Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that he has forwarded recommendations to the Army for disciplinary action against supervisors of the accused Ft. Hood shooter.
The LA Times reports.
The report recommends clarifying for unit commanders their responsibility in identifying people who could pose a threat. Unit commanders, according to the report, must become attuned to indicators of behavioral problems or the potential for violence or radicalization.
Larson said Hutchinson’s command did offer her child-care options when her plan fell through, but did not specify if those options included foster care, as was alleged by Courage to Resist.
"So far, Spc. Hutchinson has chosen not to take advantage of any of those options," Larson said. "A well-known veterans group was one of the groups offering to assist Spc. Hutchinson in caring for her child during her deployment. This group has an accredited child-care facility for soldiers in just these circumstances."
Coastal Courier reports. No specifics yet on a court-martial trial date.
You’ll have seen various reports about the pending prosecution of CPT Bjork for allegedly ordering some Iraqi officers to shoot two Iraqi civilians (I have few here, and here). There is a report in The US Report.
[T]he accusers are 3 former Iraqi police and a former Iraqi intel officer who are currently detainees in Iraq.
Reports have also surfaced that the detainees were allowed to speak with each other about their claims.
Reporting from Washington – Between five and eight Army officers are expected to face discipline for failing to take action against the accused Ft. Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, over a series of behavioral and professional problems in the years leading up to the November rampage.
Reports the LA Times. No word on the status of the R.C.M. 706 proceedings, when an Article 32, UCMJ, hearing might be scheduled, or a court-martial held in the Fort Hood slayings.
GALESBURG, Illinois – Tonight a Quad City area soldier is in Afghanistan being forced to stay to face charges connected to pictures his mother sent to him. The mother says the pictures were designed to ease the homesickness of life on the warfront but she had no idea they would lead to a child pornography investigation and months of wondering whether the accusations would bring charges.
The child is a relative whom the family says Billy treated as his own child when the girl was diagnosed with cancer as her father went through boot camp. Her father told us he can’t believe the charges, especially since they’re on other family computers and on Facebook pages and no one else has been investigated.
"I feel he is a prisoner of something I sent to him", said Terri, "and I can’t do nothing for him."
The Army says Billy will stay in Afghanistan until he faces court martial or there are other recommendations. The family is worried for Billy’s mental health. They’ve noticed changes that they blame on the months of not knowing and spending nearly 17 months in Afghanistan. They hope he can receive the help he needs soon and hope it comes on American soil.
The commanding officer of the Yokosuka, Japan-based cruiser Cowpens was relieved of duty Wednesday after being punished for “cruelty and maltreatment” during her time in charge, the Navy announced. In an unusual move, she is being permitted to continue on to an assignment in the Pentagon.
Capt. Holly Graf was brought before an admiral’s mast with Rear Adm. Kevin Donegan, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 5, after an inspector general’s investigation found problems with her “temperament and demeanor vis-a-vis her subordinates,” said Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for 7th Fleet.
Her continuing into a job to which she had already been assigned is unusual for a Navy captain who has been relieved; many fired COs are assigned to the staff of their parent command and their careers effectively ended.
The United States military has decided to refer charges against an Army captain from Evergreen who is accused of ordering Iraqi officers to kill two Iraqi civilians.
Army Times reports.
The Army has filed court-martial charges against Alexis Hutchinson, an Army cook who refused to deploy to Afghanistan because she couldn’t find anyone to look after her 1-year-old son.
The court-martial charges are AWOL and missing movement, offenses under the UCMJ.
The trial for the Navy SEAL accused of punching an alleged al-Qaida terrorist while in U.S. custody in Iraq has been postponed until May 3, but the trial will remain in Norfolk.
Capt. Moira Modzelewski granted government prosecutors the continuance on the grounds that most of the evidence in the case is still undergoing a classification review and has yet to be seen by either the prosecution or the defense.
Navy Times reports.
Two officers accused of stealing stealing classified material from an underground missile launch facility at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota have been allowed to resign rather than face courts-martial, the military said Wednesday.
A hearing was held in September 2008 to determine whether Borowiecki would face a trial. A supervisor. Capt. David Walbeck, testified at the hearing that Borowiecki wanted the domino-size device as a souvenir because he thought it would be "a cool thing to have." Walbeck also testified that had the technology been compromised, it could have led to "unintended detonation" of a nuclear missile.
The Air Force later downplayed Walbeck’s statement, saying the launch device is one of many safeguards that must work together to ensure security.
The Air Force has said Borowiecki told officials that Abbas had lied by saying he destroyed his device. The Air Force refused to confirm whether that device remains missing.
LA Times reports.
Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog