-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! ARTICLE 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corruption in the Office of Navy JAG? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: An intriguing case that will leave you with many questions. Maybe it warrants another, much closer look to ensure that true justice is served. After all, as George Washington once stressed - soldiers (all military people) are citizens too. We're interested in your opinions --send your comments to Mark Crissman, [EMAIL PROTECTED] *********************************************************** By Paul Connors and Mark Crissman Sr. Air Force & Navy Editors Walter Fitzpatrick, a 20-year retired Navy officer who has two steel pins in his shoulder from a helicopter crash in the Arabian Gulf in 1987, was convicted at a special court martial in 1990. Since then, he has single-handedly labored to restore his record and his honor. Despite clear evidence of unlawful command influence in his court-martial, Navy lawyers stand defiantly in the way of his Constitutional right to a fair trial. The Office of the Navy Judge Advocate General refuses to grant retrial or appeal. As Executive Officer of USS MARS (AFS-1), LCDR Fitzpatrick held responsibility of the Navy's number one Auxiliary Fleet Ship. These floating fleet industrial supply centers are what make our "blue water Navy" global by nature. Destined for command at sea of a destroyer, his career was torpedoed by his own chain of command. As you read through this military justice obstacle course, ask how anyone could have survived? The following list of evidence was taken from facts contained and released in records in the case of the United States v. Walter F. Fitzpatrick through the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). Several criminal complaints have been filed by Fitzpatrick in this case: The Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) was assigned as the preliminary investigating officer. Witness statements were taken and hidden. Witnesses were "gagged" or otherwise influenced or pressured. Crucial documents were collected as evidence, never to be seen again. Conflicts of interest arose and were dismissed by the Admiral/Convening Authority. The investigating command retained control of the court martial even though legally mandated to divest investigative responsibilities. Non-crimes were contorted into alleged criminal acts. The SJA orally briefed the Admiral/CA without written investigation report. A list of recommended charges was presented. The Admiral/CA made his choices; whereupon the SJA later wrote his first report. The report declared the accused "guilty" before the trial even began. Investigation reports were buried. An alternative form of disciplinary action, known as Captains Mast was not properly offered. A forced Court-Martial ensued. The CA, as one of the accusers, with the assistance of his SJA the other accuser, selected potential jurors from the staff social roster of Combat Logistics Group 1. Three CLG-1 jurors were chosen despite the availability of numerous unprejudiced personnel from surrounding impartial Navy commands. One juror who was legally challenged from judgment was later called as a prosecution witness. A contrived review process, punctuated by a confession prepared and forged by the defense attorney (using the accused's name), given to the SJA accuser, was inserted into the official record after the trial. And recently, ten years after the original trial, crucial pages have gone missing from the record of trial. The Oklahoma Bar Association is actively investigating two Navy lawyers who participated in this miscarriage of justice. At Fitzpatrick's trial, 39 of 40 charges were returned with a verdict of not guilty. Fitzpatrick was found guilty of one felony count of mismanaging MWR funds. The felony was later downgraded to a misdemeanor in January of 1993. Former LT Matthew Bogoshian, the Navy officer who prosecuted the 40-charge case against him, now says there was little to support any of it. Congressional inquiries into Fitzpatrick's case by Congressman Norm Dicks, and Senators Slade Gorton and Patty Murray have also been stymied. SFTT has requested Post Trial Advice through FOIA requests that have been to date denied. This public information, which is legally recorded in his record of trial has been refused. The Navy must abide by the laws of the land and do more than pay lip service to the Constitution it and its members are sworn to uphold and defend. Walt Fitzpatrick clearly did not get a fair trial. It is time for the Navy to hand over records in Fitzpatrick's case. Citizen soldiers designed the Uniform Code of Military Justice enacted in 1951. It's implementation after World War II by those prescient warriors was clearly intended to protect the rights of America's most precious commodity. Since the UCMJ was enacted, hundreds of cases throughout the military justice system have been appealed and overturned for undue command influence. None of the abusing commanders have been prosecuted, much less convicted for their offenses. Zero. The Fitzpatrick case is a prime example of a past case, brought into the present, where Pentagon officials have covered up and protected the misdeeds of their pals. For Senators Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy and Representatives Henry Hyde and John Conyers, ranking members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, a probe the Office of Navy JAG for unlawful command influence in the U.S. v. Fitzpatrick is long overdue. Violation of Article 37 of the UCMJ (unlawful command influence) cannot go unpunished. The UCMJ must also be changed to incorporate a process for random jury selection. Walt Fitzpatrick is one American whose career was effectively ruined by the venality and vindictiveness of a small group of officers. If an institution can wrongly prosecute one of its own, then, no one is safe from the possibility of wrongful prosecution and conviction. =========================================================== ARTICLE 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Guard issues: Air National Guard/Reserves oftentimes more experienced ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: Stu Crocket makes an important point when he says that my recent article about Guard/Reserves showed a slant towards my experiences with ground forces. He is absolutely right to point out that the fliers in Air Guard and Reserve are oftentimes much more experienced than their active counterparts. We have total agreement on the fact that even these more experienced assets should only be used when the national