“The hard decisions are not not the ones you make in the heat of battle. Far harder to make are those involved in speaking your mind about some hare-brained scheme, which proposes to commit troops to action under conditions where failure is almost certain, and the only results will be the needless sacrifice of precious lives.” -Matthew B. Ridgeway, Memoirs (1956).

At the same time Salon reports on his book, “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor.” The header of the piece is:

Courage and malfeasance in Afghanistan: “Anyone we drop off will die.” Officers ordered an Afghanistan outpost built knowing it was vulnerable. Then the Taliban arrived and soldiers died

Amazon comments include book:

At 6:00 a.m. on the morning of October 3, 2009, Combat Outpost Keating was viciously attacked by Taliban insurgents. The 53 U.S. troops, having been stationed at the bottom of three steep mountains, were severely outmanned by nearly 400 Taliban fighters. Though the Americans ultimately prevailed, their casualties made it one of the war’s deadliest battles for U.S. forces. And after more than three years in that dangerous and vulnerable valley a mere 14 miles from the Pakistan border, the U.S. abandoned and bombed the camp. A Pentagon investigation later concluded that there was no reason for Outpost Keating to have been there in the first place. THE OUTPOST is a tour de force of investigative journalism. Jake Tapper exposes the origins of this tragic and confounding story, exploring the history of the camp and detailing the stories of soldiers heroic and doomed, shadowed by the recklessness of their commanders in Washington, D.C. and a war built on constantly shifting sands. In 2009, in one of the deadliest battles in Afghanistan, Combat Outpost Keating was attacked by Taliban insurgents and nearly destroyed. A Pentagon investigation concluded that the outpost, a poorly located and protected part of a counterinsurgency strategy, should not have been there in the first place. The 53 U.S. troops stationed there were part of an effort to combat extremist groups that sprouted with U.S. support during the Russian occupation. ABC News war correspondent Tapper spent two years chronicling the mission and lives of the troops and their commanders, making the war more personal as readers get to know the troops’ personality quirks, backstories, family lives, and perspectives on their mission.

Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs’ big talk about killing Afghan civilians and getting away with it made him stand out when he joined a new platoon at an Army base in southern Afghanistan a year ago, according to written statements from his comrades. Some of his Stryker platoon mates from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash., told investigators they didn’t know what to make of him. They thought he must be kidding. Now Gibbs is at the center of an Army war crimes investigation that netted 11 of his comrades from the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. They await their own trials for misdeeds they allegedly committed under Gibbs’ direction. Five soldiers, including Gibbs, are charged with murder.

Here’s a look at the charges Gibbs faces, and how his platoon mates described the incidents behind them. The information comes from sworn statements obtained by The News Tribune, as well as Army charge sheets, documents written by defense attorneys and testimony in court.

Huuuuuuuum, that seems strikingly similar to The Olympian.

A military prosecutor says she may pursue charges against several Australian troops in a raid in Afghanistan last year in which five children died. Brig. Lyn McDade, the director of military prosecutions, says she is considering the unprecedented step of charging several Defense Force commandos, a move that has infuriated senior officers, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Thursday.

The point being that issues such as Wuterich, trial now underway, and the Ramrod Five (or possibly a total of 18) are not confined to the U.S.

Since the start of the war in Iraq in 2003, there have been at least a dozen slayings on Western Washington soil alone involving active troops or veterans of Iraq. The body count includes seven wives, a girlfriend, and one child; six other children have lost one or both parents to death or imprisonment. Most gruesome was the double slaying by an attractive Fort Lewis soldier, Spc. Ivette Davila, 22, who shot, killed and then poured acid on the faces of Timothy Miller, 27, and Randi Miller, 25, a military couple stationed at the fort, then kidnapped their child.

Army Times reports:

Surprise U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene frequently mentions his 13 years of military service, but records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press show that the veteran who has called himself an “American hero” was considered a lackluster service member at best.

The Post & Courier has this report:

Alvin Greene dismissed highly critical assessments of his military service today, calling his supervisors in the Air Force and Army “ridiculous.” Greene, who The Post and Courier reached by phone at his Manning home, said he was passed over for promotions in the military and ultimately discharged involuntarily, but honorably, due to discrimination. “Those folks are ridiculous and yes and they only promote the terrorists and the communists and I haven’t gotten a promotion since I graduated from college and that’s just what I’m saying,” Greene said. “This is why we need to have things done differently. This is why we need to overhaul the military. We need get rid of these folks.” And here is a link to the records themselves.

