Countering Weapons of Mass Mismanagement in DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD)

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA , USA, February 13, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction unit has reached what critics describe as an acute crisis point marked by continuous Inspector General investigations, Government Accountability Office Inspections, and Congressional Inquires. The agency, which is charged with protecting Americans from everything from diseases to nuclear attack, has been plagued by poor morale, widespread discrimination complaints, and numerous whistleblowers whom describe an agency completely derelict in its duty. The chaos, dysfunction and despair described by employees, as well as sporadic senior leadership changes, has been long in coming, according to government reports.

A DHS OIG Investigation in 2020 found CWMD was "Not Coordinating the Department's Efforts to Defend the Nation's Food, Agriculture, and Veterinary Systems against Terrorism." The report found that CWMD has not only failed to carry out a program to meet the Securing Our Agriculture and Food Act (SAFA). They failed to even form any policies or procedures to do so. DHS OIG states "The United States’ food, agriculture, and veterinary systems are vulnerable to threats of terrorism and other events that pose a high risk to homeland security such as natural and unintentional introduction of diseases, pests, or poisons. For example, evidence suggests terrorists have considered targeting people by adding toxic chemicals and pathogens1 directly to the food supply. To illustrate, following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the U.S. military found a list of pathogens in an Afghanistan cave that Al-Qaeda planned to use as potential biological weapons to target humans and the food supply."

CWMD's response to their failure to secure our Nation's Food, Agriculture and Veterinary systems against terrorism, is "The department has undergone a change in senior leadership that reprioritized the critical role CWMD plays in implementing SAFA." The current chief of staff for the critical DHS unit, Charles Cook who has been in the unit since 2019, was accused of egregious incidents of sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct in his prior position as a Federal Air Marshal manager ( Case No. #HS-TSA-22965-20122, EEOC Case No. 510-2012-00120X and TSA12-0149). It wasn't until the Federal Air Marshal Service and the American taxpayers paid out huge settlements to the victims of Cook, that he began to get promoted up the DHS ladder. A pattern according to both whistleblowers and watchdog reports. As a Senior GAO official investigating CWMD stated, it is common for DHS to recycle failed managers back into failing offices like CWMD. In other words a dumping ground for failed managers.

Being assigned to the Orlando FAMS office during the same time as Charles Cook, I saw firsthand the destruction Mr. Cook left in his wake. Settlements for sexual harassment, a fellow female Federal Air Marshal who committed suicide, and of course the now infamous "Orlando Jeopardy Board" incident. That incident made national headlines where supervisors in the DHS/TSA/FAMS Orlando field office openly mocked employees for their skin color and sexual orientation on a board in the middle of the office. "The board, resembling the TV game show "Jeopardy," includes categories such as "pickle smokers," "our gang" and "creatures," which sources said were names used by managers for gay men, African-Americans and lesbians." reported by CNN. Mr. Cook was second in command of the office. The agency vigorously tried to disguise Mr. Cooks nightmarish behavior behind payouts and promotions to get him out of the office. This even after Cook was found to have severe personality disorders by two agency Licensed Clinical Psychologists.

Then came the second shock of watching the medical staff in CWMD, under Cook, shrug their legal responsible for protecting DHS employees. Watching as my friends and the protectors of our Air Travel, like Federal Air Marshal Ken Meisel, were willfully neglected and needlessly died due to clearly unprotected job related COVID exposure.

Dr. Tom McGinn is a CWMD Senior Scientist and a DHS Whistleblower that has come out and exposed what is really happening under Cooks leadership in CWMD. Those committed to more than the manipulation of federal bureaucracy will easily understand why in COVID, Cook took delight in attempting to silence Dr. McGinn as he disclosed all the ways, CWMD was willfully neglecting their responsibilities under the law.

Numerous GAO and OIG Investigations have found that the CWMD and its spin off Office of Health Security are not meeting the workforce health, medical, food and CWMD legal requirements that Congress has charged them with. CWMD is now run by program managers, who like Cook are focused on process with very little expertise to deliver of the outcomes that protect employees and citizens. It is long overdue for DHS to remove failed managers such as Charles Cook in critical components such as CWMD. Our nation is vulnerable to threats of terrorism and other events that pose a high risk to homeland security, we need CWMD focusing on protecting America.

Sonya LaBosco
Federal Security Council/Air Marshal National Council
+1 800-864-6122
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