petersburg Times on-line
COL (Ret) Tom Spellissy on-line