And there’s the rub. Under USAF regs, the only personnel who can enter info into the NCIS are agents of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, because they are considered “federal agents.” Of course, the shooters past crimes were well known to Security Forces, the JAGs who prosecuted him, etc., but only AFOSI could enter his info on the database. OSI dropped the ball, and the result was a lot of needless deaths.
This isn’t the first time my old branch has pushed problem airmen out the gate with deadly results. In 1994, the service discharged Dean Melberg an airman with a history of mental health issues. In basic and tech school, instructors warned that Melberg was unstable and should be discharged, but those advisories were ignored. He wound up in a maintenance unit at Cannon (oddly enough), and the problems got worse. As I recall, he was sent to Wilford Hall Medical Center (Air Force’s largest hospital at the time) and there was more discussion about a discharge. Instead, Melberg was returned to duty and shipped to Fairchild AFB, WA. Mental health professionals at that base quickly determined that Melberg was deeply disturbed and unfit for military service. They finally got him discharged.
You may remember what happened after that; Melberg traveled around the western U.S. for about a month, then returned to Fairchild on 20 June 1994, armed with a MAK-90, outfitted with a 75-round drum. Melberg killed the psychologist and psychiatrist he blamed for his discharge, along with three other people. Twenty-two others were wounded. As Melberg left the hospital, he was confronted by an Air Force security forces specialist (Andy Brown) on bike patrol. Brown dropped Melberg using his 9mm at a reported range of 70 yards.
The subsequent investigation revealed the buck-passing and cover-up that precipitated the shooting spree. Making matters worse, a B-52 crashed at Fairchild four days later, while rehearsing for an air show, killing its crew of four. That investigation revealed the aircraft pilot, Lt Col Arthur “Bud” Holland had a long history of dangerous and reckless maneuvers in Buffs. He routinely violated safety standards, but was never sanctioned. Among those killed was a Colonel making his “fini” flight and the Fairchild bomb squadron commander, one of the few who tried to get Holland grounded. With the Buffs preparing to leave Fairchild, the commander, Lt Col Mark McGeehan, put himself into the co-pilot’s seat, refusing to risk the lives of subordinates.