The beat, I mean the cheat goes on and on and on

cb7893

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http://www.politico.com/story/2015/...gambling-inspector-general-report-117696.html

As I read through the four pages of opinions and opinions about the opinions about the Veterinarian's completion of her ruck march I completely agreed with all the sentiments regarding the importance of leading by example. The effects of poor leadership certainly trickle down through the ranks. However, by the end of page one I started thinking, "this is a veterinarian! There are O-6s and above, in significant command positions whoring around Moscow, using counterfeit poker chips at casinos, selling Navy warship docking schedules to fuel brokers and all that happens is they get is reshuffled, loss of rank or at worse early termination and no loss of benefits? And this Captain's ruck march becomes a Harvard B-School case study in leadership." I'm surprised Jack and Suzy Welch haven't commented. They know all about adultery.

Only a leadership so inbred and full of itself would consider the shame of loss of rank or early retirement as fit punishment for what anyone else would call criminal behavior.

So this AM, I turn on my computer and scan the usual news pages and I see the story linked above. It made me think of the time a plumber told me, while discussing moving a toilet, "$h!+ always flows downhill."

My DS, who commissions in 2 weeks, is branched Signal, but I can honestly say that if he had branched into Combat Arms, my single biggest fear would still be his witnessing firsthand the kind of behavior described in the this and so many other stories. I don't think I can offer any him any guidance other than to do the right thing, keep a contemporaneous log and be prepared to suffer the consequences
 
And you think he won't witness any less-than-desirable behavior as a signal officer? Good luck to the both of you
 
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/...gambling-inspector-general-report-117696.html

As I read through the four pages of opinions and opinions about the opinions about the Veterinarian's completion of her ruck march I completely agreed with all the sentiments regarding the importance of leading by example. The effects of poor leadership certainly trickle down through the ranks. However, by the end of page one I started thinking, "this is a veterinarian! There are O-6s and above, in significant command positions whoring around Moscow, using counterfeit poker chips at casinos, selling Navy warship docking schedules to fuel brokers and all that happens is they get is reshuffled, loss of rank or at worse early termination and no loss of benefits? And this Captain's ruck march becomes a Harvard B-School case study in leadership." I'm surprised Jack and Suzy Welch haven't commented. They know all about adultery.

Only a leadership so inbred and full of itself would consider the shame of loss of rank or early retirement as fit punishment for what anyone else would call criminal behavior.

So this AM, I turn on my computer and scan the usual news pages and I see the story linked above. It made me think of the time a plumber told me, while discussing moving a toilet, "$h!+ always flows downhill."

My DS, who commissions in 2 weeks, is branched Signal, but I can honestly say that if he had branched into Combat Arms, my single biggest fear would still be his witnessing firsthand the kind of behavior described in the this and so many other stories. I don't think I can offer any him any guidance other than to do the right thing, keep a contemporaneous log and be prepared to suffer the consequences

As part of its wide-ranging $50 million consulting contract with the DoD, the Cleveland Institute for Advanced Thinking is working on a groundbreaking set of guidelines to prevent this unbecoming behavior. The kernel is that all DoD employees, both military personnel as well as civilian contractors, must wear body cameras at all times when within the city limits of Las Vegas. Extending this requirement to Vegas hookers was also considered but rejected as impractical by legal scholars on the CIAT staff.
 
And you think he won't witness any less-than-desirable behavior as a signal officer? Good luck to the both of you

On the contrary. The miscue is my mistake. I meant to make two points. If you are not familiar with the specific cases I mentioned, you can goodle these phrases:

USAF General Michael Carey
Stratcom counterfeit poker chips
Fat Leonard

First, the "less-than-desirable-behavior," by which I think you mean to say "criminal behavior" by officers at the highest levels of all the services, appears to be less rare than in the normal course of civilian business. I am sure it pervades all of the branches of all of the services, signal no more or less than the others.

