Air Force Punishes 15 People Over Leaked Ukraine Documents

Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira (R) appears in U.S. District Court in Boston on April 14, 2023. Margaret Small via AP

The U.S. Air Force has disciplined 15 of its personnel in connection with the leak earlier this year of classified documents about the war in Ukraine.

Federal prosecutors initially charged Massachusetts Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira in April, in connection with the alleged classified documents leak. Following his arrest, the Air Force initiated an inspector general investigation into potential security failures within the airman’s unit, the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts.

He’s charged under the Espionage Act with unauthorized retention and transmission of classified national defense information. He has pleaded not guilty, and no trial date has been set.

The Air Force inspector general’s office released the results of its investigation to the public on Dec. 11. The branch announced that since September, it has initiated disciplinary and other administrative actions against 15 individuals for dereliction of duty for taking insufficient actions after becoming aware of a potential leak threat.

According to the report, several members of Airman 1st Class Teixeira’s unit and chain of command likely knew of his alleged intelligence-seeking behaviors before his alleged leaking, and an unspecified number of them “intentionally failed” to report several security concerns and incidents involving his access to classified information.

Those 15 individuals disciplined for the leaks ranged in rank from mid-level enlisted airmen to senior field-grade officers. Disciplinary actions ranged from relief of command and other duty positions to nonjudicial punishments.

Col. Sean Riley, commander of the 102nd Intelligence Wing, received an adverse administrative action and was relieved of command for cause, according to an Air Force statement. Col. Enrique Dovalo, commander of the 102nd Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group, received an adverse administrative action over concerns with unit culture and compliance with policies and standards.

Improper Access at Classified Briefings

The Air Force had temporarily suspended leaders within the 102nd Intelligence Wing during the inspector general investigation, and the unit’s intelligence responsibilities were reassigned to other Air Force components.

“Every Airman and Guardian is entrusted with the solemn duty to safeguard our nation’s classified defense information,“ Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said following the report’s publication. ”When there is a breach of that sacred trust, for any reason, we will act in accordance with our laws and policies to hold responsible individuals accountable.

“Our national security demands leaders at every level protect critical assets, ensuring they do not fall into the hands of those who would do the United States or our allies and partners harm.”

The report states that Airman 1st Class Teixeira served as an information technology (IT) support specialist with his unit but that his superiors approved of him and other IT specialists sitting in on weekly intelligence briefings to impress upon them the importance of their role in keeping classified IT systems running.

The inspector general’s report says that this “know your why” effort was improper in that it provided a higher level of classified information than was necessary for Airman 1st Class Teixeira and other IT specialists to understand their mission and created uncertainty about their true need to know this information.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2022, Airman 1st Class Teixeira was allegedly observed on multiple occasions to be viewing Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI).

In a Sept. 15, 2022, incident, a member of Airman 1st Class Teixeira’s unit allegedly saw him viewing intelligence documents and writing on a Post-it note. While a member of the unit confronted him about his notetaking and told him to shred the note, it was never verified what he'd allegedly written or whether it was shredded as ordered.

Detailed Knowledge of Classified Material

In another intelligence briefing, on Oct. 25, 2022, Airman 1st Class Teixeira is alleged to have asked detailed questions that suggested a knowledge of existing TS/SCI materials.

When confronted about his line of questioning, the airman acknowledged that his questions overlapped with classified materials but insisted that the same information was also available through “open sources.” Despite his claims, the inspector general’s report asserts that it was unlikely that the matters Airman 1st Class Teixeira referenced were based on public information. He was ordered to “cease and desist” his intelligence “deep dives” following this October 2022 incident, and the incident was documented at the time in a Memorandum for Record (MFR) but was never reported to the proper security officials.

Airman 1st Class Teixeira was reportedly caught viewing intelligence documents again in January, and senior unit leaders were notified of that and other incidents involving the airman. According to the inspector general’s report, this January incident did prompt unit leaders to notify security officials, but those unit leaders provided “a substantially minimized version” of his concerning behaviors to the appropriate security officials.

Airman 1st Class Teixeira faces six counts for the unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The airman pleaded not guilty at his initial court appearance in June.

Airman 1st Class Teixeira’s lawyers didn’t respond by press time to a request by  NTD News for comment about the new findings in the inspector general’s report.

From NTD News