Navy Times reports:

A Minnesota naval officer and his Samoan wife and sister-in-law have been accused of extorting $185,000 from family members by telling them they would be killed by the Samoan mafia if they didn’t pay his debts.

AP reports:

A 21-year-old soldier was indicted Thursday on charges he fatally shot his wife and infant daughter in their Anchorage apartment soon after he returned from Afghanistan. Attempts to determine who is representing Lynch were unsuccessful Thursday. Army spokesman Chuck Canterbury at Fort Richardson said Lynch has two attorneys — one a private lawyer, the other provided by the military — but he didn’t know their names.

Fox5News (Las Vegas) reports:

The Army isn’t saying what motivated the killings of three Afghan civilians, whose deaths have led to charges against a Nevada soldier and four others from Washington state’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The Army’s charging documents say all three of the victims were shot and two of them were hit by grenades in separate incidents in Kandahar Province earlier this year.

Seattle Times reports:

Five soldiers accused of murdering three Afghan civilians earlier this year allegedly threw grenades at them and shot them with rifles, according to charging papers released Wednesday by Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Two of the soldiers also are accused of beating a fellow soldier who might have been an informant, while a third is accused of trying to impede the investigation by asking a colleague to erase a computer hard drive which contained evidence of the crimes.

Five soldiers from the same Washington state-based unit have now been implicated in the killing of three Afghan civilians, an Army spokeswoman said Monday. The Army said Friday that Spc. Jeremy Morlock had been charged with three counts of premeditated murder and one count of assault. On Monday, Lt. Col. Tamara Parker, a Joint Base Lewis-McChord spokeswoman, said “there is enough evidence to say that five may be charged,” although Morlock is the only one charged so far. A second soldier is being held in confinement in Kuwait, and the others three remain with their unit in Afghanistan, she said.

Seattle Times has this:

An Army spokeswoman said Saturday the murder charges against a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier accused of killing three Afghan civilians could lead the military to examine its screening of soldiers.

The screening issue may relate to this Fox News piece.

Morlock, who entered the military in June 2006 and was first deployed last July, has a criminal record. The Seattle Times reported that Morlock’s wife sought a domestic-violence protective order against him two years ago in a case that was resolved. Last year, he was charged with assault and disorderly conduct and was reportedly found guilty of the latter charge. Morlock also was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury or death when he was 15, the newspaper reported.

If recollection serves he joined at a time when waivers were more easily gotten for past civilian offenses. But the military, largely due to good recruiting numbers, have stopped moral waivers.

Here is the kirotv.com initial:

Ten Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers deployed in Afghanistan are at the center of a criminal investigation. Ten soldiers of the 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division are accused of deliberately killing three Afghan civilians, using illegal drugs and conducting other illicit activities such as conspiracy and assault. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr broke the story and said the assault may have happened after one of the soldiers told his commander of the incident. “Turned it into his commanders and may have been assaulted by other troops, beaten up we are told for blowing the whistle on all of this” Starr said.

A wing commander lost his job because he not only played favorites but hid unfavorable information from his bosses about a female lieutenant colonel, and recommended her for promotion, according to an Air Force investigation.

Directly from Coast Guard Report blog:

UNITED STATES v. Adam R. BEABER, Fireman (E-3), U.S. Coast Guard Appellant was tried by special court-martial, military judge alone. Pursuant to his pleas of guilty, entered in accordance with a pretrial agreement, Appellant was convicted of two specifications of attempted larceny, in violation of Article 80, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ); one specification of conspiracy to commit larceny, in violation of Article 81, UCMJ; two specifications of failing to go to an appointed place of duty, in violation of Article 86, UCMJ; and one specification of making a false official statement, in violation of Article 107, UCMJ. The Military Judge sentenced Appellant to confinement for fifty-nine days, reduction to E-1, and a bad-conduct discharge. Pursuant to the pretrial agreement, the Convening Authority approved the sentence, but suspended the punitive discharge and confinement in excess of fifty days for six months. UNITED STATES v. Isael L. LEMUS, Chief Machinery Technician (E-7), U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Appellant was tried by general court-martial, military judge alone. Pursuant to his pleas of guilty, entered in accordance with a pretrial agreement, Appellant was convicted of one specification of committing an indecent act upon a female less than 16 years of age, in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The military judge sentenced Appellant to confinement for forty-five months, reduction to E-1, and a dishonorable discharge. The Convening Authority approved the sentence as adjudged, and suspended confinement in excess of eighteen months, pursuant to the pretrial agreement.