Second, my DS will be at considerably less risk of bodily harm in Signal than in combat arms. For all the added risk in combat arms I would still be mostly concerned with him being in a situation where patently illegal activity is tolerated. As his father, I can abide him risking life and limb for his fellow soldiers and his country. I can't abide him being in an environment where his superiors' lying, cheating and stealing is tolerated by their superiors.

I am still amazed that an Army Veterinarian staggering across the finish line, before heading off to do her "residency" generates 4 pages of hue and cry about Military leadership (much of which was legit) and the light punishment of fraudsters and cretins at the highest and most sensitive levels of leadership generates laughs and shrugs.

Actors like these characters do more to erode the effectiveness of the military as any of the other things being complained about on this forum.

Jcc, I am assuming your wishes of good luck to my son were sincere.
 
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A Pentagon official briefed on some of the findings stressed that the federal government did not necessarily pay the charges; holders of the cards pay their own bills and then submit receipts to be reimbursed for expenses related to their government business.

I just want to make sure people get the whole story here. These are not charges the government is paying, these not-so-smart people just used their Govt CC which they are responsible for. Their are obviously charges that should and should not be placed on that card.

Want my opinion...scrap the whole dang Govt CC junk. I'd much rather use my personal card, it's one less credit card on my account, I would get points on my purchases, and I wouldn't have to worry about if the govt had actually transferred the amount they are supposed to or not. I also wouldn't have to rely on some random person "turning it on" right before I travel so my airline tickets don't get cancelled at the last minute...and oh yeah that person only works weekdays 9-3 so good luck they forgot to do their job.
 
However, by the end of page one I started thinking, "this is a veterinarian! There are O-6s and above, in significant command positions whoring around Moscow, using counterfeit poker chips at casinos, selling Navy warship docking schedules to fuel brokers and all that happens is they get is reshuffled, loss of rank or at worse early termination and no loss of benefits? And this Captain's ruck march becomes a Harvard B-School case study in leadership." I'm surprised Jack and Suzy Welch haven't commented. They know all about adultery.

Althouhg I understand where you are coming from, this is an internet forum so we may discuss whatever we want, how trivial it may be.

Although somewhat connected, midconducts by senior officers don't lessen misconducts by junior officers.
 
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A Pentagon official briefed on some of the findings stressed that the federal government did not necessarily pay the charges; holders of the cards pay their own bills and then submit receipts to be reimbursed for expenses related to their government business
.

This Pentagon official is only telling a fraction of the story. First, the governement travel cards supposed to be only used for official government business. I believe the government is ulitmately on the hook if the individual doesn't pay. I don't know how it works in other agency, but in my agency, supervisors get contacted if his or her subordnate makes questionable purchases or uses their travel card when there are not traveling. Another focus of the story should be why internal control mechanism is not in place or not working.
 
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This Pentagon official is only telling a fraction of the story. First, the governement travel cards supposed to be only used for official government business. I believe the government is ulitmately on the hook if the individual doesn't pay. I don't know how it works in other agency, but in my agency, supervisors get contacted if his or her subordnate makes questionable purchases or uses their travel card when there are not traveling. Another focus of the story should be why internal control mechanism is not in place or not working.

The fed govt is not on the hook as far as I know. The credit cards have two versions, one with a low limit for those without credit (eg very junior folks) or those with very bad credit and a higher limit for those with decent credit.

The credit card defaults go on my credit reports if I'm not mistaken and yes reports go to the Command if not paid on time.

I have never figured out the benefit to the govt of this program beyond ensuring every traveler has a credit card of some sort.
 
Point well taken.

Who among us hasn't chased skirts around Moscow and stumbled drunkenly around Red Square? I'll try not to be so judgmental. After all, he did lose a star and was forced to retire on a Brigadier's pension.

http://www.foia.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-131219-045.pdf

We should consider this as a success story as if you do something wrong (and stuipd) in the miltiary regardless of your rank you will get caught and punished.

It might sound odd, but I rather see more stories like the drunken general than no stories. If there is no story about officer misconduct, either there is transgression being committed or they are being ignored/covered up.
 
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