Johnston had already complained to DynCorp leadership by that time, but to no avail. Johnston believes the reason for the inaction was the fact that his supervisors, including John Hirtz, were among the DynCorp employees involved in Dubrave's sex industry.

Hirtz could not be located for comment on this story.

Johnston and Oliver are not clear on the exact date they first went to CID. Johnston says it was either February or March of 2000. Oliver sets the time in March or April, and a CID report on the incident lists an unnamed source coming to it on the first of May. Whichever date is correct, the resulting CID investigation into these new allegations of forced prostitution would continue until June 21, and include a raid of DynCorp's hangar at Camp Comanche.

In mid-May, after the start of the investigation, Johnston was informed that he was being laid off. DynCorp managers contend Camp Comanche was overstaffed. In his deposition, Joseph Becker says that Johnston was picked over the other workers for several reasons. Johnston was inexperienced with Black Hawks, Becker said, and he was living with a Bosnian woman (his wife). Plus, the supervisor said, Johnston was showing interest in starting a business in Dubrave, which would violate a DynCorp agreement with the Army that prohibits employees from making money in the local economy. Johnston asserts that he had plenty of Black Hawk experience and denies that he was trying to make money in the local economy.

Becker and another manager at the time, Jonathan Lyons, both contend in their depositions that Johnston learned of his impending layoff and made his complaint to CID to get back at the company. It's clear from the deposition testimony and the CID report that Johnston went to CID before he was formally notified of his layoff, but Becker and Lyons assert that he was able to deduce that it was coming. They also contend that Johnston himself was engaged in illegal activity in Bosnia.

A handful of DynCorp employees still working at Camp Comanche also charge Johnston with illegal and immoral behavior. In their depositions, several claim Johnston went to prostitutes. At least two claim that Johnston offered to sell them a gun (though neither is reported as making such a claim in the CID's 2000 report on the incident), and several indicated that Johnston had threatened to "get even" with DynCorp.

Johnston vehemently denies that he was involved in any illegal activity, that he visited prostitutes, that he sold guns or that he went to CID as revenge for getting laid off. He calls the allegations ludicrous, and said he would take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. The charges were made in retaliation, he says, by men and a company angry that he "busted up DynCorp's party." He contends, rather, that he was laid off because site manager John Hirtz worried about his vocal complaints and had gotten wind that he had gone to CID.

Tom Oliver supported Johnston's theory in his deposition, stating that he had told other DynCorp employees that he and Johnston had gone to CID, only to learn later that the employees were involved in similar activities and were Hirtz's friends.

Meanwhile, the Army CID's investigation into Johnston's complaints was proceeding, but it was beginning to look like whatever it found, the CID would be unable to prosecute any of the men involved.

CID would not make agents available to be interviewed for this article, but a report on the incident provided to Johnston's lawyers and human rights workers shows the problems CID encountered.

According to the report, Special Agent William Russ coordinated his investigation with the U.S. Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Russ spoke with a Lt. Col. Cole and a Maj. Nettles at the judge advocate's office, and was informed that neither Bosnian law nor U.S. law applied to the men. The staff judge advocate told CID that all it could do was bar individuals from military bases and ask DynCorp to fire them.

In early May 2000, Tom Oliver left Dubrave with his family, and throughout the month Johnston continued to meet with CID, telling agents what he had seen and heard and taking them around town to point out the houses of people who he suspected had bought women.

On June 2, dozens of military police surrounded the DynCorp hangar at Camp Comanche, rounded up the scores of DynCorp employees working there and began interrogating them about their knowledge of illegal activities at the base. A few were selected, presumably on Johnston's recommendations, to give sworn statements and have their homes and vehicles searched. Johnston was placed in protective custody.

The majority of CID's searches and interviews didn't turn up much, but DynCorp employee Kevin Werner delivered a bombshell: He admitted he bought a prostitute and an illegal gun and implicated other DynCorp employees, including Hirtz, in the town's sex trade.

Werner could not be located for comment and has not given a deposition in Johnston's lawsuit. But in his sworn statement, Werner told investigators about prostitution run by a Serbian mafia character known as the Belly.

"He is the operator of a nightclub by the name of Harley's. Harley's is a nightclub that offers prostitution. Women are sold hourly, nightly or permanently," Werner told investigators. Werner admitted that he had purchased a Moldavian prostitute and the Uzi, apparently in a package deal. He claimed he had paid for the woman in order to free her, and told investigators that she could leave any time she wanted.

The investigative summary of the raid, dated June 21, 2000, says that CID agents established probable cause to believe Werner committed the offenses of illicit possession of a weapon and procuring and pandering. The summary also said Hirtz committed the offense of procuring and pandering when he solicited sexual intercourse from two female prostitutes who worked at Harley's.

The case was then closed. Despite the fact that three employees of DynCorp were found to be living with young Eastern European women -- Werner admitted that he had purchased his from a local bar -- there is no evidence in the CID report that investigators interviewed the women or tried to determine if they were being held against their will. The final summary in the CID report reads: "This investigation was terminated in that it was determined that the offense was committed by a civilian who is no longer subject to the UCMJ [Uniform Code of Military Justice], there are no violations of federal criminal statutes with which the person can be charged, and no other Army interest exists."

But CID investigators discovered on June 2, the day of the raid, that the staff judge advocate had been wrong. In fact, the Bosnian police could prosecute crimes committed by American DynCorp employees as long as the crimes were committed outside of their official duties in Bosnia. They turned the case over to the Zivinice, Bosnia, police.

But the Bosnian police would not get a chance to prosecute anyone. According to DynCorp e-mails, John Hirtz was transferred to Germany within days of the raid. DynCorp supervisor Lyons says in his deposition that Hirtz was later fired, and asserts that the firing was justified because the CID had "produced some evidence that [there] was clear violations of moral behavior, as well as some illegal activities." Kevin Werner was escorted to the airport by the CID and sent out of the country. He was also subsequently fired by DynCorp. Neither was prosecuted. The Bosnian police did not pursue the matter -- whether due to a lack of resources, continuing confusion over jurisdictional issues or simply a lack of will is unclear.

Ben and Denisa Johnston were held in protective custody for several days. At some point Johnston's status with DynCorp was changed from laid off to fired. On his letter of discharge, DynCorp lists the reason for termination as "employee brought discredit to [DynCorp] and to the US Army." Johnston was forced to pay for his own relocation costs and is not eligible to be rehired. But there's an apparent contradiction that could prove important to Johnston's case: Despite the official claim on DynCorp's Web site that the company had no knowledge that Johnston had gone to CID when he was fired, Lyons says in his deposition that the way Johnston brought discredit to DynCorp and the U.S. Army was by bringing unsubstantiated charges against his fellow employees.

Two of the employees Johnston disclosed to investigators were fired. But many of the men who allegedly owned young women, including the man Johnston says bragged about owning a 12-year-old girl, were never implicated by the CID and never fired from DynCorp.

Johnston's lawsuit will likely go to a jury next month. His lawyers will contend that DynCorp engaged in a pattern of illegal activity and fired him for blowing the whistle. DynCorp's lawyers will likely paint a picture of Johnston as an embittered employee who charged his co-workers with crimes to retaliate for the layoff. No one will deny that at least some DynCorp employees purchased women in Bosnia. And whichever way the case goes, none of those employees who purchased women will likely ever face criminal charges.

Coming Thursday, Part 2: How they got away with it.

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