Posted on 06/20/2018 3:11:33 AM PDT by Sam_Damon
A father and son may yet rue the day when an inflatable bounce house came into their lives, should it lead to an extended stay at the “big house.”
In a press release, United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia Bill Powell announced federal grand jury indictments of Sergeant First Class Shane Morgan with the West Virginia Army National Guard and Master Sergeant (retired) Russell Morgan.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtrf.com ...
Morale, Welfare and Recreation use them for post family days and national holidays. Most posts invite the families onto post to look at military equipment, play games, get familiarization with their spouses job, etc. There is usually a bunch of local charities selling food, toys and other stuff. Also a bunch of military affiliated businesses and NGOs show up with booths and stuff.
It is usually a pretty good day for all involved.
This is true. You can go to any Army or Air Force installation and find various things like this. Professional dunking booths are usually rented out. I was on one installation that had a full-up 15-passenger fishing boat that was anchored and you could rent it for a whole day with a pilot included in the deal.
These guys just figured no one would ever audit the situation and it’d just be written off. Apparently, some officer didn’t buy into the ‘lost’ story and got the investigators to check into people.
From the article:
“The father and son stand accused of stealing at least 80 items of U.S. Government property worth in excess of $80,000, while working at the United States Property and Fiscal Office, West Virginia warehouse. Russell Morgan served as Warehouse Supervisor between June 2009 and August 2016. Sergeant First Class Morgan worked as a full-time Federal Technician with the West Virginia Army National Guard at the USPFO-WV.
Count three of the indictment accuses the pair of embezzling an inflatable bounce house from the Government. The indictment goes on to accuse Sergeant First Class Morgan of forging the property document to downgrade the bounce house’s condition to unserviceable or condemned.”
Bad headline by the editor or reporter.
It wasn’t just the Bounce house involved.
I imagine the Guard unit had it for unit family activities or community events.
GTMO has fishing boats and dive craft for just those kind of rentals. It is cool beyond belief to motor by the border and hear the Cuban guards exchanging radio traffic about the boat.
You cannot see the Cuban guards, but you can hear them.
Okay... how about just renting the daggum thing?
As for the headline, they write them to get you to read the article. Prosecutors believe the pair were swiping stuff from Uncle. This might have been what tipped someone off that something wasn’t *quite* right there.
When I was in Panama in the late 80s...they’d gone to the confiscation law enforcement crowd around Miami, and found some open-sea fishing vessel and gotten the government to do a transfer. I think the Mwr folks rented it out virtually every weekend.
That’s all well and good and makes perfect sense. But to BUY something you use a couple times of year? That’s nuts and not good stewardship of our money. You HIRE a contractor to bring one in for the day.
More importantly, why aren’t charges like this being thrown against the Awans? They are a special class protected by Democrats. This is another perfect example of the double standard in American justice. The little guys get hammered while the protected guys get away with murder (so to speak).
My apologies, it isn’t something used just a couple of times a year. Regular families can sign it out for family parties, neighborhood block parties, unit special events, special MWR or AAFES promotions, etc. They do not normally sit in a warehouse gathering dust. The dunkbooths, referenced in an earlier post, really get used in warmer environs.
Thank you for clarifying. I certainly support efforts to improve military family morale at far away posts.
It's not our money. MWR is a non-appropriated fund. The money come from fees, rentals, donations, etc.
Thanks for clarifying that.
“Okay... how about just renting the daggum thing?”
Because it is not cost effective.
They rent for about $99 per day, but you can buy one for not much more. We bought one (10ft square x 7 ft high) for my grandson for $250. This will be his 3rd summer with our bounce house and it attracts lots of the neighborhood kids for him to play with.
Fair enough. Thanks for clarifying.
But reading the indictment I see the US Attorney wanting $11K in restitution, and apparently the bouncy house was worth more than a thousand bucks. Go figure.
Ahh, they were caught embezzling property from the US Government. Enjoy your prison time.
I guess they figured “why rent for a day when we can get one for free.”
I agree the Bounce House probably tripped them up.
Its ALWAYS the little things.
To me a better headline would have been: Two Men Convicted of Embezzling $200,000 And A Bounce House.
More information and still has the hook.
Wait just a minute! Why are my tax dollars being used to buy the government bouncy houses?
Good day for those getting a day of fun on tax dollars. No, I do not agree with this practice but know you do. You’re free to your opinion as am I. If the family wants a day of looking around, then bring their own picnic basket and a Frisbee.
The people and units pay for renting the stuff. It is not paid for by taxpayer dollars, although they are taxpayers also.
And military personnel are sometimes in places without good recreational or safe choices.
But you are entitled to your opinion. Just like everybody else’s opinion.
MWR is pay as you go. Many military posts are in remote locations. Recreation needs to be provided as options are minimal. Fees and rents pay most of this. It’s considered part of the benefits a military person receives in pay.
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