Impostor In Shocking Military Base Breach

JANUARY 6--In an embarrassing security breach at the Florida military base where U.S. Central Command is headquartered, a man masqueraded as a top military aide to procure housing on the base, where he stored a large weapons cache in his home, The Smoking Gun has learned.

The brazen scheme was discovered last year by military investigators only after Scott Allan Bennett, 39, was arrested for drunk driving at an entrance gate to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

At the time of his bust, a “dazed and confused” Bennett was carrying a concealed, loaded handgun, and his vehicle contained a second loaded gun, seven knives, a machete, a collapsible baton, mace, a stun gun, ammunition, a sling shot with BBs, and a box of throwing stars, according to a Tampa Police Department report and a criminal complaint filed last month in U.S. District Court.

Bennett, pictured in the mug shot at right, was released Tuesday on his own recognizance following a court hearing. Charged with making a false statement, he is scheduled for an appearance later this month at the Tampa federal courthouse. Prosecutors and military officials have, not surprisingly, done nothing to publicize the case against Bennett, the details of which were discovered by TSG.

After being booked in late-April on a DUI count, Bennett returned to MacDill, where he was met at the gate by an Air Force Police investigator, who sought to question him about the weapons found in his vehicle (MacDill residents are required to register firearms and ammo with the Base Armory). Bennett invoked his right to remain silent and denied permission to search his apartment.

However, after a military magistrate signed a search warrant, Bennett’s home was raided. Investigators reported finding “seven loaded firearms; approximately 9389 additional rounds of ammunition; numerous knives; brass knuckles; an electric stun gun; and a collapsible baton, in addition to other weapons and prohibited materials.” None of the material had been registered with the MacDill armory.

The discovery of the weapons collection triggered a military probe that concluded Bennett “had obtained housing on MacDill Air Force Base by subterfuge.” In order to live on the base, an individual “must be at least a member of the Reserve forces on active duty orders,” according to a December 16 affidavit sworn by Edward Garcia, an Air Force Police detective.

Bennett, Garcia reported, is a member of the Army Reserves, but was never on active duty while at MacDill (in fact, his active duty status has totaled one single week, while he attended a training session). Bennett, Garcia noted, worked as a civilian contractor at MacDill, where he was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the country’s largest defense and intelligence contractors.

Though ineligible for base housing, Bennett “repeatedly” pretended to be on “active duty military orders.” Last January, Bennett--dressed in a military uniform--visited MacDill’s Base Housing Office and claimed to have just gotten off a plane with Admiral Eric Olson, who heads the clandestine U.S. Special Operations Command. Olson’s sprawling, 60,000-troop command is headquartered at MacDill, also home to U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, which is responsible for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bennett allegedly claimed that he was working as Olson’s aide and that the four-star Admiral “had directed him to obtain government housing as quickly as possible.” On a housing application, Bennett claimed to be active duty Army and reported that he had been transferred to CENTCOM from the “11th PSYOP Battalion.” On the basis of these claims, Bennett’s housing application was approved.

In early-February, when an employee of the Base Housing Office wrote Bennett seeking a copy of his orders, he responded that those orders were top secret with CENTCOM, “so I need approval first for what I can leave on file and disclose. I will try and get them to you ASAP.” Housing office employees, though, never bothered to follow up on their initial request seeking Bennett’s orders.

Bennett’s residence at MacDill lasted barely three months before the impostor--driving a 2005 BMW--showed up intoxicated at the base’s Dale Mabry gate. (6 pages)