THE COURT-MARTIAL
The lieutenant arrived very late at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas and was assigned to a room in the Bachelor Officer’s Quarters. The next morning he received a call that he was being assigned to the training wing to teach ground school in the “Cadet Building” to fledgling young naval aviators seeking to obtain their Navy Wings.
The lieutenant was directed to report to Colonel Rick Middleton who was the director of the Navy’s basic and advanced ground school for the Navy’s flight school at Corpus Christi. Middleton had retired from the Air Force and now worked as a civil service employee for the Navy in charge of the Navy’s ground-school in the training command.
The lieutenant was escorted into Colonel Middleton’s office. Middleton’s desk was stacked about a mile high with paper. His filing skills were nothing more than a joke. The lieutenant anticipated receiving the typical get-tough speech filled with warnings and threats, but what he received was quite the opposite.
Col. Middleton warmly welcomed him to the base and said he was so very sorry he was being put though all this. The Colonel said, “I’ve seen a lot of the world and know quite a bit about what goes on up there at that pathetic reserve naval base. I believe you are probably a political victim or sacrificial lamb of some sort.”
Col. Middleton continued, “You will be assigned a desk and office as one of our ground school instructors. I’d like to have you impart your fleet wisdom into these wanna-be junior pilots. Would that be OK with your?” The lieutenant smiled and the two men shook hands. The lieutenant was confined to the base, but he occasionally would sneak off to get a fish sandwich at Snoopy’s restaurant and bar under the causeway in Corpus Christi, Texas.
NAVY DENIES THE LIEUTENANT ACCESS
TO THREE ATTORNEYS
THEN ASSIGNS THEIR OWN MAN
The first denial was done verbally. When the lieutenant was initially charged with the improper submission of a $75.51 travel claim, he was asked if he wanted to speak with an attorney. He said no. But when the Navy began their policy of file loading and heaped several other charges on the lieutenant such as conduct unbecoming, and fraternization, the lieutenant requested to see and attorney. The Navy flatly refused.
The lieutenant began to write to JAG lawyer Lt. Christoper Bakes, stationed on the USS Orion that he personally knew and trusted. But commanding officer of the reserve base ordered the lieutenant to San Diego to be court martialed for the $75 travel claim.
While in San Diego, the lieutenant was ordered to legally consult (enter into an attorney/client relationship) with JAG lawyer Lt. David C. Becker who was assigned to Naval Air Station North Island, California. The lieutenant had several meetings with Lt. Becker, both in person and on the phone.
Everything seemed to be on track, the lieutenant was going to be court-martialed for the $75 travel claim, but when the reserve Navy added the charge of fraternization, the admiral in San Diego felt he had been deceived by the commanding officer of NAS Dallas and ordered the lieutenant back to Dallas. “Don’t send me your trash,” said the admiral.
Eventually, the Navy assigned the JAG lawyer they preferred. The lieutenant he got a call from JAG lawyer Lt. Patrick Nehr. In their first meeting, the lieutenant was disinterested in discussing his legal problems. After all, he had been denied access now to two attorneys. Lt. Nehr said, “I can’t help you unless you talk to me.”
The lieutenant said, “Who are they going to replace you with? I’ve already discussed my situation with two other military attorneys, then the Navy decided to pull the rug out from under me and sent you.”
Lt. Nehr was surprised to hear this because once a military member disclosed confidential information to an attorney, an attorney/client relationship has been created. Once an attorney/client relationship is established, the Navy is legally bound to provide that attorney to defend the accused.
The lieutenant told Lt. Nehr, “no offense, but I’d like to request Lt. Christopher Bakes to act as IMC (individual military counsel). He showed the letter exchanges he had with Lt. Bakes. Upon reviewing them Lt. Nehr said, “It’s pretty clear to me that you indeed established an attorney client relationship with Lt Bakes.”
The evidence was clear that an atty/client relation ship had been formed. Lt. Bakes instructed the lieutenant by giving him specific legal advice in a HANDWRITTEN LETTER. The Lieutenant had fired off a MAILGRAM back to Lt. Bakes to explain the current status of things.
A FORMAL REQUEST was sent to the commanding officer of the USS Orion where Bakes was attached. The commanding officer of the USS Orion denied access to Lt. Bakes in a NAVAL MESSAGE. His denial was appealed to the US Sixth Fleet commander and was once again denied in a NAVAL MESSAGE.
Lt. Nehr, told the lieutenant that it was clear to him he had indeed entered into an attorney/client relationship with Lt. Bakes and the Navy was violating due process by denying an attorney to a defendant who had established an attorney-client relationship.
Lt. Nehr said, “The Navy is making up the rules as they go. Another pilot was charged with fraternization a few months ago. He was given a small fine and sent back to work. They must really want to get rid of you, I’m sorry to say.”
The lieutenant told Lt. Nehr he establish an atty/client relationship with Lt. David Becker in San Diego. Another FORMAL REQUEST for an attorney, Lt. David C. Becker was submitted. Becker provided an AFFIDAVIT to clarify the attorney/client relationship with the lieutenant. In a NAVAL MESSAGE, the Navy denied access to Lt. Becker as the lieutenant’s independent military counsel (IMC).
Once again, the lieutenant appealed the decision, and once again, received another NAVAL MESSAGE denying him access to attorney Lt. Becker. Lt. Patrick Nehr said, “The Navy is hell-bent on convicting you when they deny two attorneys that you clearly had an attorney/client relationship with.”
The denial of Bakes and Becker was actually the second and third time he was denied access to an attorney, but the lieutenant had nothing in writing and no way to prove it as the request and denial in the first instance was all verbal. But, with Lt. Bakes and Lt. Becker, the lieutenant had absolute proof an attorney/client relationship had been established.
Unfortunately, the Navy decided to ignore their own regulations in an all-out effort to get the lieutenant in court and usher him out of the Navy. At this point, it was a foregone conclusion the lieutenant would be tossed out of the Navy. The court-martial was a mere formality.
THE NAVY HAS TO BREAK THEIR LAWS
TO ASSURE A CONVICTION
Lt. Nehr, with the naval message denial responses in his hand, said, “I guess you are stuck with me, but you need to keep these naval messages for the rest of your life. It’s strong evidence the Navy will break their own laws to make sure they get a conviction by denying you access to the attorneys you confided in and requested. It is clear proof they denied you due process of law.”
Nehr leaned over to show the lieutenant a specific sentence in one of the naval messages. He said, “Look at this crap. Paragraph six (Attorney/Client Relationship): as set forth in ref D the attorney/client relationship between (the lieutenant) and Lt. Becker is LIMITED.”
It was a graphic example of just how far the Navy would go to get rid of a “problem child.” The evidence is on the third page of the NAVAL MESSAGE denying Lt. Becker to act as his individual military counsel (IMC). According to Lt. Nehr, this message was incontrovertible proof of the lengths the military would go to achieve a conviction. The Navy brazenly admitted that indeed an attorney/client relationship had been established, but decided to ignore their own procedural laws and deny him access to counsel.