(Coast Guard Report is an Unofficial Coast Guard Blog providing news, information and investigative reports. This is not an official United States Coast Guard Blog, however our postings are for the publics information and assist in bringing transparency and breeding self-correcting behavior.)

I wonder if the issue of recording the Article 32, UCMJ, hearing testimony will come up.

Merced Sun Star reports that:

To launch his career as a pass rusher, Air Force graduate Ben Garland may have to ground his pursuit of becoming a pilot.

This is here because of the Fraud, Waste & Abuse inherent in this. My tax dollars go to fund the Academy’s as a farm team for military officers not to be a farm team for major league sports. Will he or his “team” get a recoupment bill from DFAS?

Seattle Times reports that:

A soldier from Joint Base Lewis-McChord was charged Friday with murdering three Afghan civilians. Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 22, was the first soldier to be returned to the U.S. and charged as part of a broader investigation that some fear could strike a blow to the U.S. military’s credibility in southern Afghanistan. The Seattle Times has learned that a second soldier is being detained in Kuwait as part of the investigation and that up to five soldiers could end up facing murder charges. The U.S. military last month said the case involves “allegations of illegal drug use, assault and conspiracy.”

The Des Moines Register reports that:

An Iowa Army National Guard colonel in charge of more than 3,100 soldiers scheduled for combat duty in Afghanistan has been abruptly relieved of his command for violating military regulations. Col. Tom Staton, 45, a full-time military officer, has been fired as commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division. The brigade will be mobilized this summer in preparation for the Afghanistan deployment later this year. In addition, the Iowa National Guard has replaced Command Sgt. Maj. Craig Berte, 41, of Cedar Falls, who had been the brigade’s top enlisted soldier. Col. Gregory Hapgood Jr., the Iowa National Guard’s public affairs officer, on Thursday confirmed the departure of Staton and Berte from the 2nd Brigade’s leadership team. But he declined to provide specifics about what Army regulations were violated, saying it was a personnel matter.

/Army Times.

Global Research reports that:

Iraq war veteran Eric Jasinski, after seeking treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is being punished by the Army. Jasinski turned himself in to the Army late last year, after having gone absent without leave (AWOL) in order to seek help for his PTSD. Help, he told Truthout, he was not receiving from the Army, even after requesting assistance on multiple occasions. He was court-martialed and jailed for 25 days for having gone AWOL, during which time he was escorted in shackles to therapy sessions for his PTSD. After being released from prison, he was informed that he would be given an other-than-honorable discharge, which means he is likely ineligible for full PTSD treatment from the Veterans’ Administration (VA) after he leaves the service.

Inexperienced operators of a U.S. drone ignored or downplayed signs that Afghan civilians were in a convoy blasted in a deadly American missile attack earlier this year, a military report released Saturday said.

While Washington Post reports that:

In a memo accompanying the military report, McChrystal said four senior officers were reprimanded and two junior officers were admonished in connection with the strike, and he announced bolstered training to prevent similar incidents in the future.

In other news:

Midhusonnews.com reports that the West Point cadet that:

A military judge sentenced him to confinement, dismissal from the Army and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

An Afghan prosecutor has issued an arrest warrant for an American special forces commander over allegations that a police chief was murdered by a US-trained militia. He accused American officials of refusing to hand over evidence or to permit his investigators to interview the special forces commander, known to Afghans only as “John or Johnny”, who he alleges sanctioned the raid. The arrest warrant, which has been circulated to border posts and airports, is an embarrassment for the US military, which is facing growing criticism for links to militias controlled by warlords. In Kandahar, the militias have been accused of murder, rape and extortion.

