A. Ernest Fitzgerald was a U.S. government employee from 1965 to 2006.

Biography

Ernie Fitzgerald was a member of the Senior Executive Service, a management systems deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. He was responsible for the development of improved management controls generally, specifically including management information control systems, economic cost effectiveness analysis, statistical programs and analysis, cost estimating and analysis, and productivity enhancement and measurement. The latter responsibility includes supervising Air Force performance measurement activities.

Following service in the U.S. Navy, Fitzgerald earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

. He is a registered professional engineer and has worked on several successful patents, including one issued in his name. He is the author of "The High Priests of Waste" and "The Pentagonists."

Career

After working for a number of years as an engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 and in management, Fitzgerald was employed by the U.S. Air Force as Deputy for Management Systems in 1965. While employed at the Pentagon

The Pentagon

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...

 Fitzgerald testified to Congress in 1968 and 1969 about the concealed cost overruns and the technical problems of the Lockheed C-5A

C-5 Galaxy

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...

 transport plane. He was accused of revealing classified information and was fired on order of President Richard M. Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

. He later successfully appealed to the Civil Service Commission

United States Civil Service Commission

The United States Civil Service Commission a three man commission was created by the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which was passed into law on January 16, 1883...

 to be reinstated. Furthermore, he was involved in several legal cases that were significant in establishing presidential immunity and defining the rights of government employees, including the U.S. Supreme Court case Nixon v. Fitzgerald

Nixon v. Fitzgerald

Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731 , was a Supreme Court of the United States court case that dealt with immunity from suit to government officials performing discretionary functions when their action did not violate clearly established law....

.

Department of Defense Whistleblower

In 1968, Mr. Fitzgerald reported a $2.3 billion cost overrun in the Lockheed C-5 aircraft program. As a congressional witness before the Joint Economic Committee, he rejected the advice of Air Force officials and testified with candor and transparency about billions of dollars in avionics program cost overruns and other technical problems.
In response to Mr. Fitzgerald’s testimony, President Richard M. Nixon directed that he be fired. “It was reported that Nixon told aids to ‘get rid of that son of a bitch.’” In executing the president’s order, Mr. Fitzgerald was ultimately terminated by Defense Secretary Melvin Laird.

Because of his candor and commitment to the truth, Mr. Fitzgerald was a driving force for whistleblower protections. Mr. Fitzgerald continued to fight a four decade long campaign against fraud, waste, and abuse within the Department. Consequently, he was instrumental in the enactment of the Civil Reform Act of 1978, a precursor to the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989.

Career Chronology

1. 1951 -1953, quality control engineer, Stockham Valves and Fitting Co., Birmingham, Ala.
2. 1953 - 1954, quality control engineer, Hayes Aircraft Corp.
3. 1954 - 1957, senior plant industrial engineer, Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp.
4. 1957 - 1961, managing associate and principal, Arthur Young and Co.
5. 1962 - 1965, president, Performance Technology Corp.
6. 1965 - 1970, deputy for management systems, U.S. Air Force
7. 1970 - 1973, consultant to Joint Economic Committee, House Post Office and Civil Service Commission, and corporate director of Rockland Industries
8. 1973 - 1982, deputy for productivity management, U.S. Air Force
9. 1982 - 2006, management systems deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

Awards and honors

• 1967 Air Force nominee, Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award
• 1973 Judge Henry T. Edgerton Award
• 1976 Freedom Award
• 1977 Marshall Engineers and Scientists Association Award
• 1986 Sigma Delta Chi First Amendment Award
• 1988 Cavallo Foundation Award
• 1989 First Amendment Award, Tau Beta Phi, Alpha Pi Mu and Phi Eta Sigma
  Phi Eta Sigma
  Phi Eta Sigma is an American freshman honor society. Founded at the University of Illinois on March 22, 1923, is the oldest and largest freshman honor society and now has more than three hundred chapters throughout the United States and more than 1 million members.-Eligibility:Any first-year...
  
  , Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.
• 1996 The Paul H. Douglas in Government Award

Professional Memberships and Associations

• Institute of Industrial Engineering
• American Society for Quality Control
• Director, Fund for Constitutional Government
• Past chairman, National Taxpayers Union

Books

• The High Priests of Waste (1972), an account of the procurement practices of the U.S. military.
• The Pentagonists: An Insider's View of Waste, Mismanagement and Fraud in Defense Spending (1989)

See also

• Anti-Gag Statute
  Anti-Gag Statute
  The anti-gag statute is a little-known legal boundary in the long struggle in the United States between Executive Branch secrecy and the United States Congress and the public’s right to know...
  
  
• Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense
  Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense
  The Department of Defense Inspector General is an independent, objective agency that provides oversight related to the programs and operations of the Department of Defense...
  
  
• The Department of Defense Whistleblower Program
  The Department of Defense Whistleblower Program
  The Department of Defense Whistleblower Program enables, in part, the federal mission of protecting whistleblowers by committing the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense to whistleblower protection and the training of DoD personnel on their whistleblower rights...