Lt. Nehr went back over to sit behind his desk saying, “I don’t care if they characterize your relationship with Lt. Becker as limited or not. In this message, the Navy clearly admits an attorney/client relationship existed between you and Lt. Becker. If the Navy was to abide by their own rules, it means they cannot legally deny you access to him.”
The lieutenant just shook his head and lowered his eyes. The deck was obviously stacked against him and he knew it. He said, “I’m also hearing the convening authority has subtlety threatened jury members with career-damaging fitness reports if they do not convict me on something. God only knows what kind of jury I’ll be getting.”
The Navy only enforces laws they agree with, only the ones that would help achieve a conviction. The military objective was to get the lieutenant out of the service, and the best way to do that was to get a conviction.
CONTEMPLATING LIFE AS A CIVILIAN
It was a death by a thousand cuts. The lieutenant felt his fate had already be predetermined and he was just wasting time. He became more serious about preparing for his new civilian life and enrolled in an exam-preparation class to obtain his FAA flight engineer’s license, the first step to obtaining employment with a commercial air carrier. What the lieutenant did not know at the time, was that his attempt to obtain employment in any aviation job would be for naught.
Being oblivious to the ways of the world, his plan was to take the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 727 turbojet test in the hope he could continue his aviation career in the civilian world. Once he completed the exam prep class, he sat for the FAA examination. A few weeks later the FAA notified the lieutenant that he actually aced the test. When the owner of the test prep school heard about it, he sent the lieutenant a congratulatory LETTER on his incredible achievement.
Less than 1% of all the pilots currently flying have ever scored that high on the 727 turbojet examination. The lieutenant also went for his FAA designation as an Airline Transport Pilot in multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft. Over the next few years, the lieutenant would take and pass almost every major examination the FAA offered.
These are his WRITTEN TEST SCORES from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but regardless of how high he would score on written tests or his level of mastery, he found out it would never be good enough to overcome a felony conviction for dating an enlisted woman.
One of the student pilots the lieutenant had in his ground school course was Ensign Chromer Smith. Chromer didn’t seem to be frightened of the fact the lieutenant was a social outcast on base. The lieutenant had become a pariah on base. No one would dare be seen with him and very few had the courage to even talk to him.
The lieutenant was intrigued by this young naval ensign because he was extraordinarily bright and mature beyond his years. He wondered why this particular student was so courageous to be seen on the base speaking with the “leper” lieutenant. The ensign’s father was the vice president of Delta Airlines, and Chromer seemed to know some of the rich and powerful in Corpus Christi as well.
SECRET MEETING AT MR. KANE’S HOME
One of the families Chromer knew was a wealthy man who owned a meat packing company in Corpus Christi, Texas. The lieutenant shared with the Ensign all the crap going on in his life and told of how he and Chief Tuff had been attacked at Naval Air Station Dallas because they had attempted to expose the corruption.
If there was any thought that Chromer was not connected, it was thrown out the window when he said, “There are some people who want to talk to you, but we have to sneak you off the base for a secret meeting at Mr. Kane’s residence.”
Into the night the two aviators drove, arriving at the residence of Mr. Kane. It was your typical rich man’s home, lavished with a big semi-circular driveway and lit up like a palace. As the lieutenant walked in the home, he was greeted by Mrs. Kane saying, “Welcome to our home lieutenant. Mr. Kane could not be here for this meeting. He’s been called out of town on business.”
On the end-table as you entered the large majestic home was a picture of Mr. Kane shaking hands with President Reagan. The picture resembled a “thank-you-for-your-generous-donation” type of photo. The lieutenant thought that to get a picture like that must have cost Mr. Kane a pretty penny indeed. Chromer and the lieutenant were escorted into a sitting room where three gentlemen were waiting.
The lieutenant suddenly recognized one of the gentlemen as being Mr. Albert P. Keller, the civilian who went joy riding in an F-4 Phantom jet at Naval Air Station Dallas, and was a close personal friend of Vice President George HW Bush.
Keller didn’t remember the lieutenant because the meeting was so brief and probably because the lieutenant looked like everyone else in his military uniform as was the duty officer on that particular day. The other two individuals were Brian Lett and Michael Gilpin who were active agents with the Naval Investigative Service (NIS) sent there from Washington by Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) John Lehman Jr.
Chromer told the Kanes about the fraudulent payments to reservists at NAS Dallas, who in-turn told Mr. Keller, who then called his good buddy VP George HW Bush. Bush called Navy Secretary John Lehman who dispatched two NIS agents from Washington to get the information from the lieutenant about the fraud occurring at Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas.
Sometimes law enforcement officers are interested simply because it’s a violation of law, and sometimes they investigate so they can put out the ‘fire’ before it consumes someone politically. It was unclear to the lieutenant which situation he was being confronted with at the Kane residence.
The lieutenant hoped that Chief Tuff might receive a sliver of justice for the attack on him and his family by naval authorities, but he knew deep in his heart how the Navy really worked. Deep down, he knew nothing would be done to correct a system of fraud that was so ingrained into the reserve military pay disbursement system.
The lieutenant knew as he sat there, that it would not be likely the Navy would suddenly arrest a bunch of senior naval officers for the crimes they were committing on a monthly basis. They like to avoid those headlines even if there is massive fraud going on. It’s more expedient to just look the other way on such matters.
It was more expedient to just let the lieutenant and the chief twist in the wind. With little optimism, the lieutenant told the story of how his supervisors were paying reservists for work they never did and the fraud surrounding retirement points for senior naval reserve officers who have been promoted out of a pay-billet.
The two agents seemed excited and took copious notes. They said they had to get back on the plane for Washington. The lieutenant thanked Mrs. Kane and told her to convey his deepest thanks to Mr. Kane as well. He never told Mr. Keller that the two had met before. In the pit of his stomach, he knew that nothing would be done but he was clinging to the hope that someone in government would rise up to correct the malfeasance he had witnessed at the reserve base in Texas.
FROM ONE CORRUPT BASE TO ANOTHER
One of the enlisted men stationed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas was Petty Officer First Class (PO1) Jim Johnson who worked on the flight line and was a helicopter aircrewman. PO1 Johnson approached the lieutenant with an interesting story about how he was coming back to the base late at night and suddenly saw a damaged helicopter on a flatbed being pulled by a pickup truck leaving the base.
Johnson told the lieutenant that he caught the Navy using parts from this same crashed bird in other aircraft without conducting a proper inspection of each part. Failure to do this potentially placed the lives of other aircrews in jeopardy.
Johnson said he flipped his car around and began following the truck with the damaged helicopter. The driver stopped to get fuel and something to eat so Johnson had a chance to talk with him. He was in the metal salvage business and explained that for years he’s been trying to get the military to give him their scrap metal, and out of the blue, the called him to immediately come in and take this helicopter.
