Reading DOD/IG recommendations in its report on corruption within America Supports You.mil , one gets the impression that the fix is that the new management of America Supports You.mil must determine if the questionable acts of using tax payer dollars to purchase America Support You.mil related promotional trinkets with patriotic themes is appropriate behavior for DOD employees. SAY WHAT?
Questions of accountability remain as well, even if our readers and most American taxpayers condone ASY violations, and I dare to say most would not if they only knew – did U.S. tax payers see any return on our investment. Who is ultimately going to be disciplined (for you non-Veteran out there that is a favored word of us military lifers) for all these findings or does the Pentagon plan on covering them up with administrative corrections and nothing more?
To the point exactly how did our troops and military families benefit or did they see any reward in how patriotism became a commercial commodity that could be bought and sold, freedom can be quite expensive, if it has to be sold. Our troops and military families have paid a heavy price for our patriotism and we should never be the choir that is preached to?
This is the continuation of an in-depth, multi-post expose on what the Department of Defense Inspector General found distasteful about America Supports You.mil operations, fraud, waste, and abuse of tax payer dollars.
To read the introduction and earlier post on this topic go to these LINKS:
- AmericaSupportsYou.mil Survives Investigation by the Pentagon
- Link to Actual DOD/IG Report on America Supports You Irregularities
- Specific Findings of the America Supports You IG Report
- DOD Inspector General Finds that America Supports You Solicited Support from Corporations in Violation of Pentagon Conduct and Ethics Rules
- DOD Inspector General finds that America Supports You.mil paid celebrites for their support
- America Supports You.mil Bought Mainstream Media Support in violation of DOD ethics rules.
Robert L. Hanafin
Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired
DOD/IG Finding: America Supports You.mil used $89,000 in tax payer dollars to buy ASY Promotional Items
Susan Davis International (SDI), on behalf of ASY, used U.S. tax payer funds to buy ASY themed items used to promote or brand the program not to directly support our troops. The DOD/IG found several transactions amounting to almost $89,000 where the contractor bought commercial items that could be used to promote the program to the public (see table 6 below).
The DOD/IG noted that only several commercial promotion firms benefitted from defense contracts via ASY and SDI. They were C.Forbes, Inc., Leaderpromos, Fort America, Alamo Stamp & Engraving (a division of J.Kindell Enterprises, Ltd – more about that below), Mulberry Tree, and Buxton Brown. Though other promotional item firms may have benefitted from these war-profiteer contracts these are the only ones identified in the IG Report.
Above is the official DOD/IG Report tally, let’s break it down in terms any American tax payer can understand during Tax Time. Using Pentagon public release data, we will take a closer look at these firms to get an insight into exactly why they were selectively paid tax payer dollars in what amounts to no bid contracts.
Technically, these patriotic trinket companies did nothing wrong, because the Pentagon used a storefront (SDI) to make these deals at our expense.
Taken separately the small amounts paid are insignificant and not worth looking at defense contracts per se, (unless one is among the growing ranks of millions of American tax payers hit by our economic meltdown at least quite a few of us will not have to concern ourselves with paying taxes during unemployment) however add the total each of the above firms received, and that warrants the opportunity for other firms to bid on these contracts and DOD to stop using any storefront to launder money as if it was some big time drug cartel. Given that SDI worked as proxy for DOD (meaning ASY), this gave ASY a loophole for not having to allow bidding on defense contracts. Thus, management at ASY (and others withing the overall program where not only allowed to screen who would benefit from the ASY program, but who would be rewarded in business transactions. The dates are relevant only to the investigators inspection NOT the long term implications of defrauding U.S. tax payers:
In Jun 2005, Republican Party contributor C. Forbes, Inc.,[see link] was paid $ 1,519 for making “The official U.S. Department of 
Defense “America Supports You” lapel pin as an accessory to U.S. Flag lapel pins worn by those who really support our troops. In July 2005, C. Forbes, Inc was paid $4,489 for additional ASY Lapel Pin plus Appreciation Cards. That’s a combined total of $6,008 in our tax dollars paid for patriotic trinkets that we or more appropriately OUR TROOPS should have received free of charge.
Since WE U.S. taxpayers already paid for them, please send mine FREE to our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan shipping at Pentagon expense to really show our support for OUR TROOPS! They certainly may need it and sure deserve it more than I do.
According to the political contribution watchdog organization Open Secrets.org Center for Responsive Politics, as part of the New Republican [Party] Majority Fund for 2007, C. Forbes, Inc., may have written this war profit off as a political campaign expenditure for the Republican Party. Open Secrets records show that C. Forbes, Inc., Richmond, VA claimed $9,366 in political Fundraising Event – Gifts & Promotional items on behalf of the Republican Majorty despite the party being in a minority during 2006/2007 or one would think they were.
