A red laser beam.
A Crane whistleblower said the U.S. Navy retaliated against her after she refused to sign off on testing that would have subjected sailors to laser pulses that could have left them blind.
Who is the Crane whistleblower?
Glenanne Johnson, an engineer with weapons expertise, worked as a civilian at the southern Indiana base.
What does the whistleblower allege?
Johnson said the Navy in 2012 wanted to fire a commercial laser at sailors in boats at the Lake Glendora Test Facility, about an hour’s drive northwest of Crane.
She said the Navy asked her to sign off on the test even though the agency failed to notify the sailors about the testing, failed to give them physicals or eye protection and failed to notify an ombudsman, a step the U.S. military requires for any human testing to make sure service members are aware of the risks and give their consent.
“They had done none of that, so I told them, ‘No,’” Johnson said. “They weren’t even doing basic things.”
A laser expert said in November that depending on the testing setup and wavelength of the laser the Navy wanted to use, the sailors could have been exposed to serious eye damage, ranging from blind spots that would prevent people from being able to read to blindness.
Subscribers get more: Whistleblower says U.S. Navy in Indiana tried to test lasers on sailors without their knowledge
Why is the case in the news now?
Johnson testified in court about the case in 2023, and an advocate who is seeking better protections for whistleblowers submitted testimony about Johnson’s case before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in September 2024.
Whistleblower: Navy retaliated
Glenanne Johnson
After Johnson refused to sign off on the testing, she said the Navy retaliated against her by pulling her security clearance and exposing her to a hostile work environment.
Her colleague supported some of her allegations, testifying in 2023, “There were a number of things that I had seen where, you know, they were basically bullying Glenanne.”
Johnson, who now lives in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, said the loss of the clearance devastated her small business.
What does the Navy say?
Audrey C. Deiser, communications lead with NSWC Crane, said via email the installation “strictly follows testing and safety standards” including ensuring “personnel are not exposed to laser radiation in excess of the applicable (maximum permissible exposure) through the life cycle of the laser system.”
Deiser also said Johnson’s security clearance was not revoked, but was coded as a “loss of jurisdiction.” She said that is “a suspension of action since the subject is no longer employed by the Department of Defense (DOD). In this case, as a result of resignation from NSWC Crane.”
Testimony before U.S. House committee
Johnson’s incident was among five that Tom Devine, legal director for the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower advocate, presented before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in September.
He said in written testimony that bolstering whistleblower protections is a matter of national security because “public servants have the right to safely tell the truth about these abuses of power without being branded insufficiently loyal to protect classified information.”
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Whistleblower: Navy wanted to fire lasers at sailors without telling them