Johnson said they were illegally using parts from the downed chopper in other aircraft without conducting x-ray tests to ensure the parts had not been stressed leaving them open to failing. This was particularly a concern when these parts were being used on the dynamic structure of the rotor-head. Because Johnson and his fellow shipmates were flying in these aircraft, the safety issue was personal for them.
Quite sometime after the lieutenant heard about the story Johnson chasing the truck hauling away the damaged helicopter, the lieutenant discovered one day Johnson refused to fly in an aircraft that had such parts installed. The Navy got nasty and sent Johnson to a court-martial convicting him and sending him to prison.
It wasn’t until Texas Congressman Henry B. Gonzales and his parents busted him out of jail that the whole scam came to the forefront. Johnson eventually got out of the Navy and none of the officers responsible for using substandard parts were ever held to account. As a further insult to justice, all the officers responsible for court-martialing Johnson where never held to account either. It was yet another example of the Navy using its judicial system to silence, threaten and coerce whistle-blowers.
CONVERTING MILITARY AIRCRAFT INTO A PRIVATE AIRLINES
AND GOING ON SHOPPING SPREES TO IMPRESS HIS FRIENDS
After hearing about the disappearing aircraft story, Chromer Smith said, “you’ll never guess what else going on.” He explained how Admiral John Disher arranged for a T-44 twin-engine turboprop trainer aircraft to be used to fly his son and daughter-in-law from Corpus Christi, Texas for a family wedding in San Diego.
The co-pilot (Rhonda) told Chromer to get the word to the lieutenant because she didn’t feel that using naval aircraft and pilots to chauffeur family members to a private civilian wedding was appropriate or correct. The aircraft ended up breaking down in El Paso, Texas forcing Disher family members to proceed on a private air carrier.
Chromer then pulled out PAPERWORK to show the spending spree the admiral and his wife had at the expense of the taxpayers. Movie and TV star Robert Conrad who played Greg (Pappy) Boyington in the TV series Bas Baa Black Sheep from 1976-78 had been invited to Corpus Christi for some little get-together.
Arrangements were made for Conrad to stay on the base, but Admiral Disher felt the bachelor officers quarters were inadequate unless some changes were made. This is when the admiral and his wife took the government credit card to J.C. Penney and went on a major spending spree in an effort to doll up the BOQ room for Conrad.
People in the supply department were appalled because going on a such a spending spree, the admiral was breaking all sorts of regulations. But, who the hell cares, this was the Navy and only certain people were held to account for inappropriate expenditures.
The supply people thought it was ironic the admiral was illegally spending thousands of tax dollars to butter up a movie star while he was court-martialing a naval officer for improperly submitting a travel claim for $75.51. Soon, the lieutenant was provided with a complete itemized list of all the items the admiral purchased one Sunday hoping he could use it in his defense for his upcoming court-martial. That was not likely to happen, but their gesture was deeply appreciated by the lieutenant.
COURT IS CONVENED
It was two days before Christmas 1985. The Navy had convened a general court-martial against the lieutenant. The Navy had worn the lieutenant down over the years of languishing in a state of legal limbo, so he just gave up the fight and plead guilty to fraternization with an enlisted woman and submitting a travel claim for $75.51.
After what seemed to be years since it all began, the lieutenant just wanted to get over with it and move on with his life. Another reason for the move to capitulate was because of a conversation the lieutenant had with then Lt. Glenn R. Tyson.
Tyson was the other pilot on a flight to Auburn, California where the lieutenant had submitted a $250 travel claim. The Navy declared that out of the $250, $75.51 was considered as “fraudulent.” For the same infraction, the Navy handed Tyson a non-punitive letter of reprimand, and he went back to work. But, that wasn’t the end of it for Tyson.
Tyson told the lieutenant that orders to his next duty station had been held up because of the lieutenant’s legal matters. The Navy had embraced tactics much like the mafia by going after other people to that might have some influence over the accused.
The lieutenant’s instinct was to fight it out, but the Navy held all the cards. They had denied him access to an attorney three times to ultimately assign their own man. Then the Navy decided to go after his friend and co-pilot Lt. Tyson.
The Navy really did not want a full-blown contested trial because there was a chance that too much truth would come out, especially about the millions of dollars of ingrained fraud occurring in the reserve Navy on any given day. A good lawyer could even bring the misconduct of his supervisors into court, including the story about the Vice President’s joy-riding friends. That would not be good public relations.
Somehow the Navy had to figure out a way to silence the lieutenant and his chief. They somehow needed to remove both gentlemen from the military so they could continue their graft and corruption without any interference.
The lieutenant’s first instinct was to fight it out and let the chips fall where they may. His assigned attorney said to the lieutenant, “You should admit to only those things you’ve done wrong. By admitting guilt we avoid having to deal with the woman you fraternized with in court. Are you listening to me? A crying woman on the witness stand will put you in Ft. Leavenworth.”
The lieutenant said, “While it’s possible that I am the father of her child, there is no actual proof that I am.” His assigned government attorney said, “The Navy doesn’t always need proof to convict someone.”
The lieutenant thought about it for a moment and said, “Fuck it, what do I need to do to put an end to this crap.” The lieutenant’s assigned attorney encouraged him to plead guilty to submitting a travel claim for $75.51 and fraternizing with an enlisted woman in the naval reserves.
The lieutenant admitted to making love to a woman, but he did not admit to making anyone pregnant, because there was never any actual proof that he was the father of Colleen, but the Navy didn’t need any proof to convict.
Fraternization in the military goes from calling an enlisted man or woman by their first name…. all the way up to having sexual intercourse. The charge is the same. The punishment can range from nothing to a non-punitive letter of reprimand all the way up to a dishonorable discharge and a felony conviction.
Fraternization is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and is defined by the military as; the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.
It’s all subjective and up to the commanding officer as to what brings discredit upon the armed forces. Apparently, paying hundreds of drilling reservists for work they never did, meaning fraud, didn’t bring discredit upon the armed forces but fraternization with an enlisted person in the naval reserves warranted the maximum punishment.
The Navy could now quietly usher him out of the service without anyone knowing about the criminal activity occurring at Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas. No one would know about the Navy illegally incarcerating Chief Tuff in a military mental hospital nor about the billions of dollars of fraud that had been going on for years.
The Navy had finally broken the lieutenant. His fighting spirit was gone. The Navy held all the cards and that’s the way it was designed from the beginning. The military had their own little judicial system which they controlled. There was no way anyone could challenge a judicial system rigged in favor of the status quo.
While the military certainly does not provide the actual statistics, MilitaryCorruption.com, a watchdog group says the military has an estimated 98% conviction rate, while the civilian courts have a 52% conviction rate.
Since the lieutenant had pleaded guilty to making love to a woman, and a travel claim for $250, of which the Navy felt $75 was “fraudulently” submitted, there was no need for a trial. The Navy got the conviction they desperately wanted.
The next phase was the punishment phase. Four pilots he flew with when stationed at NAS Dallas, flew down to Corpus Christi to allegedly vouch for the lieutenant’s character.