The point is how come any corporation getting paid tax payer dollars for the purchase of patriotic trinkets that IT manufactures or sells can also get a tax write-off at our expense? That is a double wammy! That is also a question warranting a Congressional Investigation into just how deep this corruption at the Pentagon really went and just how many home front organizations, for profit war profiteers, benefitted or were involved. This is for the Justice Department or Congressional Investigators to uncover NOT something the Pentagon can handle or really has jurisdiction over. All investigators need to do is cross reference IRS tax documents with corporations related to America Supports You.mil or Susan Davis Internation – they are one and the same anyway, to determine which political party our tax dollars actually went to and why?
Nope, I’m not going to dig into every political contribution patriotic war profiteers have made to which political party, let’s leave that up to Congress or the Justice Department to uncover or further cover up. However, since WE U.S. taxpayers already paid for them, please send mine FREE to our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan shipping at Pentagon expense to really show our support for OUR TROOPS!
Also in Jun 2005 Leaderpromos [see link] an on-line promotional products supplier that prides itself on the company it keeps and counts Blackwater USA, Lockheed-Martin Defense contractors, and voting machine maker Diebold, Inc among clients it is proud to be 
in company with, was paid $1,081 to produce Golf Shirts for sale to tax payers who already paid for them. Leaderpromos was also paid a miniscule $124 tax payer dollars in July 2005 for additional ASY Shirts. In time for the exploitation and fourth year anniversary of 911, Leaderpromos was paid $3,098 in September 2005 for even more ASY Shirts, so all American tax payers could exploit September the 11th. In preparation for Veterans Day 2005, Leaderpromos was paid $550 bucks in our tax dollars in Oct 2005 for additional patriotic apparel. In May 2006 ASY forked out another $12,779 of our money for even more patriotic pins, T-Shirts, and hats (most likely baseball caps). In Jun 2006 (a year after the earlier recorded misuse of tax payer dollars) ASY at lease only used $819 of our money to buy a few more patriotic pins from Leaderpromos. Gearing up for further exploitation of September 11th, ASY bought even more Shirts using our tax dollars in the amount of $3,009.
The total cost to us taxpayers to Leaderpromos [see link] was $ 21,456 that readers is a heafty chuck of CHANGE that came out of our pockets.
I leave it to our readers to cross check purchasing orders with the timing of political-military events such as patriotic observances, freedom walks, and how these purchases coincided with debate, and controversy over American public support for the Iraq War. These are issues sufficent for debate and BS, however the spending of out tax dollars to line the pockets of war profitteers is not laughing matter. There are legal, consitutional, and immoral issue involved here that go far beyond debates over abortion, gay rights, or you name it because how our government uses our tax dollars impacts ALL OF US, especially Our Troops.
The theme of this section of the DOD/IG Report is that patriotism can be bought and sold, and patriotism sells, and though it is expensive, when we do so that not only cheapens patriotism but also makes the costs of freedom worthless by putting a monetary price tag on it FOR PROFIT. If you want to get rich, don’t join the US in the Armed Forces – instead start a patriotic trinket firm that uses us to make a quick buck. We are seriously on the road to a mercenary Armed Forces with all the soico-culutural trappings that surround it. Major Hanafin
Also in July 2005, ASY paid Fort America the patriotic themed item sales and promotion firm $990 in tax payer dollars for ASY magnets. In fact, Fort America will be in operation at the Pentagon itself until September 2009, [daring the Obama administration to do something about it) that’s what nine months into the Obama administration. (wink). Fort American was paid another $1,000 bucks of our tax dollars in Sep 2005 to buy and sell additional patriotic pins, and again in October 2005 in preparation for Veterans Day 2005, Fort America was paid $1,650 in our tax dollars for ASY to claim a monopoly on Veterans Day and patriotic trinket sales in the Pentagon itself as if the DOD/IG is going to make this disgrace go away. They should because us tax payers forked out a total of $ 3,640 to give Fort America the honor of making additonal war profit serving in the Pentagon.
Also in September 2004 while gearing up to once again sell September 11th as a patriotic rallying point because American public support for the Iraq War and President Bush plummeted in the polls, ASY spent $2,025 of our tax dollars to buy Patriotic Pins from Alamo Stamp & Engraving, a division of Texas promotional item giant, J.Kindell Enterprises, Ltd.
