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Former 173rd commander handed reprimand, $300,000 fine
Stars and Stripes ^ | June 14, 2012 | Nancy Montgomery

Posted on 06/15/2012 5:37:12 AM PDT by SLB

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What a scumbag this Colonel is. I am also ashamed of the jury that basically gave him a little slap on the wrist after he totally threw any integrity or ethics out of the window. The one saving grace is that his estranged wife will get 50% of his retirement for the rest of her life. I hope she laughs all the way to the bank every month.
1 posted on 06/15/2012 5:37:17 AM PDT by SLB
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To: SLB

what a slime ball. His selfishness ruined the life of his wife and the life of this Iraqi woman.


2 posted on 06/15/2012 5:39:10 AM PDT by yldstrk ( My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: SLB

Reads like the script of a B movie. Incredible.


3 posted on 06/15/2012 5:44:17 AM PDT by Islander7 (There is no septic system so vile, so filthy, the left won't drink from to further their agenda)
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To: yldstrk

Not all West Pointers are Mac Arthur’s.


4 posted on 06/15/2012 5:45:13 AM PDT by Bringbackthedraft ( WHO WE ELECT AS PRESIDENT IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS WHO THEY APPOINT.)
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To: SLB

He lost his family, his career is in the toilet, nobody can ever trust him with real responsibility ever again, and he has to pay $300,000 out of his pocket. I’d hardly call that a “slap on the wrist.”

To a BCT Commander, this is worse than death. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t off himself in the near future.


5 posted on 06/15/2012 5:45:38 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater (CrossFit.com)
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To: Bringbackthedraft

And I bet he is indeed old and fat


6 posted on 06/15/2012 5:55:12 AM PDT by yldstrk ( My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: SLB

I may be mistaken, but I think that I read that if he’d been removed from the service his legal wife and his children would have lost all of their benefits.

The colonels may have been reluctant to do anything that would hurt the family, especially since it was his wife - his legal wife - who turned him in.


7 posted on 06/15/2012 5:56:35 AM PDT by GrootheWanderer
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To: Future Snake Eater

His retirement will be in the neighborhood of $85,000.00 a year. He has been making a fairly healthy 6 figure income for several years so should have something stashed back. A $300K fine will be a little rough for a few years, but nothing he can’t handle. As far as his integrity blemishes, you would be surprised at the numbers of retired officers who have blemishes like this and have jobs that 99% of John Q. Public would love to have.

The honorable thing would have been for the president of the court martial panel to hand him a .45 and one round, put him in a locked room and prepare a body bag for him.


8 posted on 06/15/2012 5:57:28 AM PDT by SLB (23rd Artillery Group, Republic of South Vietnam, Aug 1970 - Aug 1971.)
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To: SLB

I will have to ask my son what he thinks of his former commander.


9 posted on 06/15/2012 6:06:39 AM PDT by Ratman83
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To: Future Snake Eater

He didn’t “lose” his family, he called the base commander in Italy and lied and said he and his wife were divorcing. He lied and said his wife was going to the States and leaving their teen son, in Italy. They had no such arrangement. The base commander arrived home to find Mrs. Johnson sobbing with his wife, and realized the good Colonel was lying.

When Mrs. Johnson did leave Germany with their son, he tried to have his wife and the mother of his kids charged with kidnapping.

Gee, wonder why he “lost” his family. He didn’t “lose” them, he destroyed his family with his selfish and criminal actions.

If an enlisted man had done just a bit of what this guy did: reduced to e1- Leavenworth-no retirement benefits-wife and kids totally screwed with no healthcare, etc.

It is a slap on the wrist. It is disgusting. He is married to two women right now. He used his power and rank to enrich the Iraqi family of his lover with taxpayer funds.

Of all the jacked up stuff a military man can do- this guy did it ALL. Cheating, lying, using thousands of dollars illegally, giving his lover fake orders for travel, fake security clearance, taking his wife off DEERS illegally and putting his 2nd wife and her child on DEERS.