Unfortunately, that was derailed when his assigned attorney had a private meeting with the witnesses without the lieutenant’s knowledge. He convinced the character witnesses it would not be good for their respective careers if they said anything nice about the lieutenant.
None of the four pilots wanted to jeopardize their respective naval careers for a lieutenant who was obviously earmarked for destruction. They allegedly were friends of the lieutenant, but their friendships were not good enough to lose a promotion for someone the Navy was going to get rid of anyway. Fearing retribution by the commanding officer if they should render favorable testimony is called “unlawful command influence.”
Things are done or said in very subtle ways send a message to anyone involved that should they say or do anything which challenges the supervisory “opinion” of the lieutenant, their career (duty assignments and promotions) would be adversely affected. The four naval aviators returned to Dallas leaving the lieutenant to twist in the wind.
The United States Constitution guarantees a trial by a jury of our peers, but not in the military. One finds out, as they say, military members are not part of the Republic, but they work for the Republic. In other words, the Constitution does not always apply to military members.
This was denied to the lieutenant because he had been shipped off to a regular Navy base to be tried by regular naval officers. There is no question there are major differences in policy and attitude between the regular and reserve Navy.
By all rights, the entire jury should have been comprised of all reserve naval officers in order to be a “jury of his peers.” Fraternization in the reserve navy was commonplace along with fraudulent payments being made to reservists who were never on the base.
Furthermore, since the principal charge was fraternization, women should have been represented on the jury as well. A woman, unlike most men, would know immediately if a woman on the witness stand was faking a cry or being deceptive.
A jury of reservists, half women, would have been a Constitutionally fair jury, but the Navy really was not interested in being fair, otherwise, they would not have denied the lieutenant a lawyer with which he had established an attorney/client relationship.
The jury read all of the lieutenant’s officer fitness reports but frankly didn’t care about how he had served in the Navy before transferring to the cesspool which was Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas.
Officer fitness reports are the documents that officers live and die by because they are used to determine promotion and duty assignments. Half of his fitness reports reflected his stepfather’s name and the other half were in his birthright name.
While reading the fitness reports, the jury thought there had been a mix-up because they revealed two different sir names. They were so critically important in the Navy for promotion and duty assignments, the jury obviously placed a degree of importance on their value as well.
At least, that’s what the lieutenant thought. In the middle of jury deliberations, the court was reconvened to clarify why the two different names on the fitness reports.
The jury came back into court and asked the judge for clarification about why the fitness reports reflected two different names. The lieutenant explained that one name was his stepfather’s and the other name was his biological father.
As the jury left for the deliberation room, the lieutenant sat down and recalled the warning he had received from a member of the admiral’s staff when he had requested a name change back to his birthright so his son would be named the correct name.
He could tell the mix-up in court about who he really was didn’t help his case at all especially since his stepfather’s name was generally construed as being Jewish. If there were anti-Semites on the jury, he was bound to be heavily punished. Unfortunately, the fix was in. The lieutenant was going down.
He knew that his punishment had been predetermined before he had arrived at the base from Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas. Little did the lieutenant know that in the future the Navy would be considering the expenditure of millions of dollars to retrofit all their ships and stations so that transvestites could have a restroom of their own. It only took about 20 minutes before the jury handed down their decision…
“We, the jury in the above-entitled cause, find the defendant guilty of fraternization with an enlisted woman and the fraudulent submission of a travel claim for $75.51. The sentence shall be dismissal from the armed forces of the United States.”
A hush descended on the courtroom. The lieutenant locked eyes with the jury foreman as he verbally rendered the incredibly harsh sentence. Neither man was breaking his stare, until the judge broke the silence by saying, “I’d like to thank the jury for their service in this matter. The jury is hereby dismissed.”
The lieutenant initially lowered his head upon hearing the verdict but raised his head as the jury members filed out of the courtroom one by one, walking behind him. The judge explained to the lieutenant that due to the severity of the sentence, his case would automatically be appealed to the Court of Military Appeals.
According to the Navy’s own PUNISHMENT CHART, a “dismissal” is second only to death in the severity of punishment.
The lieutenant essentially received a dishonorable discharge, but the military prefers to candy-coat the characterization of discharge by calling it a “dismissal.” A “dismissal,” although not on the list of discharges above, is technically considered a dishonorable discharge.
As a side note, commissioned officers cannot receive bad conduct discharges or a dishonorable discharge, nor can they be reduced in rank by a court-martial. The TYPES OF DISCHARGES can sometimes become confusing, even for those on active duty.
If a military officer is discharged by a general court-martial, they receive what is called a “dismissal notice” which is considered the same as a dishonorable discharge. It’s unclear why the military intentionally sets up this confusion with regards to discharges for officers. Very few people inside or outside of the military actually understand most of this.
Everyone who receives an honorable discharge from the military receives a certificate, suitable for framing. Those like the lieutenant who received something other than an honorable discharge, do not always receive a certificate although such certificates do exist.
After asking the Navy since 1986, for his discharge certificate, the lieutenant constructed a replica of what his dishonorable certificate would probably look like.
The United States Navy, according to their own punishment chart, determined the lieutenant’s dalliance with an enlisted woman in the naval reserves, and his improper submission of a travel claim for $75.51, ranked right up there with rape, murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault etc.
After the trial, the lieutenant followed his attorney back to his office. Both men quietly took their respective seats, the attorney behind his desk and the lieutenant in the chair facing the desk. Both men were silent for the longest time, but the lieutenant’s attorney finally broke the silence when he said, “If I had it all to do over again, I’d do the same thing.”
The lieutenant angrily leaped to his feet and pointed at the attorney saying, “Then we would have received the exact same result. Do you really think that making love to a woman in the naval reserves deserves a felony conviction and dishonorable discharge?” The attorney responded with a blank stare and silence, then softly said, “Someone did get pregnant you know.”
The lieutenant exploded, “I was convicted of fraternization, goddammit! I was not convicted of making anyone pregnant. Or, was I? There is no proof I am the father of her child, but yet you allowed the prosecution to introduce that aggravating factor into court without any proof or any rebuttal.”
Raising his voice dramatically, the lieutenant shouted, “In other words, I was not convicted for fraternizing, because that shit goes on every day in the reserve navy. I was convicted on an issue that was nothing more than a goddamn rumor!”
The lieutenant slowly sat down, never breaking his stare with his attorney. In a calmer voice said, “I guess it really didn’t make much difference what I was charged with, or whether it was a rumor or not. They would have handed down the same sentence for jay-walking in my particular case.”
With a steely-eyed stare, the lieutenant said, “Do you think the fact that my direct supervisor was banging an enlisted man’s wife in the parking lot, or the fact that his boss, the operations officer got married to an enlisted woman should have been disclosed to the court? If I’m guilty, then so are they. What a joke all of this is.”
The conviction made the lieutenant realize just how rigged the military judicial system really was. The attorney said, “I’m sorry to say, the severity of the sentence is compounded by the fact that it’s a life sentence.