[My research into this contract shows that Alamo Stamping does not sell nor have Patriotic Pins of any kind in its inventory, however, Creative Ideas another division of JK Enterprises does specialize in Patriotic Pins of all kinds. Suffice it to say that our tax dollars went to JK Enterprises].
In fact, I almost bought one of their patriotic pins [at left chuckle]. Seriously, this Texas firm that ASY bought and sold patriotism from really offers Patriotic Peace Pins alongside Patriotic God Bless OurTroops pins. Go figure. Major Hanafin – scratching my head, these for profit patriotic promotional firms will take money from anybody. The U.S. dollar knows no political or ideological foundation and the color is green, not blue, red, or white. The only difference is could you imagine the public outcry and outrage if any Pro-Peace organization was able to use U.S. tax payer dollars to promote their PATRIOTISM? Outrage, would come especially from home ‘front’ groups that make up America Supports You.mil.]
Beginning in Sept 2006, ASY started buying Freedom Walk Volunteer Shirts from Mulberry Tree Marketing, a firm that still proudly has America Supports You and Department of Defense ‘clients’ on its website Marque.
This amounts to patriotic trinket sellers like Mulberry Tree inferring they have been endorsed by DOD via America Supports You. It is sort of like a Food and Drug Administration Stamp of approval on meat. Mulberry Tree in fact has a few thousand reasons to endorse ASY. They were paid $1,755 in our tax dollars to provide those Freedom Walk Volunteer Shirts. In October 2006, an additional $1,780 of our tax dollars was forked up to Mulberry Tree. Total tax payer dollars paid from our money tree to Mulberry Tree was ‘only’ $ 3,535. In fact, if that was all our tax payer dollars wasted by the Pentagon, rasing the issue of corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse of the ASY program would not be worth one post much less the multi-postings I’ve done. Major Hanafin
That said, the grand-daddy of all SDI storefront defense contracts using our tax dollars was paid to Buxton Brown [not to be confused with Buster Brown – see link] for what must have been the largest Freedom Walk ever, and hopefully the last at tax payer expense. ASY used a whopping $51,750 bucks of our tax dollars to buy Freedom Walk Volunteer/Participant T-shirts. This was by far the largest tax payer fraud in one purchase of everything found by the DOD/IG.
Technically one cannot call these defense contracts per se despite using a total of
$ 88,907* of U.S. taxpayer dollars, because American Supports You.mil used a storefront (Susan Davis International) to launder the money so to speak.
(*Slight rounding inconsistencies exist because DOD auditor calculations included decimal places.)
In closing, since WE tax payers already paid for ALL of these support our troops items, please send mine FREE to our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to really show our support and stop using my tax dollars to fund America Supports You.mil or any related Pentagon propaganda program.
I strongly encourage all readers who agree with me to contact Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at the Pentagon, the DOD/IG, Congress, and the Justice Department to express your outrage and demand that these patrioitic trinkets WE paid for be shipped free of charge TO OUR TROOPS serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to wear or dispose of as they choose.
Robert L. Hanafin
Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired
Readers are more than welcome to use the articles I’ve posted on Veterans Today, I’ve had to take a break from VT as Veterans Issues and Peace Activism Editor and staff writer due to personal medical reasons in our military family that take away too much time needed to properly express future stories or respond to readers in a timely manner.
My association with VT since its founding in 2004 has been a very rewarding experience for me.
Retired from both the Air Force and Civil Service. Went in the regular Army at 17 during Vietnam (1968), stayed in the Army Reserve to complete my eight year commitment in 1976. Served in Air Defense Artillery, and a Mechanized Infantry Division (4MID) at Fort Carson, Co. Used the GI Bill to go to college, worked full time at the VA, and non-scholarship Air Force 2-Year ROTC program for prior service military. Commissioned in the Air Force in 1977. Served as a Military Intelligence Officer from 1977 to 1994. Upon retirement I entered retail drugstore management training with Safeway Drugs Stores in California. Retail Sales Management was not my cup of tea, so I applied my former U.S. Civil Service status with the VA to get my foot in the door at the Justice Department, and later Department of the Navy retiring with disability from the Civil Service in 2000.
I’ve been with Veterans Today since the site originated. I’m now on the Editorial Board. I was also on the Editorial Board of Our Troops News Ladder another progressive leaning Veterans and Military Family news clearing house.
I remain married for over 45 years. I am both a Vietnam Era and Gulf War Veteran. I served on Okinawa and Fort Carson, Colorado during Vietnam and in the Office of the Air Force Inspector General at Norton AFB, CA during Desert Storm. I retired from the Air Force in 1994 having worked on the Air Staff and Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.
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