Perjury: A crime that occurs when an individual willfully makes a false statement during a judicial proceeding, after he or she has taken an oath to speak the truth.

Perjury

The Academy bypassed the honor system for an alleged honor offense (falsifying a muster report) which is cited in the honor code as a classic example of an offense that is to be tried before the midshipman honor committee. Compare the honor code (bottom of page 3) with the Affidavit of Capt Barlow , both PDF files.

Capt Barlow (administrative officer in the Commandant's office) submitted a 2-page affidavit stating that falsifying a muster report is not appropriate for the honor committee directly contradicting the honor code (signed Sept 1965 by Commandant Sheldon Kinney) in effect at the time of the alleged offense. We call that perjury in the legal profession. In addition Capt Barlow states that the honor system "was still feeling its way". That is contradicted by the honor code, the one member of the BCNR (an Academy grad of Barlow's vintage who was quite familiar with the honor code) who questioned why it was circumvented, the midshipman chairman of the brigade honor committee at the time of my summary dismissal (see affidavits), the midshipman company honor rep and my own affidavit. Researching the subject indicates that the honor code was first conceived at the inception of the Academy in 1845.

Capt Barlow was the Admin Officer at the Academy and should have known of the documents.  The written honor code specifically states that falsifying a muster report is a classic example of an offense to be tried before the honor system.  Robert Spooner, former chairman of the honor committee, submitted an affidavit (see affidavits) stating that he was given a direct order from Barlow not to investigate the alleged honor offense – since the allegations were total bullshit and Supt Kauffman wanted complete secrecy in handling the matter. And, my treatment was in direct conflict with the honor code.  The one Academy grad on the BCNR agreed.  Two BCNR draft dodgers disagreed.  One more Academy grad on the BCNR would have resolved the issue in my favor.

IF the charges of falsifying a muster were true, it would have been a 5 minute hearing before the midshipman honor committee.  It was black and white.  You either did it or you didn’t.  There is no rational reason for circumventing the honor system other than there was an overriding political problem with a need for secrecy.  Instead we went through 12 years of litigation starting in 1991 and ending in 2003 at the DC Appellate Court level and well into the 6 figures of your tax dollars to cover up a crime.  And at this point, your tax dollars continue to pay for the Patriot Act software which I have good reason to believe is now on my computer. 

Can't say much for Barlow's ethics, but he gets an A+ for loyalty. Barlow is a classic example of the officers and politicians who put politics and loyalty above the law thereby sabotaging the Academy honor system and corrupting our military justice system through their personal example. Corrupting our military justice system is an expression of contempt for our men and women in uniform and a threat to the lives of our men and women in uniform.