He continued, “From now on, every time you get stopped by a police car from this point forward, regardless of the infraction, they will treat you much differently and much more harshly. A felony conviction to a police officer is such that they are much more likely to slam you down to the pavement before asking any questions.”
The attorney kept looking at his watch, and the lieutenant surmised he had some sort of Christmas function he wanted to attend. He got the distinct feeling his attorney wanted to end the conversation and wash his hands of the whole matter. The lieutenant said goodbye counselor and walked out heading back to his office in the training building.
He said to the attorney, “I’d better get back to work otherwise they’ll court-martial me again, this time for being AWOL (absent without leave). I guess if they court-martial me again, I’m likely to get a firing squad for being late to work.”
PRESIDENT REAGAN
MAKES FRATERNIZATION A FELONY
Not long after his ascendancy to the presidency, Ronald Reagan approved some changes to the Uniform Code of Military Conduct (UCMJ). If an officer was charged with fraternization, it was considered a misdemeanor.
If an officer was charged with disobeying the “general order” against fraternization, it was considered a felony. In this way, commanders had a choice to file a charge of fraternization to yield a felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction. When Reagan became president, the choice was removed.
Once President Reagan approved the changes to the UCMJ, a conviction for a single count of fraternization, regardless of how the charges are drawn, is a felony conviction and the officer can receive up to two years in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas which is the prison exclusively reserved for military members.
Because the lieutenant was convicted of fraternizing and improperly submitting a travel claim for $75.51, he could have been sent to prison for over seven years. Conviction on both the charges aggravated the confinement punishment. In military vernacular, the punishment on both charges would become “multiplicitious.” In other words, there was a multiplying effect for being convicted on both charges.
If an officer buys any enlisted person a beer and calls them by their first name, he’s guilty of a felony and can be sentenced to two years in federal prison. This generally never happens, but the military has extraordinary power under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to levy severe punishment for a single count of fraternization.
An officer does not necessarily have to engage in a sexual relationship to be convicted of fraternization, just buy a beer and have a few laughs and the infraction has been made.
The military’s position is that fraternization can adversely affect the good order and discipline of the armed forces and needs to be dealt with accordingly. But in all legal charges, there are matters which mitigate, extenuate and aggravate the offense.
The fact the lieutenant was on a reserve naval base where fraternization was commonplace should have been a mitigating factor. The fact the lieutenant never received any money from the dubious travel claim should have been a mitigating factor.
But in the lieutenant’s case, there were not matters of mitigation or extenuation because they wanted him the hell off the base and out of the Navy. They had used their judicial system not necessarily to punish for infractions but to silence a whistle-blower.
It’s hard to believe, especially in today’s culture where the Navy is trying figure out ways to retrofit their ships so that transgender sailors can have their own restrooms, that a reserve naval officer can be given a felony conviction for fraternization, which bore no malice.
AFTER THE TRIAL
While the lieutenant did not expect any leniency from a jury comprised of regular naval officers, their decision to toss him out of the Navy was stunning none-the-less. All of the money the Navy spent to train him and all of his experience flying in virtually all kinds of weather with a perfect safety record accounted for absolutely nothing. When he thought about all the outrageously unlawful things he had witnessed in the military, it all seemed so unfair. But, as he was always told, “no one ever said life would be fair.”
The lieutenant, still dressed in his dress blue uniform went back to his office and sat quietly at his desk. The building which normally bustled with student aviators was totally quiet and pretty much abandoned because most everyone was on Christmas leave.
Colonel Middleton was the only one in his office. He was dying to know what the outcome of the trail would be. One of the custodians told Middleton, “The lieutenant is now in his office, I think the court-martial has adjourned.” Middleton strolled down passageways to the lieutenant’s office to see him sitting behind his desk with a blank stare.
Middleton asked, “Is it over? What happened?” The lieutenant broke his blank stare and looked at the colonel with a smile. “The vote was unanimous colonel. The Navy has decided I’m a dishonorable son of a bitch.”
Middleton was in total shock and disbelief, “You must be mistaken. They surely would not levy a dishonorable discharge for getting laid in the reserve Navy and a $75 travel claim you were never paid? That can’t be right.”
The lieutenant laughed and took a deep breath. “I want you to know sir, that I appreciated working with and for you over the past year while the Navy was weaving their little web around me. Were it not for you, all of this could have been much, much worse.”
Colonel Middleton refused to believe the lieutenant had really received a dishonorable discharge. Middleton hurried back to his office to verify if the information the lieutenant told him was indeed true.
Middleton hung up the phone and went back to the lieutenant’s office. He said, “My God, I’m so sorry this happened to you. It’s so wrong on so many levels.”
Middleton slumped into a chair and continued, “With all the shit that I have witnessed during my years on active duty, and now as a civil service employee. I just cannot believe they would have the unmitigated gall to dishonorably discharge you for making love to a woman, especially in the naval reserves.
The lieutenant interjected, “And by the way, she was not in my chain of command either.” Colonel Middleton continued, “I cannot begin to tell you of all the criminal misconduct I have heard of and personally witnessed in the military, some by people who went on to become flag-ranking military officers.”
The lieutenant leaned back in his chair, “My own commanding officer in San Diego used to throw away downing grips on aircraft because they would make him look bad.” That same commanding officer would end up killing a man on the Swan River in Australia. Instead of bringing him to justice, the Navy decided to promote him to Rear Admiral. The event was later annotated on page 192 in the book, “Fall From Glory” by Gregory Vistica.
The lieutenant leaned back in his chair and looked at the old retired Air Force colonel, “These things happen in life I guess, sir. Those assholes at Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas got the result they wanted; they finally got rid of me. Those same evil bastards attacked Chief Tuffariello by imprisoning him in a military mental hospital. They effectively branded him as a nut case. Now they are free to continue their graft and corruption without any worries or accountability.
In my case, a woman came to my door. It was hard for me to believe I was breaking any rules because my supervisor and my department head were doing the same thing. You just cannot imagine the difference between the regular and reserve navies.
The lieutenant moved to the window to look at parked aircraft knowing his naval career and his prospects as a civilian was now a train wreck. “The damn thing is colonel, there was never any malice involved. I just made love to a woman, a consenting adult. It’s so hard for me to believe that now I’m a convicted felon for making love to a woman. You know that if I were gay in today’s America, none of this would have happened to me.”
He quietly said, “Sir, I realize I am not on leave and you probably would not be permitted to authorize leave for me, but I was wondering if I could have the rest of the day off. All the students are gone for Christmas and…. “ The Colonel cut him off saying, “Not only take the rest of the day off but take all the time you want.”
The lieutenant rose up from his desk chair and shook the colonel’s hand. As he got to the door, Middleton asked him, “Do you think that you made her pregnant?” The lieutenant immediately snapped back, “My God I hope so.” Middleton looked puzzled.
The lieutenant continued, “Proof that I made her pregnant was never presented in court. I was convicted of a rumor. I’d hate to think I lost my naval career and went through all this hell only to find out the rumor was untrue. I found out the hard way that our military does not need proof in order to convict someone, a mere rumor will do.”
