A Marine Corps whistleblower says military officials are trying to force him from his job for exposing failures to deliver lifesaving equipment to troops in Iraq.

Franz Gayl, a senior civilian employee, alleges a series of punitive actions that underscore the challenges President Barack Obama faces in fulfilling a campaign pledge to treat federal whistleblowers as patriots instead of pariahs.

Public interest groups cheered Obama's promise. But Gayl's case points to the difficulty of transforming a culture, particularly within the military, where whistleblowers often are viewed with contempt.

"That is going to be hard to change," said Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org. "But the reality is, whistleblowers will have an improved situation over what they've had for the last eight years."

Gayl, 52, is the target of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service inquiry for allegedly mishandling secret information, according to Tom Devine, his lawyer. Gayl had accused the Marine Corps of "gross mismanagement" for failing to answer the call in 2005 for heavy-duty trucks that could withstand roadside bombs in Iraq.

Devine calls the military probe an "illegal bluff" aimed at punishing Gayl for ignoring his supervisors warnings and giving then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and other lawmakers copies of an unclassified study he wrote. Gayl's 2008 action in providing Biden with the study prompted the Navy investigation, Devine says.

The January 2008 study, which soon after became public, harshly criticized the Marine Corps for refusing an urgent request from commanders in Iraq for the blast-resistant vehicles.

When Gayl's study was disclosed, the Marine Corps called it a personal opinion at odds with the facts. But a subsequent audit by the Pentagon inspector general affirmed many of Gayl's conclusions.

Months before turning over the study to Biden, Gayl had been telling Biden's office and other lawmakers, including Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., about what he said were serious flaws in the acquisition system that kept needed gear from getting to the troops.

As a leading Senate Democrat, Biden had used Gayl's disclosures to hammer the Bush administration for "unconscionable bureaucratic delays." Biden had called Gayl a hero and urged Gen. James Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, to make sure Gayl wasn't punished.

But now that he's vice president, Biden hasn't intervened. Biden's press secretary, Elizabeth Alexander, said it is administration policy that the president and vice president "generally do not intervene in or comment on ongoing criminal investigations, personnel actions, and other investigations."

Maj. Carl Redding, a Marine Corps spokesman, denied Gayl is a victim of retaliation.