SEAL shenanigans in the spotlight (again)
Navy Times
By: Carl Prine
July 24, 2019
Officials at Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, are calling it “a perceived deteriorating of good order and discipline during non-operational periods."
U.S. Navy Sea, Air, and Land team members conduct military field operations during exercise Trident 18-4 at Hurlburt Field, Florida, on July 11th, 2018. (Staff Sgt. Corban Lundborg/Air Force)
The commander of the Special Operations Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve has booted a SEAL Team 7 platoon from Iraq due to a booze-fueled July 4th party, Navy Times has learned.
Officials at Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, are calling it “a perceived deteriorating of good order and discipline during non-operational periods."
In a prepared statement released Wednesday evening, SOCOM said that the joint task force commander lost confidence in the team’s ability to accomplish the mission and the SEALs are now on a “deliberate redeployment” to Naval Amphibious Base Coronado near San Diego.
“All Department of Defense personnel are expected to uphold proven standards and to comply with laws and regulations,” the statement read. “Alleged violations are thoroughly investigated.”
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'Mass Arrest' of US Marines on Camp Pendleton
NBC 7 News San Diego
By Bridget Naso and R. Stickney
July 25, 2019
The Marines were arrested based on information gained from a previous human smuggling investigation, military officials said
Sixteen Marines were arrested during battalion formation at Camp Pendleton Thursday, accused of illegal activities ranging from drug-related offenses to human smuggling, officials said.
Officials with the 1st Marine Division of the U.S. Marine Corps said representatives with Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) were also involved in what they called the “mass arrests.”
The Marines - all E-2 to E-4 in rank - were arrested based on information gained from a previous human smuggling investigation, military officials said.
NBC 7 first reported the news that two Camp Pendleton-based Marines were arrested earlier this month and accused of transporting undocumented immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border near Tecate.
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A Vietnam veteran needed help. The government gave him a “bad paper” discharge instead
McClatchy News
BY EMMA DUMAIN AND TARA COPP
JULY 25, 2019
“What person in their right mind would serve the country honorably and then come back and go AWOL? I had to have been nuts.” Charles Smith
WASHINGTON
When Charles Smith came home after two years in Vietnam during one of the bloodiest periods of the conflict, he was a traumatized 21-year-old who needed help.
But all he could think about in 1969 was getting away from the military and “drinking myself to death.”
Smith — now 70 years old and living in Conway, S.C. — displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a condition that wasn’t formally recognized by the U.S. medical community until 1980. He dealt with his pain by going Absent Without Leave, or AWOL.
That action affected the rest of his life.
He received an “undesirable” discharge in 1971, which at the time was a subcategory of “less than honorable.” Smith’s mental state and his exposure to combat weren’t part of the evaluation.
That became a double injury, because the designation meant Smith would not be eligible to get medical or mental health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, or any financial benefits like disability payments, housing loans and education.
He is among tens of thousands of veterans who have experienced that same type of military separation, even though they are often among the troops who need care the most. Veterans believe many of these discharges are undeserved and call them “bad paper.”
“It’s taking time. That’s more suffering mentally, physically and spiritually, really, because you still will continue to drink or use drugs or whatever you want to escape,” he continued. “And most folks get discouraged, because they’re taking ‘No’ for an answer.”
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Marine vet sentenced to 4 years in federal prison for scamming money from Gold Star mom, Marine families
Marine Corps Times
By: Shawn Snow
July 23, 2019
Court documents revealed that the victims of Simpson’s charity scam included active-duty Marines and the mother of a Marine killed in the 2015 attack on the military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Simpson was ordered to pay restitution of $141,709.44 to the victims of his charity scam, dubbed Marines and Mickey, where Simpson bilked people into donating money to help Marines and families attend Disney and Marine boot camp graduation.
Marine veteran John Shannon Simpson was sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud, United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced Tuesday.
Simpson was ordered to pay restitution of $141,709.44 to the victims of his charity scam, dubbed Marines and Mickey, where Simpson bilked people into donating money to help Marines and families attend Disney and Marine boot camp graduation, the release detailed.
Sentencing was handed down by United States District Judge David C. Norton of Charleston, South Carolina, who also sentenced Simpson to three years of supervised release following his prison term, according to a press release.
Simpson will serve his prison term consecutively with a nine year state sentence for sexual assault he is already serving in Florida.
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Vietnam veterans honor a fallen soldier 50 years later
CBS News
By STEVE HARTMAN
July 19, 2019
But like a lot of Vietnam vets, especially, they find it hard to mourn the loss of a fellow soldier, without also mourning their own survival.
Chester, Illinois — At a cemetery in Illinois, Perry Dotson is 50 years late for the funeral of Army Pfc. Leonard Nitzsche. Lt. Dotson was Leonard's platoon leader in Vietnam, when, in April 1970, their group was attacked and Leonard was killed. They loaded his body on a helicopter and immediately, the platoon went back to the war.
"That was the extent of our grieving. And it just hit me one day, I woke up and I thought, 'I never had a chance to say thank you.' Maybe I just needed some finality," Perry said.
When Perry mentioned this pilgrimage to some of the other guys in his platoon, he found out something he hadn't considered before: That he wasn't alone and there were others who felt the exact same way.
So, they came, too. Tim Roland flew in from McAllen, Texas. Ernie Levesque drove out from Springfield, Massachusetts, and Glenn Fox came from Newport, Nebraska. On arrival, they met Leonard's sister, Linda, at the cemetery. Everyone gathered to pay their respects to Leonard.
"That's why this is so important to us today, because we never got to do this when it happened," Glenn said.
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South Florida is a top home buyer’s market for millennial veterans, study finds
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
By JOHNNY DIAZ
JUL 24, 2019
"South Florida has a lot to offer veterans and military families, from cultural and lifestyle amenities to a strong economy with relatively low unemployment,'' said Chris Birk, director of education at Veterans United Home Loans.
FILE - In this July 22, 2015 file photo, a "sold" sign is posted outside a Harbor Beach neighborhood home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Standard & Poor’s releases its 20-city home price index for August on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File) (The Associated Press)
Millennial veterans and service members looking to put down some roots are keen on South Florida.
A new study found that the Miami-Fort-Lauderdale-Pompano-Beach metro area ranked No. 6 nationally in the number of millennial veterans purchasing homes. That’s according to an analysis by Veterans United Home Loans, which defined millennial veterans or service members as people who were born between 1981 and 1996.
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