The reason all of this happened is because he made it happen. He broke his own life and career. He won’t kill himself because his daddy is a General and will probably pay his $300,000 fine for him, and the he and his new piece are gonna start a new life together.


10 posted on 06/15/2012 6:06:58 AM PDT by baileybat
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To: yldstrk

http://www.google.com/search?q=Col.+James+Johnson&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=rcs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=HjTbT7zhCeHK2AXknLG1CA&biw=1483&bih=833&sei=IzTbT83xC6We2gWAjLzZCA

Take a look. The Brigade Commander America’s Airborne in Italy was far from old and fat.


11 posted on 06/15/2012 6:10:14 AM PDT by baileybat
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To: yldstrk

Check the pic on the linked site. He is neither old nor fat, but he is missing his hair.

http://www.military.com/news/article/173rd-airborne-brigade-commander-suspended.html

His conduct was dishonorable, and that is exactly the type of discharge he should be given.


12 posted on 06/15/2012 6:10:42 AM PDT by Swashbuckler99
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To: SLB

He could always run for Governor of South Carolina....hasn’t this guy ever heard of the Appalachian Trail?!?!?


13 posted on 06/15/2012 6:12:28 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: SLB

The comments at the website are worth reading. As a retired Lt Col, I’m afraid the sad truth is that the UCMJ really is the Uniformed Code of Enlisted or Junior Officer Justice.

Can you imagine what would happen to an E-5 who funneled a few thousand dollars to support his adultery?

I’d also really like to see what the folks around him were doing, including his commanding officer...nobody NOTICED? YGBSM!


14 posted on 06/15/2012 6:16:18 AM PDT by Mr Rogers (A conservative can't please a liberal unless he jumps in front of a bus or off of a cliff)
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To: SLB
“Give him the opportunity to pick up the shattered pieces of his life and try to move on.”

Perhaps, but out of the Army, dishonorable discharge, no bennies, and some appreciable amount of jail time.

15 posted on 06/15/2012 6:21:23 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: baileybat; SLB

I’m not saying the damage done to his life wasn’t self-inflicted, but the repercussions are still very real. Maybe he’s a scumbag with no sense of honor or integrity, and he blames everyone else for his problems, I really don’t know.

Short of fully-undeserved nepotism (which sounds like it may be a possibility), he’s going to have to answer a few questions about his military service record to some future employers, especially if they require a security clearance.


16 posted on 06/15/2012 6:24:14 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater (CrossFit.com)
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To: Future Snake Eater

My e-8, 1SG husband would lose his career with a single DUI.

The repercussions for him are unreal. He was protected by his peers. His wife and kids did not deserve to lose everything, but he put them in that position.

His General father will him a job somewhere, and he will continue to bang his Iraqi whore- thanks, Military Corruption.com.

My husband would be in Leavenworth for a very long time if he did one thing that this guy did.

We wouldn’t have anything. Nobody would care. You do realize their are men in Leavenworth for fighting the war, men in hospitals and in the ground, and Col Johnson has been using the Military’s money and resources to play games for the last few years, right? And you wonder if he is a “scumbag?”


17 posted on 06/15/2012 6:33:33 AM PDT by baileybat
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To: baileybat

their=there

I just don’t get the people who defend or excuse him.

He should be held to the highest standard.

Well, I do wish the best for his soon the be ex-wife, and their kids.

What a nightmare for the kids.


18 posted on 06/15/2012 6:38:36 AM PDT by baileybat
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To: baileybat

What’s the saying? “Privilege has its rank”


19 posted on 06/15/2012 6:39:26 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (False prophets offer only a false choice. They are false friends. Choose Goode instead.)
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To: SLB

He will retire at $85,000 per year and then get another job making 6 figures in the private sector.


20 posted on 06/15/2012 6:46:42 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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