SSgt. Darian Miller, US Air Force (2008 USAF photo by Kemberly Groue)
SSgt. Darian Miller, 38, of Marion, South Carolina was pronounced dead at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Alaska on February 18, 2014. SSgt. Miller joined the Air Force in 1994 and was assigned to JBER in 2011 where he worked in operations management for the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) was assigned to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death. The final determination of cause of death was not indicated in media reports. SSgt. Miller was one of four servicemen from JBER found dead this month: Army Sgt. Okan Cetinbag on February 11; SrA Katrina Jackson on February 15; and SSgt. Samuel Davis on February 23.
Air Force SrA Katrina Jackson, 22, of Universal City, Texas died from injuries sustained from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Alaska on February 15, 2014. SrA Jackson joined the Air Force in 2010 and was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in 2011 where she was assigned as a patrolman with the 673rd Security Forces Squadron. Media reports indicate that the circumstances surrounding her death were investigated by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI). SrA Jackson was one of four servicemen from JBER found dead this month: Army Sgt. Okan Cetinbag on February 11; and SSgt. Darian Miller on February 18; and SSgt. Samuel Davis on February 23.
SSgt Sean Oliver, US Air Force, was found guilty of strangling Navy Petty Officer Dmitry Chepusov after a night of drinking on December 14th , 2013 in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The two were colleagues at the American Forces Network (AFN) at Ramstein Air Force Base. SSgt Oliver was charged with pre-meditated murder. The military prosecutors were considering the death penalty but the German authorities withheld evidence in an effort to get the death penalty off the table in this case. SSgt Oliver was found guilty of the murder of Dmitry Chepusov by the military courts and sentenced to life with parole. Military prosecutors believed the motive for the murder was to silence Dmitry Chepusov who found out about an affair that SSgt Oliver was having with his wife.
Facing pressure to combat drug use and sexual assault at the Air Force Academy, the Air Force has created a secret system of cadet informants to hunt for misconduct among students.
Cadets who attend the publicly-funded academy near Colorado Springs must pledge never to lie. But the program pushes some to do just that: Informants are told to deceive classmates, professors and commanders while snapping photos, wearing recording devices and filing secret reports.
For one former academy student, becoming a covert government operative meant not only betraying the values he vowed to uphold, it meant being thrown out of the academy as punishment for doing the things the Air Force secretly told him to do.
In 2000, the manager of a Florida hotel is doused with acid in broad daylight. He dies from his wounds 11 days later. Investigators must contend with bum tips, false identities and a nationwide manhunt before the shocking culprit is revealed. -The Last Resort, Unusual Suspects (S5,E12)
Washington D.C. – During a news conference today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with a bipartisan group of their colleagues in the Senate and House, announced new legislation that would reform the military justice system by removing the prosecution of all crimes punishable by one year or more in confinement from the chain of command, except crimes that are uniquely military in nature, such as disobeying orders or going Absent Without Leave.
Senators Collins and Gillibrand were joined by survivors of sexual assault in the military, including Jennifer Norris of Maine, and by representatives from organizations who assist victims of Military Sexual Trauma. The Military Justice Improvement Act would for the first time remove the decision whether to take a case to special or general court-martial completely out of the chain of command and give that discretion to experienced military prosecutors for all crimes punishable by one year or more in confinement, except crimes that are uniquely military in nature, such as disobeying orders or going AWOL.
“To be sure, the vast, overwhelming majority of our military personnel are honorable, conscientious, and respectful individuals, not rapists or harassers. It is for their sake that the pattern of covering up, blaming the victim, and failing to provide even the most basic protections that has been all too common for far too long must end,” said Senator Collins. “What does it say about us as a people, as the nation, as the foremost military in the world when some of our service members have more to fear from their fellow soldiers than from the enemy? This epidemic of sexual abuse cannot stand. We must ensure that justice is swift and certain to the criminals who have perpetuated these crimes.”
