Posted on 12/14/2009 7:29:11 PM PST by 444Flyer
Forty members of Congress are calling on the military commander who ordered the court martial of three Navy SEALs over the alleged punching of a terrorist to dismiss the charges.
The letter, circulated by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), was sent Thursday to Army Major Gen. Charles T. Cleveland, commander of Special Operation Command Central. Gen. Cleveland ordered the prosecution of the three SEALs.
“In our opinion, prosecutorial discretion should have been exercised,” the 40 congressmen said. “Failing that, we respectfully and strongly urge you to exercise your leadership authority, stop the impending court martial and exonerate these men.”
Earlier, 33 House Members had signed a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates asking him to intervene in the case. That letter had been circulated by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.). Military law experts told CNSNews.com, however, that the Defense secretary’s ability to intervene in a court martial could be limited.
U.S. congressmen representing two of the SEALs’ home districts signed the letters. Only Republican members signed the letters.
Rep. Bob Latta, who represents the Ohio's 5th Congressional District that includes Perrysburg, Ohio, signed both of the letters. Perryburg is the hometown of one of the three SEALs, 24-year-old Petty Officer Second Class Mathew McCabe.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Get on the horn with her office, send them the pdf file in post #19 IIRC...
I called my Dad to get Jeb Hensarling in on this as well...It is already in work for that Texas Congressional district...
I bet she’ll sign it in a heartbeat...
I agree with you that anti-military types want a conviction.
Two previous threads said they rejected Art 15 and elected Special Courts Martial.
Yeah, people who say there’s no difference between the parties never seem to think of stuff like this.
Right....know that...but what are the charges? Are they for violating LOAC?
Manzullo does it again!
I don’t know because we haven’t seen the evidence. I assume they are being charged in violating LOAC.
Thanks for the post.
As a former Company Commander, I routinely ran into this.
I think you nailed it very succintly.
Seals, Delta, and SF are generally NCOs or higher.
So, yes, non-judicial would be a career stopper in THIS military. The WWII military cannot be compared.
Asssuming that the obama does withdraw in July of 2011, that’s means they revert to a “peace-time military.” They are brutal on those things.
DemoRATs aren’t worthy of licking these soldiers boots.
No...its not. These guys are not SrNCO's. It would not be a career stopper.
I have personally administered 3 Article 15's (and more LOR's than I want to count) in my career...and 2 of those individuals went on to be promoted again and again. One is on their way to retirement. The third individual left the military for other reasons but probably would not have been retained anyway. However, it wasn't his article 15 that did him in.
I have two friends, both now retired, who had article 15's. Both got them at their mid-points when they were E-5's and E-6's. Both retired as Sr NCO's.
I've been in 22 1/2 yrs...I've worked with Special Ops. Worked with them during the first months of OIF...I know their rank structure. I am not comparing WWII...or Vietnam to today. I am talking about TODAY. The last Article 15 I administered was just 2 years ago...and that person is doing just fine in their career. It is NOT a career stopper.
But...don't take my word for it...after all...I'm just the guy who approves the paperwork for their promotions and sends it to the O-6...who also approves their promotions...who sends it to the 3 Star...who also approves their promotions ( the snr ncos at least)
My father (enlisted Navy in 1910) used to say that WW-II’s crop of 90 day Wonders, upon reading the book on Naval Regulations, tended to drop it and gasp: “My God, I’m an officer.”
Thank you FrdmLvr. BUMP
Navy could be different than the Army.
I’m only the guy who was chaplain for this community in the Army, and who had 24.5 years at both enlisted and commissioned ranks, and who has thousands of counseling hours with these and their families.
In the Army, an E-4 and below can survive an article 15. An E-5 will be seriously injured. E-6 and above it’s a career-stopper.
E-4 Delta and SF (parallel to ST6 & general STs) would be unusual cases.
He’s not in my district, but I’m a little surprised Ike Skelton (MO) didn’t sign this.
Now...if you are a company grade officer...then yeah...its over usually...but technically it usually never "ends" a career. It halts it. Your chances of promotion are done and you will retire at Major...Lt Col...or whatever you are at. If you are a Sn NCO...then the same applies.
Thanks for the list FFC. :) They are doing the right thing.
The army still has retention points, but I imagine they’ve loosened up during this war. (I retired in 2002)
It had been something like 10 and 15 years for E-5 and E-6, respectively.
Don’t make the next grade by that time and you are out. In those cases an article 15 on file would be a career stopper.
Our retention points for commissioned were VSI for junior captains and 2nd passover to major for senior captain, 2nd passover for major under 17.5, iirc.
Well, it's Obama's war now and the Dems won't even back our warriors in it and allow them to do what they need to do to get the job done. The total lack of support in defending these SEALs on the Dems part is one more example of their indifference to and hostility towards our military.
No wonder it 'mysteriously' disappeared.
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