Commandant Accused of Asserting Unlawful Influence
A group of 27 retired and former Marine Corps and Navy judge advocates and officers are asking Congress to investigate allegations that Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James F. Amos used his power to improperly influence legal proceedings following a scandal that arose after a group of Marines were filmed urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in 2011.
Air Force lawyers draw fire over sexual assault policy
Top Air Force lawyers are under fire after urging subordinates to rally against a Senate proposal that would overhaul the military’s sexual assault policies.
A letter obtained by POLITICO shows Lt. Gen. Richard Harding, the Air Force judge advocate general, and Col. Jeffrey Rockwell, urging their fellow military lawyers to take sides against a Senate amendment expected to come up for a floor vote before Thanksgiving that removes the command chain from major criminal prosecutions.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/air-force-lawyers-sexual-assault-policy-99099.html
Lawmaker sustains 6-month hold on 3-star’s nomination
For six months, a prominent Democratic lawmaker has blocked Lt. Gen. Susan Helms’ nomination to be vice commander of Space Command, making it unlikely that she will ever be confirmed.
Helms continues to serve as commander of 14th Air Force. Lt. Gen. John Hyten has already been confirmed to replace her, but the Air Force is waiting for Helms to be confirmed before moving forward, Air Force spokesman Capt. Adam Gregory said. Helms’ nomination will expire in January 2015.
Both Helms and Hyten declined to comment for this story, Gregory said.
Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri first objected to Helms nomination in April and then reaffirmed her stance in June, citing Helms’ decision to overturn the sex assault conviction of a captain at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in February 2012.
Marine Corps veteran Justin Eldridge was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Waterford, Connecticut home on October 29, 2013. Justin served in the Marine Corps for 8 1/2 years. After a deployment to Afghanistan he battled with both Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. As a result he was medically retired from the Marine Corps in 2008. Justin was married with four children at the time of his death. Justin’s wife Joanna has continued the fight for our soldiers and veterans. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) honored Justin Eldridge on the Senate Floor and co-sponsored a veteran suicide prevention bill in his name. Joanna attended the 2015 State of the Union and a bipartisan suicide prevention bill was signed into law in March 2015.
His final message, posted on his Facebook Page at about 9 p.m., “theres only so much bashing someone can take before they react………” –Waterford Patch (October 29, 2013)
Senator Richard Blumenthal Honors US Marine Justin Eldridge:
In a Senator Floor speech today, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal honors the heroism of United States Marine Justin Eldridge of Waterford, tragic victim of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who took his own life two days ago. (October 30, 2013)
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In Senate Floor Speech, Blumenthal Honors Heroism Of U.S. Marine Justin Eldridge Of Waterford
Senator Blumenthal honors US Marine Justin Eldridge
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Fort Hood soldier dies from injuries suffered during military vehicle accident
FORT HOOD – Fort Hood officials have released the name of a soldier who died from injuries suffered during a military vehicle accident October 18.
A Fort Hood Spokesman says 46-year-old Staff Sgt. Leroy Jackson, died in an off road accident involving a HumVee during a training exercise. The circumstances are still under investigation.
21 members of Tucson Air Guard unit indicted on fraud charges
A colonel and 20 other members of an Arizona Air National Guard unit based in Tucson have been indicted on charges they defrauded the government of $1.4 million intended for deployed military members.
Attorney General Tom Horne announced that the Guard members — current or former members of the 214th Reconnaissance Group — will face charges stemming from an 18-month investigation that concluded eight officers and 13 enlisted personnel falsified records. The 214th operates Predator drones in Iraq and Afghanistan from Tucson.
The only defendant identified so far is the former commander of the 214th, who is alleged to have overseen the fraud, Horne said.
Fort Eustis Staff Sergeant Pleads Guilty to Robbing York County Credit Union
A U.S. Army staff sergeant stationed at Fort Eustis pleaded guilty Tuesday to the April 6 robbery of the Grafton branch of the Langley Federal Credit Union on George Washington Memorial Highway (Route 17).
York-Poquoson Circuit Court judge Richard Y. AtLee Jr. accepted the guilty plea from 38-year-old Dorman Ronald Shaw during a Tuesday morning hearing. Shaw’s plea covers the robbery charge, however it does not address the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony charge that remains against him. A two-day jury trial is scheduled to cover that charge Nov. 8 and 9.
Former Marine Gets Probation In Brutal Cabbie Attack
A former Camp Lejeune Marine, who was caught on camera last year brutally beating a cab driver, has pleaded guilty.
Adam Kinosh received five years probation after his guilty plea to assault inflicting serious injury. Kinosh will have to pay the victim $8654 in lost wages, plus his medical and counseling fees.
The former Marine will also have to complete PTSD counseling, be under electronic house arrest for one year, consume no alcohol during probation and not communicate with the victim.
Mefloquine: The Military’s Suicide Pill
In late July, 2013, the FDA issued a powerful “black box” safety warning for a drug which has been taken by hundreds of thousands of troops to prevent malaria. The drug is called mefloquine, and it was previously sold in the U.S. by F. Hoffman-La Roche under the trade name Lariam. Since being developed by the U.S. military over four decades ago, mefloquine has been widely used by troops on deployments in Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan.
We now recognize, decades too late, that mefloquine is neurotoxic and can cause lasting injury to the brainstem and emotional centers in the limbic system. As a result of its toxic effects, the drug is quickly becoming the “Agent Orange” of this generation, linked to a growing list of lasting neurological and psychiatric problems including suicide.
The public had its first glimpse of the mefloquine suicide problem over a decade ago in 2002, when a cluster of murder-suicides occurred among Ft. Bragg soldiers returning home from deployment. All three soldiers had been taking mefloquine, yet an official Army investigation later concluded mefloquine was “unlikely to be the cause of this clustering.”
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-remington-nevin/mefloquine-the-militarys-_b_3989034.html
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Report: Inadequate records kept of National Guard complaints
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Alaska National Guard investigation results confirm mishandling of complaints
National Guard pilot’s experience as sexual assault victim singled out
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Alaska National Guard presses lawmakers to adopt new military code
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In wake of National Guard scandal, House passes reforms to Alaska military justice code
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MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 