Stunning conclusion, really. Guilty on all counts but essentially only a fine?
http://www.stripes.com/news/outrage...onvicted-colonel-1.180437#.T9uHs20nUWw.mailto
Oh good gosh! I can see the complaints from Soldiers who were NJP’d in his unit and the congressional inquiries now....
Do these officers even begin to understand the can of worms they just opened?
I'm not surprised that they didn't explain their decision. That's a pretty soft outcome.He had faced possible decades in prison and dismissal from the Army as a maximum sentence. The panel of five colonels who presided over the court-martial in the German city of Kaiserslautern did not explain their decision.
I think it was shameful that his father attended.
But as noted before, an effective strategy.
Absolutely disgusting. But not surprising. Yet another bout of cronyism from the baby-boomer Cold War generation of officers, the Army's cancer.
Before anyone starts banging the "ring-knocker" drum, I would remind everyone that the allegiances made over 30+ years bear much more weight than being a grad. Not that the truth will ever slow some of the local bomb-throwers down...
I think it was shameful that his father attended.
I also think this is very disgusting. If I was on the jury, I would have gave him the maxmium.
As for the "ring-knocker" drum. My perception is that the "ring-knocker" drum have some legs if a few members of the jury were West Point grad. We don't know, so you guess is good as my guess.
I was serving on a Court martial jury, having family member crying did not work on us.
Yet in this case, having a 2-star father in the courtroom, did.
Different spanks for different ranks.
An enlisted soldier or JO would have went straight to USDB. At a minimum they would have been discharged after pleading guilty to 13 criminal charges, and being found guilty of 2 others.
Yet he gets to say.
How proud we all must feel that he is still an officer in the US Army, an officer that once pledged to a code where one doesn't lie, cheat or steal (he did all 3), and we are paying him over $10,000 a month to represent this nation as a leader.
He is part of a generation of feckless, careerist officers that just needs to "die off" (not literally) in the military, especially the Army.
Yes, him and those who (apparently) protected him.