interest is clear. ************************************************************ By Stu Crockett, Texas I take it that your perspective about the National Guard and Reserves is from your Army view. Admittedly my own perspective is a little dated. I served on active Duty in the AF from May '71 to Dec '76 and the ANG (George Bush's old unit) from then until May '92. The difference between the active duty AF and Guard/Reserves is the experience level. During this period the average flying time for an active duty fighter squadron was in the 500-1000 hours range. In the Guard we'd pick up aircrew after 6-8 years of active duty. Our average flying time was well over 2000 hours per pilot. There was a period several years ago when one AF general directed that aircrew would wear small stars on the sleeve of the flight suit. There would be a silver star for every 500 hours of flying time and a gold one for combat time. When we interfaced with active duty units, we'd see an occasional gold star and most had zero to two silver stars. The squadron commander might have three. Many of our people had six or eight stars with a couple being gold. (This was prior to Desert Storm) >From the maintenance standpoint, the typical flight line guy that I'd deal with on active duty had at most three stripes (E4), but more often one or two stripes. When I got to the Guard, most flight line types (crew chiefs) were E6 or higher. Granted these were full time technicians but the confidence we had in the jets was unsurpassed. I remember one of the crew chiefs telling a WWII story when I first got in the ANG. These guys have been turning wrenches on jets for their whole careers. On active duty they'd either get out after the first tour (and we'd get them) or stay in had to get off the flightline (or out of the cockpit) to show "career broadening" if they wanted to get promoted. This was the case whether you were talking about a driver or a maintainer. There is one point from your article that is very valid. The ANG/Reserves have civilian jobs. Most served willingly when called up for Desert Shield/Storm because they saw the national interest. They were willing to "take heat' from employers and many employers saw the national interest as well. Today our military's (active and reserve) commitments are "pizza delivery and meals on wheels". They don't see the national interest. Many do not want to risk civilian careers for these "missions". I hear my old unit has trouble getting F-16 pilots. They get a cush airline pilot job but still have the desire to serve. But when they find out the commitments, deployments, family separations, etc. they say that is why they left active duty. =============================================================== ARTICLE 6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Guard Readiness - The 48th Brigade was Ready but Not Willing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: What is the truth? I received this response to my recent article about Total Army integration. The writer presents a totally different perspective why the 48Th Brigade was decertified from wartime deployment by Army leadership during exercises at the National Training Center (NTC) and questions some of the "official feedback" that became public opinion. Does this kind of problem still exist and how do we fix it? We want your input, please. *********************************************************** By L. J. I was a member of the Iowa Guard Maintenance Battalion that supported the 48Th Brigade during its training at the NTC, in preparation for deployment to the Gulf War. The truth of that is that the unit WAS ready for war. It wasn't the Army's fault. They were WELL trained. At least from our perspective, they simply did not want to fight. They played stupid. Figuring that they would not pick them for overseas duty, most of the unit refused to train, did not want to go to war, and deliberately destroyed their equipment, refused orders, trashed the post bowling alley, the EM club, constantly fought, deliberately threw the war games, and just plain would not cooperate. These people were stubborn as hell. Many figured if they sucked bad enough, they wouldn't get sent. A couple companies were up to speed, but the morale of the rest of the brigade just dragged them down. They didn't care to fight, and most were homesick and wanted to go home. Many platoons boycotted the whole thing and refused to take orders, hiding their tracks and disappearing back to post, only to get caught by the MP's and dragged back out in the field to b punished. I heard this countless times from their troops as we worked on their equipment, and always saw their troops hiding out in the clubs and the PX when they should have been involved in the training. They blamed their poor performance on the equipment, which supposedly broke down all the time. But much of the damage to the equipment were such acts of stupidity that they could have easily been construed as deliberate. You should have seen what they did to the tracks and the field radios! I was serving with a maintenance unit supporting the training equipment the rotating units borrowed to train with. We had to go out into the field and do recovery and on site repairs. The equipment was fully operational when given to them. And it was fully repaired for the unit after them. We were a good maintenance unit and that equipment was the best it had been in years when it was issued to them, and the entire command knew it. And they knew the brigade was trained well prior to activation. There was no excuse for their poor performance. Every day, we put up with bad morale from these people, and were repairing their equipment. The attitude was when we would show up on site to fix a track, "take your time, the longer it's broken the longer we can sit around and do nothing!" They would pitch up awnings and lawn chairs and barbecue while we worked, and even after the equipment was fixed. They would radio in and say their equipment was still down, when it wasn't. It seemed like every day they were hunting for AWOLs and deserters. They had to repeat through three three-week training rotations, and set back the training of other units waiting to take the field. Many enlisted lost at least one reduction in pay grade for their misconduct on post. It was rumored on post that several officers in the brigade resigned their commission as well, and several NCO's were stripped of rank. Whether that is true or not, I don't know. But for sure, no one in the unit was allowed to wear the US ARMY patch on their uniforms and no displaying of rank as punishment for their rag-tag behavior. The last standing