Who Is Franz Gayl, the Pentagon Worker Taking Heat for Op-Eds in Chinese State Media? On 6/12/21 at 10:46 AM EDT The Marine Corps confirmed to the Washington Post Friday that Franz Gayl, a 64-year-old retired major who served in Iraq, is part of an "on-going investigation" after he wrote two Global Times opinion pieces. Gayl was the reported whistleblower behind a May 2007 Wired magazine piece entitled, "Military Dragged Feet on Bomb-Proof Vehicles," which sparked controversy and congressional hearings at the time. Then-Delaware Democratic Senator Joe Biden praised Gayl in 2007 for his whistleblower efforts. Read more Gayl has since worked as a science adviser to the Marine Corps and recently returned from Iraq after helping the U.S. military with a rollout of armored military vehicles dubbed MRAPs.