Marine Inquiry Spotlights Resort : Military: Investigation of El Toro base commander disturbs calm of secluded Big Bear Lake lodge designed for low-paid enlisted personnel. High-ranking officers use authority to bump underlings.

BIG BEAR LAKE —  A former manager calls it “one of the best-kept secrets within the Armed Forces.” So low-key is the atmosphere at the Marine Corps’ resort lodge here, in fact, that few in town even know of its existence.

Now, however, the calm of this secluded 20-year-old lodge and campground near Big Bear Lake have been disturbed by the controversy surrounding the Marines’ western air base commander, Brig. Gen. Wayne T. Adams.

It was here that Adams arrived with his fiancee for a military inspection and vacation in October.

The Big Bear trip was among five taken by Adams and detailed in The Times that raise questions about the general’s use of base aircraft, even as he was disciplining two top aides about the same issue. The Marine Corps inspector general is investigating Adams’ actions to decide whether he violated a ban on using planes for personal trips.

The retreat is designed to allow low-paid enlisted personnel to get vacation lodgings at a lower cost than elsewhere. Two-story cottages that can sleep eight are priced at about $55 a night.

But some officials familiar with its operations suggest that it has also been used as a playground by top Marine officers who are permitted to bump underlings from guest lists.

Cheryl Gurule, a civilian lodging administrator at the El Toro base who takes reservations for the Big Bear lodgings, said: “It’s common practice for (a ranking officer) to call and have someone bump someone. . . . Christmastime, any major holiday, it happens quite a bit. . . . Everybody up the chain does it. “

The lodge, operated from the El Toro base with an estimated annual budget of about $100,000--plus the cost of capital improvements for plumbing, roof repairs and other matters--is staffed full time by a civilian manager and two Marines. It is open to military personnel of all ranks nationally, both active and retired. Officials take first-come, first-served reservations, with Marines from air stations in El Toro and Tustin getting priority.

It is the only place of its kind known to be run by a Marine Corps base.

The site features eight modern, A-frame chalets, each with a loft, kitchen, fireplace, living room and dining areas.

Guests have access to five government-owned powerboats, three canoes and an assortment of other recreational equipment. Jungle gyms and toys are available for children, and the retreat is an easy walk to the Snow Summit ski area.

Gurule declined to say just how often those with reservations are bumped or by what officers, but she pointed to Adams’ October trip last year as an example.

Gurule said she got two calls from Adams’ personal aide Oct. 17, telling her to find a slot for the general at Big Bear for the weekend of Oct. 27. When she told the aide that the weekend was booked, she said, she was ordered to find a spot anyway.

Military officials at El Toro declined to provide access to the facility or to discuss its operations in detail. Adams’ military spokeswoman said the general would have no comment about any bumping.

“That’s all part of an ongoing investigation,” said Capt. Betsy Sweatt, a public affairs officer at El Toro.

In an earlier interview, Adams said he drove to Big Bear with his fiancee, conducted a one-day military inspection of the site--the facility is under his command--then took the next two days as leave, staying in one of the chalets.

It was what happened during that visit that has attracted the attention of the inspector general’s office. Adams, it turned out, ordered a military-owned C-12 Beechcraft from El Toro to pick him up at Big Bear and fly him back to the base for a memorial service for a general’s wife. He was then flown back to the resort the same day to finish his vacation.

The trip is one of five detailed by The Times that raise questions about the general’s use of military aircraft and that are being investigated by the Marine Corps.

Until reports on the trip appeared in the press last week, many officials inside and outside the military said they were unaware of the lodge’s existence.

“I’ll be quite honest with you,” Lt. Col. Ron Stokes, a Marine Corps spokesman, said in Washington after reading about the lodge. “I was quite surprised they had a house out of El Toro up at Big Bear--I’d never heard of that before. . . . “

While recreational facilities are common on bases, no other bases have a lease arrangement with the government for recreational land off the base, he said.