ST. LOUIS • Two Middle East military officers in Missouri for training at Fort Leonard Wood pleaded not guilty this week to charges in an attempted child abduction case, officials said.

“Looks like they are going to be with us for a while,” Pulaski County Sheriff Ron Long said Friday.

Mohammed Mahmoud Omar Mefleh, 34, of Jordan, and Antoine Chlela, 31, of Lebanon, are held in the county jail with bail set at $200,000 for each. They are charged with enticement of a child and harassment.

The case has put communities outside the sprawling military base on alert.

Court Stops Lawsuit Over Death of Soldier’s Son

On October 27, 2013October 28, 2013 By AdministratorIn Army, Military PolicyLeave a comment

HONOLULU — A federal appeals court “regretfully” upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that claims the Army caused the death of a newborn by ordering his pregnant mother to do physical training against doctors’ instructions.

January Ritchie was about 5 1/2 months pregnant when she went into premature labor while stationed in Hawaii in 2006.

Her son Gregory died 30 minutes after birth. Her husband, Jonathan Ritchie, filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming commanding officers ignored his wife’s pleas not to perform physical duties such as picking up trash and battle-focused training.

21 Arizona Guardsmen Face Criminal Charges

On October 27, 2013October 27, 2013 By AdministratorIn Military Policy, Uncategorized, USAFLeave a comment

21 Arizona Guardsmen Face Criminal Charges

PHOENIX – Nearly two dozen current and former members of the Arizona Air National Guard have been indicted on charges including theft and money laundering in a $1.4 million scam to defraud the federal government, authorities announced Monday.

The eight officers and 13 enlisted men and women, including the colonel and former commander of the 214 Reconnaissance Group, falsified their records and used fake home addresses in order to receive money meant for those traveling outside of their home regions for duty assignments, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said.

Guard recruiter held in superiors’ shooting

On October 27, 2013October 27, 2013 By AdministratorIn Army, Felony CrimeLeave a comment

Guard recruiter held in superiors’ shooting

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE — A National Guardsman was being held Friday and awaiting charges in the shooting of two of his superiors at an armory north of Memphis, where he was subdued by fellow soldiers and arrested by local police.

The sergeant first class, whose name was not released, had been disciplined before he opened fire with a handgun Thursday at the armory in Millington, Tennessee, according to a law enforcement official who had been briefed on the case. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A Stranger in My Home Premiered ‘Buried Secrets’ on ID: Army Veteran Allan Kowalski Found Buried in Shallow Grave on Texas Property (October 27, 2013)

On October 27, 2013September 28, 2019 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, Felony Crime, Homicide, In Their Name, True Crime, VeteransLeave a comment

Al Kowalski is new to Hill Country, Texas. He plans to spend his early retirement hunting and fixing his vintage vehicles. Al welcomes meth-addicted mechanic Charlie Tidwell into his home to help with the cars, but Charlie has a different plan. -Buried Secrets, A Stranger in My Home (S1,E3)

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.

Death on the Home Front: Women in the Crosshairs

On October 27, 2013March 7, 2017 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Domestic Violence, Felony Crime, Military Policy, PTSD, TBI, Mental Illness, SuicideLeave a comment

Death on the Home Front: Women in the Crosshairs

Wake up, America. The boys are coming home, and they’re not the boys who went away.

On New Year’s Day, the New York Times welcomed the advent of 2009 by reporting that, since returning from Iraq, nine members of the Fort Carson, Colorado, Fourth Brigade Combat team had been charged with homicide. Five of the murders they were responsible for took place in 2008 when, in addition, “charges of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault” at the base rose sharply. Some of the murder victims were chosen at random; four were fellow soldiers — all men. Three were wives or girlfriends.

This shouldn’t be a surprise. Men sent to Iraq or Afghanistan for two, three, or four tours of duty return to wives who find them “changed” and children they barely know. Tens of thousands return to inadequate, underfunded veterans’ services with appalling physical injuries, crippling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suck-it-up sergeants who hold to the belief that no good soldier seeks help. That, by the way, is a mighty convenient belief for the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, which have been notoriously slow to offer much of that help.