The lieutenant thought for a moment and said, “Sir, if’ I am responsible, then by God, I am responsible, but nothing should have been brought into that courtroom without absolute proof. My attorney was assigned by the Navy, and either didn’t really care about properly defending me, or knew it was a stacked deck and just went along, to go along.
The lieutenant looked at the floor and slowly raised his head to continue his line of thought. “My assigned attorney should have challenged the allegation as soon as it was brought into court, so all of us would know for sure, especially me as the accused! As it stands, there will always be lingering doubt until it is ultimately proven.”
Thirty years later the lieutenant when he saw pictures of the young woman he allegedly sired and heard of how she graduated high school a year early said to himself, “I pray God she is my daughter. Anyone would be honored to be related to someone that smart and beautiful and I would hate to discover that I lost my career all based on a lie.”
“WANT TO GO TO HAWAII?”
The days and months seem to drag on while his conviction was slowly making it’s way through the appeals process. The lieutenant was still on active duty teaching aviation ground school courses to the young pilots headed to the fleet.
Suddenly his supervisor Colonel Rick Middleton appeared at his office door who was head of the Navy’s ground school. The lieutenant looked at Col. Middleton and thought to himself, ‘Oh shit, what now?’
Col. Middleton sat down and asked, “How are you doing?” The lieutenant replied, “Under present circumstances, OK I guess.” The colonel smiled and explained that a very large Air Force plane had landed at NAS Corpus Christi to pick up new helicopters for transit to Hawaii, where they were going to unload the new ones, then fly back with some older aircraft that needed rehabilitation.
The colonel said he knew the pilots of the transport aircraft and said, “If you want to spend the weekend in Hawaii, you an be there in about seven hours.” The lieutenant said, “Sir, don’t I need leave papers for that?”
Middleton responded, “That’s the beauty of it. The Navy does not require leave papers providing you are back within 72 hours. So, what do you say? If you want to go, I’ll smooth it over with the plane commander. So, go pack your shit and jump on that big bastard out there,” as he pointed out the window to where the aircraft was parked.
Colonel Middleton could see the lieutenant’s legal problems were taking their toll. He wanted to cheer him up a bit with this special fun getaway to Hawaii. It was crazy, but a deal the lieutenant could not refuse. Within the hour, the lieutenant was heading to Hawaii.
The last time he was there was after his carrier was relieved by the USS Nimitz during the Iranian crisis and stopped in Hawaii for a couple days before heading home.
After landing, the lieutenant purchased a pair of sandals and classic Hawaiian print shirt and headed to the beach in Waikiki. He sat on a beach chair, wearing his aviator shades and sipping a Drambuie while staring at the Pacific Ocean.
He gazed at the breaking waves on the Hawaiian shore in almost disbelief. Only several hours prior, he was under house arrest in Texas for fraternizing.
SIX SHINY SHOES
On Sunday morning the lieutenant got up early to put on his uniform for the return flight back to Corpus Christi, Texas. He entered the terminal at Hickam Field, Hawaii and strolled up to the desk. An Air Force clerk approached and said, “Yes sir, how can I help you?” The lieutenant pointed at the big C-141 transport and said, “please put me on the passenger manifest for that aircraft.” The clerk said, “Yes sir, please provide a copy of your leave papers or a set of orders.”
The lieutenant explained that he didn’t have any and that he had arrived on that same aircraft two days ago without any leave papers or orders. The Air Force clerk explained to the Navy lieutenant that Air Force regulations would not allow him to be placed on the passenger manifest without either leave papers or on a set of orders.
The lieutenant explained that naval regulations only demanded such paperwork if the stay was longer than 72 hours. But the Air Force sergeant said with a grin, “But this is the Air Force and you are subject to Air Force regulations.”
The lieutenant demanded a phone to call back to Texas. He said, “Colonel Middleton, please. Hello Colonel, this is your favorite lieutenant in Hawaii, and I’m standing in the terminal with an Air Force sergeant who is refusing to put me back on the plane that I flew here in.” The colonel responded, “Put the sergeant on the phone.” Colonel Middleton and the sergeant had a brief conversation.
The sergeant held the phone out to the lieutenant saying, “He wants to speak with you.” Colonel Middleton told the lieutenant to get back to Texas any way he could even if that included purchasing a one-way ticket on a civilian air carrier from Hawaii back to Texas. The lieutenant said, “Jesus, do you know how much that will cost colonel.” The colonel said, “You may not have any other choice. I’ll cover for you until you get back here.”
As he handed the phone back to the sergeant he could see the sergeant had a big grin on his face. The lieutenant didn’t know what to do. He stood at the glass as the aircraft he came in on and which was returning back to Texas began to taxi away from the terminal. He remembered someone laughing about his dishonorable discharge for fraternization saying, “That was one expensive piece of ass.” The lieutenant thought to himself, ‘Anytime I get a piece of ass, it’s expensive.’
Not knowing what to do, he went over to the passenger lounge and sat down. With his head in his hands looking down at the floor, he suddenly saw six shiny shoes. He looked up to see a Navy senior chief with two Marines armed with M-16 rifles flanking him.
The first thought was that someone had discovered he had been sentenced to a dishonorable discharge and they were there to arrest him. His heart sank, thinking, ‘What the hell else is going to happen now?’
The lieutenant said, “Yes chief, how can I help you?” The senior chief said, “I’m with CINCPACFLT (Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet) and since you are the senior ranking naval officer in the terminal, you are being designated as a naval courier for two pallets of top-secret material destined for Washington D.C.”
The lieutenant from his boot camp days, that any senior ranking naval officer present can be designated as a naval courier and immediately taken from their present duties to escort classified information or equipment to a particular destination.
The lieutenant rose up initially to protest and suddenly it came to him, “Hey chief, does this duty come with a set of orders?” The chief responded, “Yes sir it does and also these two Marines are yours also.” The lieutenant said, “Where do I fucking sign?” After the paperwork was completed, the chief handed the Lieutenant his set of orders in the form of a COURIER DESIGNATION, and saluted the Lieutenant and said, “Have a good trip, sir.”
The lieutenant said, “Marines, follow me.” He went back to the manifest desk to see the grinning sergeant. The lieutenant said, “We’d like to be placed on the manifest for that aircraft over there.” The Air Force sergeant said, “Sir I thought I told you…” The lieutenant interrupted him saying, “You wanted fucking orders, well there you are,” laying his paperwork on the desk.
The lieutenant said, “Now put us on the manifest now and bring a staff car around to take us to the aircraft. Otherwise, I’ll tell these Marines to shoot you.” The Marines, upon hearing this and being proud Marines, snapped to attention with their weapons. Suddenly, the smirk from the Air Force clerk was gone. The lieutenant and his Marines were promptly taken to the aircraft.