The Post and Courier reports that:

Retired Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Don Matyszyk was looking forward to August when his son was going to return home from Germany. Instead, Matyszyk is on his way to Ramstein Air Base this week for the court martial of the man authorities say is responsible for his son’s death. Chris Matyszyk, 36, died Jan. 12, nearly two weeks after suffering a fatal punch to the face outside a pub in the German town of Landstuhl, near Ramstein. He never awoke from a medically induced coma that was supposed to control the swelling around his brain.

I posted some time ago about the Italian charges against a military officer’s involvement in renditions – here and here.

The Army has charged an Illinois National Guardsman in Afghanistan with possession of child and adult pornography, and his family has come to his defense, arguing that he was the target of a personal vendetta.

Army Times reports. This is an ongoing case that started because the kids mother sent him a photograph of a child. In the photograph you can apparently see her crack.

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Thanks to CAAFLog here is a link to an article about the Walker retrial at Quantico. (Unofficially, I’m told the case may be completed by 5 February.)

A former Marine sitting on death row for the last 16-years after being convicted of murdering two colleagues in 1992 may be re-sentenced to life in the brig after an appellate court set aside his initial death sentence last year.

Marine Corps Times reports.

They have a panel of 13 members. They began with 15 members initially assigned to the panel. After the voir dire process they had excused a total of 28 prospective members for one reason or another. Military law requires a minimum of 12 members in a death penalty case. And they must be unanimous in voting for death. Walker already has an approved premeditated murder conviction. So the issue is whether he will be sentenced for the one already approved, or will he be convicted of the second murder and thus sentenced for two.

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The results of a second investigation into the deadly battle at Wanat, Afghanistan, in 2008 could lead to action being taken against Army leaders involved in the operation that has come to symbolize the perils of underestimating enemy and terrain in the Southwest Asian nation.

Honolulu Advertizer reports.

I’m losing the battle on the increasing informality of dress in courts-martial. Even the Marines have now made chucks the uniform for court. But, so far we haven’t gone this far:

At one point yesterday, Colonel Mario Dutil, the chief military judge of the Canadian Forces, asked crossly, “Why not a Tilley hat, cargo pants and a Columbia shirt?” Col. Dutil was hearing the first of a slew of pre-trial motions in the second-degree murder prosecution of Captain Robert Semrau, the soldier charged in the Oct. 19, 2008, death of a severely wounded Talib. Yet just as in the civilian world criminal trials can descend into flights of goofiness, so can military ones, and that is pretty much what happened here yesterday. The first on the defence list of seven motions was an application to vary the court-martial administrative instruction about dress, that is, what the participants should wear in court.

The Globe & Mail reports.

The family of an Illinois National Guard soldier believes he was wrongly accused of possessing child pornography by a friend he had recently argued with. Rodney and Terri Miller told the Galesburg Register-Mail that their son, Specialist Billy Miller, had a falling out with a friend Afghanistan, and the friend subsequently reported seeing inappropriate pictures on Billy Miller’s laptop.

Chicago Press Release Services reports.

Test: Does this link to the same url load quicker. I’m experimenting with TinyURL for all links.

here

Mansfield News Journal reports.

A war resister who fled the U.S. for Canada, but was deported to face a court-martial, has been released from confinement. Cliff Cornell spent less than a year in a military prison at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, and was released this morning [15 January 2010]. Cornell, who fled the U.S. for Canada in 2005 to avoid having to fight in Iraq, wants to return to Gabriola Island, B.C., Canada.

Canadian Press reports.

In a 16 January 2010 post Overlawyered blog notes:

Army seeks to court-martial soldier in Afghanistan for possessing “child pornography” when his mother sends him family photos that include a four-year-old in a swimsuit. [AP/WaPo via Riehl; WQAD]

If you’ve been following this one you’ll know that the charges also include possession of other adult pornography, all of which would be a violation of General Order #1. The accused has been held in Afghanistan, and has apparently now been there 17 months – a significant passing of the 400 days boots-on-the-ground policy.

Terri Miller said she had great respect for members of the armed services, but the way her son’s case was being handled had changed her mind about the military. “This is nothing against the troops,” she said, “but the military can go to hell.”

pjstar.com reports.