Another Airman Found Dead

On October 26, 2013October 27, 2013 By AdministratorIn Cold Cases, USAFLeave a comment

Another Airman Found Dead

Another airman from the Minot Air Force Base has died. The base says a member of the 5th Bomb Wing was found unresponsive at about 3:20 this afternoon in a dorm room and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Last week, Tech. Sergeant Christopher Summers of the 91st Missile Wing was also found dead in his home. His death is also under investigation.

Sex-assault incidents will be documented on every NCOER, OER

On October 26, 2013October 26, 2013 By AdministratorIn Army, Military Policy, Sexual AssaultLeave a comment

Sex-assault incidents will be documented on every NCOER, OER

The Army will use soldiers’ professional evaluations to hold them accountable for preventing sexual assault in the service.

Raters must assess all soldiers on their efforts to foster a climate intolerant of sexual assault and harassment in all Noncommissioned Officer Evaluation Reports and Officer Evaluation Reports for rating periods that begin after Sept. 27, according to a memo issued in late September. Soldier counselings, typically done monthly or quarterly, must include the soldier’s “goals and objectives” for combating sexual assault and harassment in their unit, states the directive from Army Secretary John McHugh.

“Leaders must be committed to – and will be held accountable for – fostering a climate of dignity and respect. As a formal part of their evaluation, it will create an even greater incentive to do it well,” said Maj. Chris Kasker, a spokesman for McHugh, in a statement.

The Military’s Latest Rape-Case Mess

On October 24, 2013October 26, 2013 By AdministratorIn Military Policy, Navy, Sexual AssaultLeave a comment

The Military’s Latest Rape-Case Mess

A sexual assault case reveals an unbalanced military justice system

Which is worse: a sexual assault by three fellow midshipmen near the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., or spending 20 hours over five days in a military courtroom fending off questions about one’s sexual history and the circumstances of the alleged attack?

The latter is what happened at the Washington Navy Yard beginning Aug. 27, when a female midshipman was cross-examined in a lengthy pretrial hearing designed to bring those allegedly involved to justice. The case helps explain why only 3,374 of an estimated 26,000 military members who experienced unwanted sexual contact last year filed complaints. “It is essentially the woman who is on trial, and the trial can be worse than the rape,” says retired Colonel Elspeth Ritchie, who served as the Army’s top psychiatrist and has testified in similar cases. “I have often thought that I would never report it if it happened to me.”

21 National Guard soldiers charged with defrauding government

On October 22, 2013October 27, 2013 By AdministratorIn Military Policy, USAFLeave a comment

21 National Guard soldiers charged with defrauding government

PHOENIX — A former special military unit commander and 20 of current and former Air National Guard soldiers have been charged with defrauding the government. Indictments unveiled Monday contend that the soldiers falsified records and used fake addresses to say they were on temporary assignments outside of Arizona when, in fact, they were still living at home in Tucson.

That act is significant because those assignments entitle the soldiers to get extra “temporary duty disbursements.’ And state Attorney General Tom Horne said that, for some of the soldiers, that extra pay over the course of three years amounted to more than $100,000 apiece. Overall, he said the total amount stolen from taxpayers, was $1.4 million.

MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

Category: Armed Forces

Foreign military officers plead not guilty in Missouri attempted child abduction case

Court Stops Lawsuit Over Death of Soldier’s Son

21 Arizona Guardsmen Face Criminal Charges

Guard recruiter held in superiors’ shooting

A Stranger in My Home Premiered ‘Buried Secrets’ on ID: Army Veteran Allan Kowalski Found Buried in Shallow Grave on Texas Property (October 27, 2013)

Death on the Home Front: Women in the Crosshairs

Another Airman Found Dead

Sex-assault incidents will be documented on every NCOER, OER

The Military’s Latest Rape-Case Mess

21 National Guard soldiers charged with defrauding government

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