Remember when military whistleblowers often faced career-ending reprisals after reporting allegations, only to find their appeals for help to the Inspector General’s (IG) office disappear—their cases apparently buried beneath bureaucratic silence.
According to War Secretary Pete Hegseth, those days are over. During a speech on Tuesday morning in front of an auditorium filled with several hundred of the country’s most senior military leaders, he said the Department of War plans to revamp its Inspector General policies and procedures, as well as those of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Military Equal Opportunity program. The “No More Walking on Eggshells Policy” is all but written in stone.
In an interview with The Gateway Pundit, retired Navy Medical Service Corps lieutenant Ted Macie appreciated Hegseth’s interest to improve the Pentagon’s watchdog. In particular, he emphasized the critical need for holding IG officials and others responsible for their failure to adequately conduct investigations and dismissal of very valid issues. He believes the IG, like the whistleblower program, is “mainly for theater and to give the perception of an actual form of redress and protection to the general public.”
Facing retaliatory action from Captain Sharon House, Commander of Naval Hospital Jacksonville, in November 2023 for posting a (now-removed) video on X, Macie filed a complaint with the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) to investigate the subsequent reprisals made against him on April 24, 2024.
The Medical Service Corps Officer’s video presentation (shared here) documented an alarming trend following the August 2021 implementation of former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s COVID-19 shot mandate. Active-duty fixed-wing pilots and helicopter pilots were experiencing drastic spikes in various heart ailments, including hypertensive disease, ischemic heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, heart failure, and more.
Before the video, Macie shared data as a whistleblower, showing the rate of myocarditis and other ailments on the rise as result of the COVID-19 shot. But for the U.S. Navy, it appears the highly circulated November 2023 video was a bridge too far.
“I was placed under investigation immediately for the same data I had been publishing publicly for the ten months prior,” said Macie. “My command was aware of my whistleblower activity throughout that period; in fact, my entire chain of command handled the material I personally handed the data to the Chief of Naval Operations.”
“The CNO’s aide, Capt. Pottenburgh, forwarded the material to the Navy Inspector General and confirmed receipt on 9 November 2023, a few weeks before the video went viral,” the whistleblower shared. “The resulting retaliation and investigation included removal from my duties as clinic administrator, loss of access to my work computer and collateral duties, and shortly thereafter, my physical removal from my office.”
“I was guilty until proven innocent,” Macie told TGP. For him, every piece of data he shared as a military whistleblower was “protected communication.” To obtain results of the spring 2024 investigation against him, he said, “I had to make a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request [after retiring on October 1, 2024].”
“There was no illegal activity found, but my [commanding officer] did state that I was ‘untrustworthy’ and that I would remain with no access to my computer and would not perform my job until retirement five months later.” In his opinion, “I was basically told I did nothing wrong but the retaliation would continue.”
Among the half-dozen examples of alleged retaliation against him, one response disturbed him more than the others. “It says I alleged a member of my chain command denied my request to participate in the Defense Department SkillBridge transition program, [which was] reprisal for my protected communications,” he said.
Service members transitioning to civilian life can access industry training and development through the SkillBridge program, connecting them with prospective employers.
However, Macie alleged “it wasn’t just a member; it was my commanding officer, Captain Sharon House, who denied it along with everyone on the way up [my chain of command] that recommended no.” He explained, “At the time my computer access had been taken away, Ashley Espiritu, my OIC (Officer in Charge), was helping me my Skill Bridge packet, due to the restricted access of my computer access, as though it would be approved.” But according to him, “She was actually the first one to deny it.”
For this reason, Macie claimed, “It appears as someone called her and told her not recommend me the Skillbridge transitioning program.” According to him, “The one helping me was the first person to request denial.” It was only after the threat of filing an Article 138 (or formal complaint) against his commanding officer that he said SkillBridge was approved.
Inspector General Investigation MIA
In a previous interview with The Gateway Pundit, Macie and LTC Theresa Long disclosed that the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Office of the Inspector General (IG) falsely claimed that Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) were essential to initiate investigations into service members’ complaints. Perhaps War Secretary Hegseth should also inquire about what the IG might be attempting to hide from the public concerning their investigative methods and other issues.
After a year and two months, Macie finally received the result of the Defense Health Agency’s IG investigation he initiated in response to the retaliation. What was their response? “We won’t investigate.”
“This should have been investigated, but instead they’re saying that in order to investigate, it needed to affect my pay benefit or my career,” said Macie, lamenting, “They had already destroyed my career, [as I was] unable to promote.”
“I find it sickening that we live under a government where truthtellers are punished while those who cover up the truth are rewarded and promoted,” he shared. “I refuse to stand by and allow my children, or anyone else’s to grow up under the kind of tyranny we are facing today.”
“All my [computer] accesses were taken away and I was deemed untrustworthy,” Macie pointed out. “An investigation would have revealed they were wrong, and [Capt. House] should have at very least received some sort of reprimand.”
But to the contrary, he said, “the lack of a real investigation and accountability basically shows that they’re not going to make a commander look bad even when it’s the right thing to. They’re protecting the institution, not the Constitution, that we all swear an oath to.” For him, “They’d rather give that person a free pass, protecting her and other rogue commanders instead of service members who were actually retaliated against.”
Why is this the case? “Bottomline,” according to Macie, “it deters whistleblowing, making them seem like the ones that can’t be trusted. As an alleged honorable institution, every effort should be made to ensure we are actually honorable.” But from his point of view, “[Captain House] and others up the chain of command are the ones keeping corrupt secrets.”
Macie was essentially forced into retirement on October 1, 2024, while Captain House now serves as the deputy commander of Naval Medical Forces Development Command. She did not respond to the following inquiries sent by J.M. Phelps on September 23.
- What were the official charge(s) against LT Macie?
- Was he guilty of any of those charges?
- Did any of the information he made public fall under HIPAA?
- Why was he deemed “untrustworthy” by you?
- Have you investigated the whistleblower data he shared with you, and have you determined any of it to be inaccurate?
Macie would like to return to active duty, fully aware of the challenges he faces. “I intend to return with purpose,” he offered. “Many of us share this commitment, determined to help correct one of the greatest injustices ever perpetrated against our service members.”
“I can point to numerous instances where the Inspector General consistently failed to address fact-based issues raised by patriots fighting for integrity within our Department of War,” he shared. “While it has become a recurring theme that IG complaints rarely go anywhere, we still submit them to ensure the concerns are documented, in the case that future leadership committed to truth and accountability will act on them.”
Macie is currently in communication with the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who is working to expedite his case under existing guidance, or under revised guidance once it is properly aligned with the will of President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
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