order from the post Commander was that they would "remain on this god forsaken fort, rotting in the desert until the day of rapture or until they all come together as a unit and decide to fight for our country." They were there long after the cease-fire in the Gulf. They lived in tents in the desert as far away from post as the army could get them. They ate MREs, and bathed in canteen water during their entire stay. The post was ordered not to allow any of the 48th Brigade members on post, and if any were seen on post, to contact the MP unit. Bottom line, they were left to rot in the Mohave until they would begin to cooperate. They never decided to continue with the mission nor comply with any of the Army's orders. They were eventually sent home, and were given permission for voluntary general discharges for those who did not want to stay in. My take on it all is that the Georgia 48th Brigade might as well have mutinied to keep from going to war. There is no other way to explain it all. Others on post informed us that something wasn't right, because the unit was top notch and scored high marks. They had been labeled one of the best armored units in the entire army, and were very good during their last training exercise the year before. I just wanted to convey that to you, so you know that they were the best and largest armored brigade in the country, but THEY laid down when it really counted. It was not the National Guard's fault or training and certainly not the Army's. The best plans in the military can fail if the troops refuse to obey or their morale is at an all-time low. ============================================================ ARTICLE 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Navy: A Case for Equal Standards for All ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: How Naval aviation survival training has suffered from social engineering. ************************************************************ By Ashley Evans I have been reading commentary in your newsletter regarding the upcoming election and questions some of our personnel have raised. One that hit home was in the 9/20/00 issue from a Army drill sergeant about Sensitivity and Consideration training. I was a Naval Aviation Survival Instructor for two tours with the Navy. I saw countless instances of the dumbing down of our forces for years ('91-'93 and '95-'96). We had one minority female who had a phobia of water and as such we were required to utilize two male instructors per remedial session with her. After four progress review boards she was finally transferred to another designator that wouldn't require such high standards of survivability. One of my senior enlisted instructors observed a white male hiding in the head while his class conducted a graded cross-country course. As the class returned he slipped out among them after splashing water on his face to "simulate" his exhaustion. He blatantly lied about running the course and his scores. After being given three additional opportunities to complete the course (of which he failed each one and lied about each of the timed events while an instructor was observing with a stop watch) he was finally dropped from the program. During my tenure I was also able to observe tremendous changes in the "Obstacle Course" to better fit the role women were playing in our new Navy. One particular obstacle was a 14' wall with a rope climb which the women were not required to climb. This was followed by a 6' wall which they were required to manually climb over (the men were required to climb an 8' wall). The 14' wall was deemed by the politically correct higher ups to be a bad moral builder and poor enforcer of political correctness so it was changed to be a 14' cargo net climb. This was done so that the women would feel more "empowered". And if that wasn't enough the Drill Instructors at NAS Pensacola have always been USMC Drill Instructors. When I attended AOCS and was "cared" for by SSGT Rick Bowling USMC, the cursing that I and my classmates received was rivaled only by that seen in the movie, "Full Metal Jacket". Once again the political correctness of the higher ups felt that any type of cursing at recruits was detrimental to them and that they should be treated with the utmost respect as human beings. After all, wars are fought against other human beings and as such shouldn't we really care for and revere our adversaries more than we do for our brothers (and sisters of course) in arms? All this reduction of standards did nothing toward furthering our readiness. Instead, it has lowered the quality of all our recruits to meet minority and female quotas that subsequently weaken our military through this "political affirmative correctness action". ========================================================= ARTICLE 8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Use us for the Proper Reasons, not just to bail out the Regulars ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed: Representative for the numerous responses I received on the proper use of our Guard and Reserves. Use them right and they'll fight! Thanks for all the feedback. *************************************************************************** By MAJ John M. Hear, hear! As a National Guardsman for the last 20 years, you have described my sentiments exactly. I raised my right hand those twenty years ago as a conscious decision to be ready to DEFEND this country AND serve my local community. I did not raise my right hand to become one of the world's policemen or a drug cop. The current trend is a shift in strategic thinking and the nation hasn't been asked about it. To use the reserve components in the manner in which it is being used flies in the face of what the force has been designed for. One thing your article didn't address was the fact that the current missions being assigned to the RC force are those for which they haven't been trained. Soldiers are not policemen and policemen are not soldiers. Is there a Special Skill Identifier producing course we can send our soldiers to? Is peacekeeping to become a METL task? If so, when are our MTOE's going to reflect riot gear? *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! ****************************************************************************** ******************* A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies! A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America! Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America! Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan! Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey... 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