Posted on 05/21/2021 6:07:21 AM PDT by fruser1
Corporal Jurgen Conings, 46, disappeared from his barracks on Monday after stealing weapons.
More than 400 Belgian troops, back by German and Dutch special forces have been hunting for the soldier.
Makeshift camp was discovered in Hoge Kempen National Park but it is not yet clear whether it is connected.
Authorities from three countries are searching for Corporal Jurgen Conings, a heavily-armed soldier who deserted from his barracks on Monday armed with four rocket launchers, a machine gun and a pistol after threatening Marc Van Ranst, the virologist who is leading Belgian's response to the coronavirus crisis.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
odd hill to die on
A 46 year-old corporal!?
Wow
Those troops should be rounding up all the Muslims who have wrecked Brussels and ship them to Gaza.
Most likely a different ranking system
Joined in 1992? So after 29 years he's a Corporal? Either he's a screw-up, or he's just so damn good at what he does they kept him in his slot.
So he ditched the rocket launchers - good call, too much weight. But kept the P90 and a handgun. Going mobile for distance rather than hunkering down with a bunker mentality?
Yeah, that's kind of old no matter how you look at it. But that said, while the US Army has a "move up or move out," attitude to promotions for career enlisted and officers, some of the smaller NATO forces have more of a, "if it's not broke don't fix it," view of manpower. Some company commanders can hold their positions for years. I'm not sure if that's still the case, but that was my experience 30 years ago.
Still, 46 seems pretty old for a corporal, though he could also have held higher rank and been busted down, or simply enlisted later in life than most.
Reminds me of the “Sheperds Bush” murders of 1966. 3 plainclothes cops were ambushed and killed in London. One of the perps, former military hid out in the woods for months until caught.
CC
Nope they’re NATO and as such have to maintain a comparable ranking structure for NATO compliance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_military_ranks
Which means this guy is a 46 yo E3 and likely a major F up to hold such a low rank that old. Probably busted down in tank a number of times. Similar to the E4 mafia in the reserves of the US Army if you are a 10+ year E4 you are a jackwagon of a soldier I have seen too many in decades of service.
Yea, that’s what I thought. How do you get to be 46 and only a corporal? If he were just a crappy soldier, they would have gotten rid of him 20 years ago. If he screwed up really bad recently and was busted down to corporal, they probably would have dumped him then.
“ The Park is Mine - Tommy Lee Jones.”
I thought I was the only one who remembers that movie.
L
I knew one guy in the Navy who was an E-4 with 14 years of service. He wasn’t a bad sailor, he was just not that bright and couldn’t score high enough to make the cut. At 14 years, he was meritoriously promoted to E-5 and supposedly remained there the rest of his career.
I wonder if these guys ever heard of a guy named John Rambo and the havoc he caused in a small town in Washington state.
My son is in the Marines and just had his latest promotion board. He will be an E-5 as of July, his four year anniversary.
Semper Fi, 4 years is good for the first board. I was an E3 coming out of MCRD as an honor graduate made my E4 in 9 months and was boarded before my two year mark. Had the waiver for both time in service and time in grade. I would go green to gold when I finished my first BSc as a Mustang you have Street cred with the enlisted guys still.
When I think of a 46 year old corporal I think of a lot of experience in field craft and stories to share. Just because he is a corporal doesn't mean he is to be taken lightly.
It’s Europe, They are on the metric system and use dog years.
OK, I really did LOL! That’s funny right there!
He's been trained to eat things that would make a billy goat puke.
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