Posted on 02/09/2007 10:56:28 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
February 9, 2007 (by Franklin Fisher) - Two airmen - including one who pleaded guilty to trying to throw a frog into a running jet engine - were punished in separate courts-martial at Kunsan Air Base, officials there confirmed Tuesday. The other airman was punished after pleading guilty to breaking into a dorm room and stealing property.
In the incident involving the frog, Senior Airman Welland Wilkerson, an aircraft maintainer, was sentenced to reduction from pay grade E-4 to E-1, 30 days in jail and a reprimand. He's assigned to the 8th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, part of Kunsan's 8th Fighter Wing, also known as the "Wolf Pack."
The incident occurred sometime last year and was reported to authorities in September.
Officials said Wilkerson tried to throw a frog into the engine but missed, said Master Sgt. Anthony Davis, a wing spokesman.
Another airman subsequently threw a frog into the engine.
"After this incident, our wing checked the engines," Davis said. "They did a scan … for damage and no damage was found from the incident."
The incident was videotaped in an area where filming is banned without authorization, Davis said.
In September, Kunsan-based agents of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations were told by their OSI counterparts at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, that a video clip had been posted on a personalized MySpace page showing "an individual throwing a frog into a running F-16 engine intake," Davis said.
"Subsequent investigations revealed Airman Wilkerson was involved in the incident," Davis said. "Because of the nature of the incident, Airman Wilkerson was removed from any duties that required him to perform aircraft maintenance."
"There's still an ongoing investigation," he said. "So more details about the event are not something we can talk about right now."
He could only add that an investigation into "the actions of others involved in the incident is continuing." He was unable to provide further details.
Wilkerson pleaded guilty to two counts of dereliction of duty.
He was tried by summary court-martial Friday before Maj. Timothy Kodama, summary court officer.
In the larceny case, Airman 1st Class Brent Schneider, of the 8th Maintenance Squadron, was sentenced to reduction from E-3 to E-1; forfeiture of $1,000 per month for six months, and six months in jail.
Col. Steven A. Hatfield, chief military judge for the Pacific Circuit, imposed the sentence Monday after Schneider pleaded guilty to larceny and housebreaking. Schneider was tried under the rules for special court-martial.
He unlawfully entered the dorm room of another airman and stole a computer and other belongings, Davis said.
OSI agents searched Schneider's dorm room and "discovered the computer and the other belongings that didn't belong to him," Davis said.
Board, when you’re in the military there are a lot of things you do are just out right boring. Sometimes you’re isolated, away from your family and friends. As the saying go there are moments of our right panic, but mostly its boring. To get an idea watch the film Mr. Roberts with Henry Ford.
What this kid did was minor. I think that it was filmed and put on MySpace is the real problem. I also think that his sentence does not fit the so called crime.
Dang. I don't like Frenchmen, either, but this is just going too far.
Guess the airman was gigged pretty good.
The question that occurs to me is...are E-1's now making $1000 or more per month? It's been 38 years since I was an E-1 but I seem to recall being paid something like $75/month.
Great technical term...
FROG-G-G
Hopkin breaks the sound barrier.
I agree. Just a stupid thing young men do. Sigh. Amazing any of us make it through to adulthood and age 30. The late teens and twenties are a dangerous time for men.
If you go to these sites like Break.com or watch movies like Jackass...it is us guys doing these things, never women. I guess it is in our blood.
If you're talking about the frog have you considered that serious injury and/or serious damage to a *very* expensive piece of military equipment could have occurred?
Hey, JeffHead...I couldn't agree more with you.
Or...a highly placed government official STEALS and DESTROYS documents related to 9/11 then LIES about it, and gets what? His security clearance "temporarily" revoked and a slap on the hand.
Grrr.
What. An. Idiot.
Its something a retarded Fourth Grader might do,not something a trained Airman should lower himself to do.
Heh, isn't it? I know a guy, a really crusty, crittery guy, and he always makes up words like that.
He uses "flattenicated" almost exclusively to describe animals in the road, as in "I saw a squirrel get flattenicated yesterday..." or "I saw a flattenicated raccoon today..."
Or sometimes to describe the results of some mishap as in "I dropped the screwdriver on the circuit board by accident, and it flattenicated the resistor..."
Think of the most ridiculous response that a liberal can come up with, and it WILL come true.
Using this formula, I came up with theory that liberals would one day defend bestiality. It is already happening.
That's probably in there, too. No doubt he's getting kicked out. I would guess Big Chicken Dinner or dishonorable.
I bet you have never seen a jet engine when it comes apart because of FOD (foreign object damage). You do not want to be anywhere in the plane of rotation. Not being in the same county is better.
Sounds like some guys I knew in my old unit. Stories of the ether bunny and naming their howitzers after pornstars of the day like the Amber Lynn.
Just a stupid guy is all. Believe me, having been in the military, I have seen young guys do some dumb things, most of the time because they just don't think past stage one, sometimes because they are bored.
Once, when I was on the USS JFK, a couple of guys went down at 0200 to visit a buddy standing a watch on the port quarter. When they got there, they saw their buddy was bundled up, sitting in a chair, looking out over the water with his sound-powered phones on...asleep. (I know...asleep on watch...very bad juju...)
They snuck up, tied his shoelaces together, backed through the hatch and said in a voice just loud enough to hear: "Man Overboard! Man Overboard!"
Well, it had the desired effect. The sleeping seaman awoke with a start, leapt to his feet, and promptly fell flat on his face.
The problem was, someone in a catwalk above heard it, raised the alarm, and all ten ships in the task force came alive, every man awoke and all Ten Thousand of them went to Man Overboard Stations, and all the ships executed a big sweeping turn.
Needless to say...the two pranksters were courtmartialed.
Carolyn
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.