Let's hope the Homeland Security Inspector General's Office is allowed to conduct a non-biased investigation of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. By that I mean one that is not influenced by outside blustering of our two U.S. senators and state officials. I am sure the resident U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service Agents assigned to the Coast Guard Academy are capable of conducting an investigation.

For my 27 years as an agent I was assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, from June 1981 through July 1983 as the active duty resident agent. In my Reserve time I was involved in every major investigation generated from that office.

The Cadet Corps is a reflection of our society. It consists of students from the United States as well as foreign students. It is natural there will be differences occurring as in any college campus. I hope that some complaints are not driven by other issues such as not adapting to military discipline or grade level requirements. As an agent I never found a valid complaint of racial bias. What I did find was that the academy went out of its way to keep students in the program.

James L. Miller

Salem