The aircraft was heading for Washington D.C. with its secret cargo but had to stop over in Travis AFB for refueling before the final leg to Washington. While in the terminal, the lieutenant spotted an Air Force who appeared to be waiting for a flight. The lieutenant introduced himself and discovered the Air Force jockey was waiting to board the same aircraft heading for Washington.
The lieutenant said, “Hey if I buy you lunch would you be willing to escort some classified information to Washington with you?” The young Air Force captain said, “I’d be more than happy to.” With that, the lieutenant introduced him to the Marines and got his signature on the paperwork to properly transfer the responsibility as a courier of classified material.
As the lieutenant began his flight back to Texas, he was thinking to himself, “If I were so bad, then why did the Navy entrust to my care three pallets of top-secret information, after being found guilty at a general court martial and sentenced to a dishonorable discharge?”
SERENDIPITOUS ORDERS
Using those same orders, the lieutenant hopped a flight from Travis Air Force Base to San Antonio, Texas, then he boarded a bus to Corpus Christi. The next morning he walked back in his office. Colonel Middleton said, “I’m glad you came back, the commander was beginning to ask about you.”
The lieutenant explained to Colonel Middleton all that had happened including the fact the Navy had entrusted two pallets of top-secret information to an officer they had sentenced to a dishonorable discharge and a convicted felon.
The lieutenant said, “Colonel, I presume that once I was convicted, the Navy surely pulled my top-secret security clearance?” The colonel just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head and said, “If they convicted all the officers who made love to a woman in their own private room, after working hours and someone who was not in their chain of command as you did, they’d have to court martial about half of the reserve Navy.”
Even though the appeals process was far from over, the Navy decided they had to get rid of the lieutenant and made their move to dishonorably discharge him from the naval service. He was ordered to take a discharge physical.
The lieutenant was ORDERED to report to take a mental exam in preparation for kicking him off the base. It was a 20 page questionnaire and after about three pages, the lieutenant rose up and told the receptionist to tell the doctor he was not going to participate in this ridiculous mental examination.
The doctor chased him down the hallway asking him the standard questions, “Do you ever hear voices? Do you hate your mother? etc. etc.” The lieutenant said, “Go give the admiral a mental examination. It’s pretty stupid to have a seasoned lieutenant they paid millions of dollars training and toss him away like a paper cup. They are the ones who need a mental examination.”
One of the enlisted people who checked him out of the BOQ said, “Sir, I’m so very sorry you are being treated this way. It hurts us all. When the Navy punishes someone so severely as they did you, it makes all of us enlisted personnel feel like lepers. You got too close to the great unwashed.” The lieutenant shook her hand and departed to the pay office for his final check out before leaving the base.
The senior chief in charge of the disbursing department sat down and said, “Sir, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the Navy make such a stupid mistake as they are doing in your case. There are naval officers here who routinely pad their travel claims for a hell of a lot more than you were accused of. And, to think you never received any of the money from your travel claim tells me they were ready to do anything they could to get rid of you. It didn’t matter what it was for.”
The chief gave the lieutenant his last paycheck as a naval officer and shook his hand walking him to the door. The lieutenant, as he departed said, “Thanks chief, I appreciate all that you have done for me. Tell the rank and file this was not about them, but about the way the military uses its judicial system to silence and punish whistle-blowers.”
The lieutenant noticed that someone had painted with watercolor on the back window of his car the words, “California or I’ll play with your Bust.” He laughed as he drove over to say goodbye to Colonel Middleton. Middleton was waiting for him escorting him into his office.
He gave the lieutenant a picture of two German by-wing aircraft in a dogfight with a single RAF by-wing aircraft. Underneath the engraving, he had an engraved tag installed with the lieutenant’s name. As he gave it to the lieutenant, he asked, “Do you see the significance of the etching?”
The lieutenant said, “It’s two versus one with the evil ones trying to kill the good guy. I guess that says it all doesn’t it?” The colonel said, “You were outgunned, surrounded by the evil ones. You never really had a chance.” The lieutenant shook his hand and thanked him for all he had done.
He turned to notice the entire staff and several young student pilots standing there waiting to say goodbye. Some of the women began to cry as he slowly took his time to shake the hand of every single person there. The lieutenant turned at the door and said, “Thank all of you so very much, I wish I could stay, but I’ve been labeled as being dishonorable and you really don’t want to associate with anyone labeled as such.”
The lieutenant hopped in his little car and headed to leave the base. Normally the Marines stopped vehicles coming on to the base only, but today they were waiting for him and waved him off to the side.
The Marines surrounded his car as one knelt down in the front to scrap the military officer’s sticker off his bumper. The lieutenant was thinking as he watched the Marines, ‘This is where they break my sword and rip off my insignia. He wasn’t in uniform. All of his uniforms were thrown into a box in the trunk of his car.
Finally, the Marines waived him through the gate and after driving maybe 100 feet, the lieutenant entered the center lane and slammed on his brakes jumping out of the car. The Marines immediately assumed a defensive posture. The lieutenant stood up facing the gate kiosk and snapped a crisp salute saying, “This is the last fucking time I ever salute anyone.”
One of the Marines returned his salute. With that, he got back in his car heading for Pismo Beach, California. Technically, the lieutenant was still not out of the Navy. He was on appellate leave without pay.
NAVY USES MAFIA TACTICS
TO SEND A MESSAGE
When the mafia murdered someone, they usually sent a message by the way the individual was murdered. If the victim stole mafia money, his/her hands would be cut off. If they talked when they shouldn’t have, Murder Incorporated headed by Albert Anastasia would put the barrel of a gun in the victim’s mouth and pull the trigger.
The most important form a person separating from the military receives is the DD-214. Aside from the characterization of discharge, the “primary specialty” in block 11 is the most important information, which discloses what one did in the military.
With one last twist of the knife, the Navy intentionally and fraudulently entered incorrect information in the lieutenant’s DD-214 separation document.
Block 11 of the DD-214 form stated the lieutenant was an oral pathologist, and not the naval aviator he actually was while on active duty. The Navy would claim it was an innocent mistake, but it was done intentionally to send a message to anyone thinking of blowing the whistle on Navy brass.
An oral pathologist tries to help those with diseases of the mouth. The Navy believes that anyone who blows the whistle on ethical or legal misconduct has a “disease of the mouth.” Helping Chief Petty Officer Michael Tufariello when he discovered massive payroll fraud, they Navy viewed this as helping someone who had a disease of the mouth.
Instead of correctly stating the lieutenant’s primary job was that of a naval aviator, the Navy entered into the lieutenant’s DD-214 that he was an “oral pathologist.” The enlisted members who worked in the personnel office told the lieutenant it was done intentionally.
It would be hard enough for the lieutenant to obtain employment in the aviation industry with a felony conviction for dating an enlisted woman in the reserves, but now his employment quest was made even more difficult, because of the erroneous entry on his DD-214. The lieutenant found it more difficult to prove he was actually flying naval aircraft for the past ten years. Here is a copy of the fraudulently constructed DD-214 FORM.
