USNA's sexual misconduct investigation of MAJ Mark Thompson

Stadler has been out for a while. If you follow the other WaPost links at the bottom of the story link above, you can read the first articles in the series, if you haven't already. She still owes recoupment money to USNA.

Best thing the Marine Corps can do is hold these two officers accountable and award punishments that serve to deter others, should they be found guilty after more due process.

There should have been no question this was unacceptable behavior. As I expect many others who are current or former military might agree, you can have excellent military people who perform well in all aspects, are well-liked and respected, but cross boundaries in the sexual realm that leaves heads shaking when it comes out. As long as humans have a sex drive and a character fault line that is vulnerable, these incidents will occur.
 
I still maintain that all involved should be removed from service if found guilty after the investigation.

I do find the following quote a bit ironic given that Stadler was discharged for doing basically the same thing with an enlisted sailor. She must be trying really hard to get out of that 85K payback.

“I was incredibly disgusted and discouraged,” she said this week, “because I just couldn’t believe someone who already broke laws and rules knowingly . . . was now working at an institution where he was supposed to interact and influence young midshipmen.”

A sad state of affairs, but I agree with Capt MJ, these incidents will occur.
 
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Well they can't be removed from service pending the investigation, but they can certainly have their positions, roles and responsibilities change while under investigation. This has happened. More than likely they have all been moved to "admin positions" that has no interaction with Midshipmen moving paper from one pile to another. A few common jobs I saw for folks in these positions, "special projects officer", moved to be an extra body in the Ops shop where they get to updated SOPs for months on end, facilities types of jobs moving paper from one pile to another. They might have even been moved to roles across the river to the Naval Station or even to something down in DC while this is all going on.

The sad part is how the Major got to USNA while under investigation. Unfortunately I saw this happen twice in while in the fleet... an investigation started under one commend, the member PCS to another place, then the investigation is forwarded. Legal hold exists for a reason, but is sometimes hard to get in place or unit's don't do a good job of it.
 
I have to say, there is just a major "ick" factor to all of it. No one has covered themselves with glory.

I am glad to see the Post articles seem to have re-started some investigative threads. I bet the major is regretting whatever impulse he had to invite the Post reporter to tell his story. Hubris! The reporter is no doubt doing happy dances - above the fold stories in the home DC market, with a story that has legs.

This brings to mind all the ick military sex-related scandals that have occurred over the years, with more of us knowing about them due to the Internet. I have no doubt they have been happening for decades; they just didn't surface. Betcha we could all get together with an adult beverage or iced tea and go non-stop for several hours with "do you remember the one about the...?"
 
Well they can't be removed from service pending the investigation,

You're right of course, I did not word that very well, what I meant to say was that they should be removed after the investigation if found guilty. "Pending" was the wrong word choice.
 
When I was the XO of a large Naval Station, we got all kinds of broken people, physical and conduct as well as humanitarian, in stash mode. It usually started with the station JAG coming in and saying, "uh, XO, I got a call from the Legal Officer on USS SHIP/ABC Staff, and they need to..."

One of the most uncomfortable memories I have is a ship's CO who was stashed in my department, when I was N3 (Operations Officer) on a Navy Region staff. He had been relieved because he joked with a foreign ship's CO over open channels during a joint exercise that yes, US ships did have women aboard now, and would he like to buy one, plus other failures of leadership onboard his ship. I kept our conversations to professional topics only, but I could tell from things he said he didn't get it. He bothered my female QM1 (enlisted petty officer E-6 pay grade), and she finally came to talk to me about it, because he wanted to know about her boyfriend and other personal topics. Only time I ever closed a door and spoke forcefully to someone senior to me. Sorry - I didn't mean to stray from the Marine major, but oddly, this jogged a memory of a senior officer taking advantage of a junior and their reluctance to walk away due to being junior.

For any aghast parents, this was from the late 80's. It is much, much better now, but with pockets of idiocy here and there, witness this Marine officer story.
 
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One has to wonder if a junior or even senior enlisted Marine would be getting the brakes these 2 field officers are getting. My guess is no.... If these Marines were enlisted I would imagine they would already be in the brig.

These Marines .....broke the faith.
 
“Under no circumstances would the Naval Academy have allowed for assignment on staff and faculty had there been disclosure of the circumstances and details of his involvement in that event,” Schofield said. “The Naval Academy immediately initiated administrative actions to reassign Major Pretus upon discovery of his past involvement with Major Thompson and Ms. Stadler.”

An NCIS spokesman said he didn’t know whether investigators had informed the academy of the investigation into Pretus but called it the responsibility of Pretus’s then-command, the Marine Corps Forces Reserve in New Orleans.

A spokesman there acknowledged that the command knew about the investigation into Pretus but denied that it was the command’s job to inform the school of it.

“We wouldn’t have ever informed them because we didn’t have anything to do with the Naval Academy,” said spokesman Adam Bashaw. “We don’t select the next jobs.”

Pass The Buck 101. Repugnant.

(Emphasis mine)
 
Everyone carries the 7 deadlies. It takes integrity to keep them in check.

As an Officer, you have no excuse-you are to set the example and for this to take place where INTEGRITY rules the day is .................
 
This is so sad. To think this started when I got there, went to a court marshall when I was separated, and now this. Not that it's surprising but still, it's somewhat shocking, even for USNA standards of scandal.
 
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