With tears streaming down her face, Jennifer Norris, a former Technical Sergeant in the Air Force, describes her harrowing experience with sexual assault and the difficulty she had in seeking justice within the military chain of command, saying, “The system is rigged against the victims” and in favor of the “often higher-ranking perpetrators.” [VIDEO]
Norris, who did not serve in Hawaii, said she’d been reluctant to report the rape because, “in the Air Force, I witnessed first hand what happens to those who stepped forward to report their assaults. I did not want to be stigmatized for reporting my assault — as I tried to move forward with my career. Instead, the best option for me was to try and endure it, to suck it up and try and make it until I could get transferred somewhere else — only to have it happen over and over again, like a recurring nightmare.”
She never did get justice, she said, even when she did come forward. “My perpetrators were allowed to resign in lieu of Administrative Hearings, which would have become a matter of public record. My command never offered the chance to proceed with a court martial.”
She said, “If the chain of command had been removed from handling sexual assault cases before I was attacked I believe justice would have been served or perhaps it would have been prevented in the first place.”
“At first I was too afraid to report my assault to my chain of command, but two years later I was forced to report due to the escalation of the behavior and the fear that I would be raped again.” -Jennifer Norris (Civil Beat, May 16, 2013)
Gillibrand: “I’m Distressed That The Victims’ Voices Aren’t Being Heard In This Debate
SrA Matthew Theurer, 22, US Air Force, was arrested after the body of his baby was discovered in a bag on the side of a highway on March 12, 2013. SrA Theurer stood accused of dumping the baby’s body about 100 miles away from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina where he was stationed. After Theurer’s baby was discovered and a failed suicide attempt, Theurer confessed to investigators that he found his child unresponsive on February 15, 2013 and attempted to cover up the death. SrA Theurer admitted in military court that he began to downward spiral after the mother of his child moved away and left him to care for the baby by himself. SrA Theurer admitted to leaving the child alone while he went to work; an autopsy report indicated that the child died from starvation and neglect. SrA Theurer pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, child endangerment, obstruction of justice, and making a false statement. SrA Matthew Theurer was sentenced to forty years in prison, dishonorable discharge, and reduction to E-1.
SSgt Craig LeBlanc was a Basic Military Training Instructor at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He is also one of the 35 instructors courts martialed after a base-wide investigation into sexual abuse claims referred to as the Lackland Sex Scandal. He was accused of having inappropriate relationships with recruits, adultery, and sexual assault. He was found not guilty of sexual assault. Nonetheless, SSgt LeBlanc was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in February 2013. Although the actions for which he was found guilty were unprofessional and in fact Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) infractions, they were not criminal in nature yet he got prison time for consensual sex and adultery, a law that doesn’t exist in the civilian world. The Air Force gave SSgt LeBlanc the fourth longest prison sentence. SSgt Eddy Soto was sentenced to four years for the rape of a trainee but a year and a half later, the Air Force Criminal Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and set aside the original prison sentence. The rape charge lacked evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. SSgt Luis Walker and MSgt Michael Silva were both sentenced to twenty years for rape and sexual assault convictions. SSgt LeBlanc attempted to appeal his sentence but the military appeals court denied it.
“The dismissal of these two specifications does not dramatically change the penalty landscape; in fact, only the maximum confinement authorized would change. Without the convictions on these two specifications, the confinement exposure is reduced from 22 years and 1 month to 18 years and 1 month. The appellant was sentenced to confinement for 30 months. Having considered the totality of the circumstances, we would reassess the appellant’s sentence to the same sentence approved by the convening authority.” -USAF Court of Criminal Appeals (March 2015)
The House Armed Services Committee hears testimony on Lackland Air Force Base’s sexual misconduct problem. Generals say they’re addressing underlying issues, but victims have concerns.
The hearing did not include testimony from the alleged sexual assault victims at Lackland, nor from those charged or convicted in connection with the investigation. But two Air Force veterans who said they were sexually assaulted years ago did testify.
“If you want a career, you don’t want to say anything because you get retaliated against; you get beat up and thrown out. We need to remove the chain of command from the reporting process — it’s absolutely detrimental,” she said, adding that as a military sexual assault victim, “You almost become a leper.” She testified that two of her attackers pleaded guilty, but others were never charged.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 