When he spoke to the vice president of Delta Airlines about his job application, he was asked by a confused airline executive, “I didn’t know you were a doctor, for Heaven sake. When did you find the time to fly airplanes?
The lieutenant painfully discovered that evil and vindictive retribution by the United States Navy knew no bounds. The Navy did all they could to make sure the lieutenant could not use his aviation skills in the civilian sector by declaring to all those who read his DD-214 form that he wasn’t an aviator, he was allegedly an “oral pathologist.”
The lieutenant went back to the administration building, but they just laughed at the so-called “innocent mistake” refusing to correct the document. They told him to vacate the building or military police would be summoned to forcibly remove him.
But, claiming the lieutenant was an Oral Pathologist wasn’t the only mistake false-entry entered to his DD-214. Below is a list of those we know about…
- In Block 11, the Navy categorically stated the lieutenant was an “Oral Pathologist” when he was actually a naval aviator flying off an aircraft carrier.
- In Block 11, the Navy attributes the number “0580” to the primary specialty “Oral Pathologist. According to the Navy’s own personnel manuals, code “0580” is for an enlisted dental hygienist. The number has no correlation to either an “Oral Pathologist” or “Naval Aviator.”
- In Block 13, the Navy failed to disclose ALL the ribbons awarded. The DD-214 reveals only four (4) ribbons, of the seven (7) total he was awarded. The ribbons shown on the DD-214 are…
Sea Service Deployment ribbon with Bronze Star
Navy Expeditionary Medal
Navy “E” ribbon
Meritorious Unit CommendationThe ribbons the Navy failed to enter on the lieutenant’s DD-214 form were…
National Defense Service ribbon
Humanitarian Service ribbon
Navy Pistol Marksmanship ribbon - In Block 14, the Navy failed to disclose the lieutenant had successfully completed the Navy legal officers course that he attended at Naval Base San Diego, California AKA: 32nd Street Naval Station. The Navy also failed to mention the completion of the Anti-Submarine Warfare School.
- In Block 18, the Navy categorically stated, “member did not receive a dental examination prior to separation.” They didn’t mention the lieutenant repeatedly asked for a dental examination prior to separation, but the Navy summarily refused in violation of their own separation procedures.
- In Block 24, the Navy entered “xxxxxxxxxxx” where they should have entered “character of service.” Some in the VA have claimed that a dismissal is tantamount to a dishonorable discharge, but there’s nothing in writing from either the VA or the Navy that specifically indicates that a dismissal is equal to a dishonorable discharge.
- In Block 25, the Navy categorically stated, the separation authority was, “Article 71B, UCMJ,” but there is no Article 71 in the UCMJ which eludes to an authority to discharge.
- In Block 26, the Navy categorically stated, the “separation code” was, “JHG,” but no “JHG” separation code exists in the naval personnel manuals.
To this day, no one knows what the lieutenant’s “character of service” was, or why the Navy intentionally or through bumbling ineptitude, made numerous false-entries into his DD-214. The lieutenant believes this was all orchestrated, done intentionally to dog his trail throughout his life.
It took thirteen (13) years to get the Navy to finally admit the lieutenant was never a doctor, but a pilot instead. Thus far, the Navy has failed to correct all the other false-entries entered into the lieutenant’s DD-214. Was it all bumbling ineptitude, or was it all orchestrated by design to create turmoil in the lieutenant’s life, for the rest of his life?
THE “DISMISSAL” OF THE LIEUTENANT
On November 24, 1986, the Lieutenant received his DISMISSAL from the naval service. The Court of Military Appeals upheld the court’s decision.
For some reason, the Navy did not have the courage or leadership to fill in Block 24 of the lieutenant’s DD-214 which would have resolved all the confusion about his characterization of service. The lieutenant’s “character of service” is open to interpretation which causes confusion.
MORE SALT IN THE WOUNDS
During the work up for his court martial, the lieutenant was notified he had been selected for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in a LETTER of notification from the Bureau of Naval Personnel.
The lieutenant sought help from a prominent criminal defense attorney in San Antonio, Texas, Rudy Taylor Monsalvo. He charged the lieutenant $4,200 to send this LETTER. The Monsalvo law office through one of the staff attorneys asked the convening authority for clemency for the lieutenant with this LETTER.
The Navy denied any clemency. The lieutenant’s “dismissal” for fraternization and a $75 travel claim became a life sentence. And, because the Navy intentionally screwed up his DD-214, he was rendered virtually unemployable except for menial minimum wage jobs which had little prospect of upward mobility. His punishment was indeed severe, and designed to impoverish the lieutenant for life.
A “DICK” IN THE SKY
We only mention it because it’s an interesting comparison of how a pilot can piss away thousands of dollars in jet fuel and get a little slap on the hand, and the lieutenant is crucified for making love to a woman and a $75 travel claim.
It was an interesting time in November of 2017, one person after another in government was being accused of activities ranging from sexual harassment to rape. At the same time many of Hollywood’s dirty little secrets were leaking into the news.
Just about the same time when the lieutenant was receiving his phone call from the Veterans Administration approving his application for health benefits, a Navy pilot decided to use his jet to draw a huge penis in the sky over Okanogan County in Washington State. The civilians took photos of his creative artwork and sent them into the local TV station (KREM-TV).
If the aircraft was one of the Navy’s F-18s, it has a fuel capacity of 16,380 lbs, and begs the question, how much jet fuel did it take to draw a dick in the sky? What was the cost to the taxpayers for this phallic drawing activity?
The lieutenant had been convicted at a general court-martial for fraternizing in the naval reserves and submitting a $75 travel claim that he never received any money for. The artistic naval aviator received a slap on the hand for his porno antics in the delirious burning blue in the Washington sky.
The pilot was not court-martialed for the fuel he wasted to draw a sky phallus even though the cost to draw it, no doubt, amounting to thousands of dollars in jet fuel alone. If one factors in the cost of maintenance on the jet, including the personnel necessary to keep the jet in ready status, the total cost to taxpayers was certainly much higher than a $75 travel claim.
Equal Justice Under Law is a difficult thing to achieve, especially with a military judicial system which was created to be carefully controlled. It was designed not to be a fair arbiter of justice, but to protect the military system.
One thing is for sure, skywriting a hundred-mile dick in broad daylight is nearly impossible for the Navy to cover-up. If they could have, they surely would have.
THE POLITICALLY INCORRECT WHO SAVED THE WORLD
It was common practice in the military during World War II, to paint a beautifully provocative figure on the nose of military aircraft. Suffice it to say, that military members weren’t very politically correct in those days. Yes, it was a different time.
The thought of convening a court-martial against a military pilot for fraternization and a $75 travel claim would have been laughable.
Here are but a few artistic designs from the politically incorrect bastards who saved America (and the world) from tyranny…
It’s possible that most of America’s women were more concerned about potentially losing the war, rather than demanding the court-martial of hundreds of aircrews responsible for painting risque figures on their aircraft. The lieutenant’s own father who was fighting the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands and no doubt flew aircraft donned with similar alluring photos.