Posted on 04/15/2025 9:03:57 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
A second member of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's inner circle has been placed on leave after an investigation into leaks of potentially sensitive information. Darin Selnick, the Defense Department's deputy chief of staff, was suspended from duty and escorted out of the building. This came on the heels of another Hegseth aide, Dan Caldwell, being escorted out of the Pentagon; see Hegseth Advisor Who Was Included in Leaked Signal Text Chain Escorted From Pentagon, Placed on Leave – RedState.
Selnick is a retired Air Force officer and, like Caldwell, was part of a group Hegseth brought with him from Concerned Veterans for America. During Trump 1.0, Selnick served as Veterans Affairs Advisor on the Domestic Policy Council at the White House and as a senior advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Before becoming deputy chief of staff, he'd been acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.
According to reports, the investigation ordered by Hegseth's Chief of Staff, Joe Kasper, focused on leaks about the military operational plans for the Panama Canal, a second carrier headed to the Red Sea, Elon Musk’s controversial visit to the Pentagon (White House Pushback on a Fake News Story About Musk Results in a Deluge of Stealth Edited Headlines – RedState), and pausing the collection of intelligence for Ukraine.
Right now, it is difficult to know what to make of the sequence of events. Hegseth's chief of staff served in the first Trump administration and was Duncan Hunter's chief of staff on Capitol Hill. Either Hegseth brought into his inner circle a couple of men who traded on that relationship to raise their profile or push a personal agenda. Caldwell, for instance, was known to oppose any military action against Iran and was generally hostile to US aid to Israel.
Dan Caldwell, a top advisor to Defense Chief Pete Hegseth, was escorted out of the Pentagon after being named in a Department of Defense leaks investigation.
Caldwell didn’t toe the usual line on foreign policy. He openly challenged the Washington consensus on Israel, saying the… pic.twitter.com/O2ZoVSNmXd— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 15, 2025
On the other hand, we know the left has the long knives out for Hegseth (see More Laughable Attacks on Pete Hegseth Show Just How Dangerous He Is to the Left's Agenda – RedState and White House Pushback on a Fake News Story About Musk Results in a Deluge of Stealth Edited Headlines – RedState), and depriving him of trusted aides would be one way of weakening him.
“Every military member is on duty 24/7! That means any injury incurred while on active duty is considered duty-related.”
That’s simply incorrect. Duty day ends most days at 1700 with the Retreat. After that ppl are still subject to UCMJ but they are not on duty. They are responsible for what they do from that point forward, not the military/USG. Maybe it’s different on a vessel but for bases it’s On Duty and Off Duty. UCMJ always applies but USG obligations do not.
There are plenty of VA patients and disability recipients whose disabilities are not “Service-Connected”. I believe this is what the VA is considering now.
My VA ID card says “Service Connected” because all my injuries/claims occurred while on duty, deployment, etc. I was not Off Duty, at the Hoffbrauhaus or Burger Bar, etc. Those injuries should not receive a VA disability rating imo.
Caldwell is also close to Michael DiMino and Elbridge Colby.
Those who must prove service-related are those who waited to file a claim. They will be routinely denied service-related benefits because they have no documentation to show an injury occurred while on active duty. I served over 25 years in uniform, and 15 years with the DOD, you are never not in a duty status. Service connected does not mean you get money from the VA. Smart people submit their claims and file appeals because of service connect, a 10% rating at 25 can become 30% or greater by age 50. I did this for a living, and every scenario I presented were actual cases.
What branch of service were you in that work ended at 1700? I can assure you that that is hardly the case in the Navy and the Marine Corps. I was a Security Cop in the Air Force Reserve, and our day often began at sunrise and ended at the next sunrise. I suspect you were in the Army Reserve or Guard or something like that. Most Air Force MOSs are like working for United Airlines, so I can see them believing their job ends at 1700.
You are dead wrong. Retreat has nothing to do with whether you are on duty or not. The rule remains the same if the VA can "no more prove than disprove." You will receive a disability rating, and it will be service-connected. If you came in the military 100% able and you leave 70% able, for whatever reason, as long as it is not like the DUI scenario I gave you, they will receive a disability rating. Whether or not they get a disability payment depends on how damaged their bodies are.
Read the article.
Sheesh.
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