Findings of Inquiry — Col. D. Wexler Incident, 26 Sep 61

1. Reference (a) is the report of the Norfolk Field Office in the matter of the death of Col. D. Wexler, USAF, whose body was recovered on the morning of 27 September 1961 from the dune line approximately one-quarter mile south of the False Cape station, Princess Anne County, Virginia. The Norfolk investigators have concluded the death to have been accidental, by misadventure, occurring some hours after the close of the briefing of 26 September to which Col. Wexler had been detailed as our representative. The undersigned has reviewed the report and the supporting field notes and recommends that the finding be accepted as the final disposition of the immediate matter, pending such further review as List A-3 may direct. The personal effects of the deceased have been returned to the family less those items enumerated at paragraph 2 below.

2. Recovered from the office safe of the deceased, and presently held under seal at this command, are: one (1) sealed pouch bearing the Working Group cover sheet and the personal cipher of the deceased, contents not opened by this office; two (2) typed pages bearing reference numerals consistent with the September 1961 series and believed to be working notes prepared in advance of the briefing; and one (1) dictabelt of the 26 September briefing itself, presently in custody at ▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆ pending instruction. It is the recommendation of this office that the pouch and the typed pages be routed to the standing custodian under Standing Order 12, para. 7, and that the dictabelt be retained at its present location for not less than twenty-five (25) years, after which the question of further retention may be reopened by the then-sitting committee.

3. The undersigned takes this occasion to invite the attention of List A-3 to a related matter of protocol. The events of 26–27 September have, in the view of this office, exposed a weakness in our standing arrangements for the conduct of communications with the constituency, which weakness was not anticipated when the present protocols were laid down in 1954 and which should not, in our view, be permitted to persist. Specifically, it is recommended that a review of contact protocols at all working group facilities be undertaken in due course, with attention to the conditions under which a Group officer may be tasked to attend a contact event unaccompanied. The undersigned does not, at this time, propose specific amendments to the standing arrangements; it is sufficient at this stage to observe that the conditions which obtained on the afternoon of 26 September ought not to obtain in future, and that the discretion which permitted them ought to be prescribed by written instruction rather than left to the judgment of the responsible officer upon the occasion.

4. Concurrence of List A-3 is requested on (a) acceptance of the Norfolk finding as the final disposition of the immediate matter; (b) routing of the recovered materials per paragraph 2; and (c) the initiation, in due course, of the protocol review described at paragraph 3. Action officer at this command is Lt. Col. ▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆, IG/AFLC, extension ▆▆▆▆.