Another O-6 facing an Article 32
Greg and ARNG have sent us links to this story about Colonel Jeffrey Pounding, the deputy director of the National Guard Bureau’s strategic plans and policy directorate (J-5). I guess he’s facing charges of knowingly exposing a woman to HIV, according to the Army Times;
Pounding is accused of having unprotected sex with a woman who is not his wife during three different time periods, according to the charge sheet against him.
According to the charges, Pounding exposed his partner to the HIV virus, “a means likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm,” through unprotected sex between Nov. 1, 2009, and May 31, 2010, in Bryan, Texas.
Another incident occurred Dec. 6-9, 2010, in Arlington, Virginia. A third incident is alleged to have occurred Sept. 6-9, 2011, in Southern Pines, North Carolina, according to the charge sheet.
The article says that during that period, Pounding knew he had HIV. Are they sure that convicting him of this particular crime won’t violate his privacy? That was sarcasm, by the way.
Category: Military issues
Failure to warn potential partners of HIV status is a MAJOR driver of the spread of this disease.
(facepalm)
From the Army Times article, it’s unclear if the guy is RC on extended active duty or AC. If he’s RC on extended active duty, whatDisregard the previous striken text – I took a good look at this tool’s ribbon rack. He’s sporting 5x ARCAMs, which means he’s been RC for a loooong time (at least 15 years).
So: what I want to know is why the guy is still on active duty apparently 5 years after diagnosis. From DoDI 6485.01, effective 13 June 2013, Enclosure 3, para 2.d:
I’m pretty sure most positions at NGB are AGR slots. I also believe RC officers on extended active duty (like those in the AGR program) have to reapply periodically for continued service – every 3 years or so. If he’s RC, I’m wondering how he managed to qualify for continuation on extended active duty given the above.
He’s a Title 10 AGR.
Help me out, Bobo; that wasn’t my career path, so my knowledge is both quite dated and somewhat cursory regarding the AGR program. Don’t Title 10 AGRs still have to reapply for AD at the end of each set of orders – typically every 3 years or so? As I recall, they did in the 1990s – but that was 15+ years ago now, and a lot has changed since then.
A title 10 officer would have to be reviewed after 3 years. At that time if that officer is chosen to remain on title 10 they are indefinite just as their Active Component counterparts. A title 10 officer is no different than any other active officer save one; they are a member of a state National Guard. This means that they are subject to recall by their Governor at any time.
Also, in the ARNG T-10 program, soldiers are boarded once at the three year point for retention in the program. Anyone (everyone) selected by the board becomes an indefinite AC, and can only be removed by board, voluntary removal, or retirement.
OK, that explains it. Thanks.
Under the previous rules, he’d have been long gone.
There are plenty of slugs under the rocks of the ARNG T-10 program who should have been tossed out a long time ago. There is more then one hanging out with a court martial conviction roaming the halls and looking forward to that 20+ year AC retirement as an O5 or O6.
He’s a national guard AGR. They have their own rules and since he works for the state in going to take a stab that they took care of him in this instance.
If he were reserve AGR I’m guessing they would apply that dodi.
Different AGR program. The state AGRs are active under Title 32 of the US Code. Federal ARNG ARGs are active under Title 10 of the US Code.
Don’t really care what Title he is being paid through, his continuing to draw pay is just disgusting. Have seen entirely too many good officers and enlisted folks involuntarily separated for relatively minor medical issues which would not have interfered much with their ability to conduct daily operations, and whose removal caused serious issues because there was no one else to do what they had been doing.
Begs the question of how did he contract it to begin with… What an asshole!! That is attempted murder in my book. Knowingly exposing someone to a lethal disease. Fry his ass.
Have to agree, rb325th. I hope they nail this “fine individual” to the freaking wall.
Sadly, given what we’ve seen recently regarding the “harsh sentences” handed down by courts-martial for serious offenses . . . I’m not exactly hopeful.
I agree. Looks like Ben Dover here has a door that was swingin’ both ways.
I want to know where/from whom he got it in the first place.
Pounding – what a coincidence that it’s his last name.
Most likely a deployment to Thailand in the 90s. He is a Special Forces officer and likely went to Thailand several times over his career if he was associated with the Pacific region.
In the 90s several soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines contracted HIV on deployments there. It risks were not well understood and there was no internet for soldiers to google the risks before they went.
B.S.
Having given my share of safety briefings in the 80s and 90s, the risk factors were well known, and protection was widely available.
Im interested in why he was still on active duty beyond retirement eligibility.
Or Africa.
Who knew that taking a Pounding could expose you to HIV.
sincerely
John “Faker 6” Giduck
Jeez. Listen, I’ll take the job. I’m on so many medications I have ED, and no libido anymore. I can do the job, get it done, and not think about sex.
Besides; most of the girls my age are now called “grandma”. That’s a turnoff.
Hey! Watch it, fella!
Just ’cause there’s snow onthe hnilltop, that don’t mean there’s no fire in the furnace.
Ex-PH2…Again spew alert please! 😀
“Just ’cause there’s snow on the hilltop, that don’t mean there’s no fire in the furnace.” An oldie but always a goodie!
Even if you can’t cut the mustard, you can always lick the jar
sincerely
John “Faker 6” Giduck
OK I totally wasn’t ready for that this early in the morning.
At least I wasn’t drinking my tea at the time.
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
/that was a close one.
TEA???!!?!
Well, you were Chair Force . . . . (smile)
Just like my favorite character Ice Goose from Ranger Up. 😀
I need brain bleach
Enigma4you…Uh thank you. I’ll pass it over when I’m done flushing mine.
Oh come on, this is a felony….this is a slam dunk. If he gets court-martialed (no plea-bargain, ok?), he needs to get hammered. I’m talking forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 20 years in prison, and a dismissal! This dude has got to go!
I bet Liberia or Sierra Leon could use a qualified J5 liaison occifer. Maybe he’ll meet someone there who doesn’t mind having unprotected sex with him.
I thought that HIV positive members had to be kicked out of the service? I may be behind the times on this one. Anyone know what the rules are?
No longer, AP. HIV-positive personnel on active duty are no longer kicked out; so long as they’re otherwise medically qualified, they can continue to reenlist and serve to retirement. By policy however, they are restricted to CONUS-only assignments and are non-deployable.
http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r600_110.pdf
However, HIV positive individuals are barred from initial enlistment or officer accession programs. So that means any HIV positive military personnel will have acquired that condition “while serving on active duty”. And that in turn means it will be considered a “service-connected” condition.
Wanna guess what that means regarding who’ll almost certainly end up paying for their long-term medical care post-separation?
Hondo…Your comment just hit me. “Service-connected” would, if I’m correct, mean VA care and disability for life. That doesn’t ring right to me. You do something to yourself, through misconduct and become entitled to lifetime care and money. It’s not like a wounded vet who didn’t ask to be wounded and wasn’t looking for it. HIV is acquired through stupid, personal misbehavior. Personal “behavior” being the key.
Anything that happens to you on active duty is considered service connected, even doing stupid (hold my beer and watch this!) things on leave/liberty. Combat related-service connected is another category and probably brings more benefits. Loss of pay and entitlements, with Dishonorable Discharge or Big Chicken Dinner should also kill off the medical benefits. Unfortunately, that leaves any innocent family members out in the cold as well.
I retired from Navy Medicine in a couple of years ago and at that time as long as you didn’t exhibit symptoms of AIDS, you could stay on active duty. Not deployable, no direct patient care, no food service work and you could only be stationed near a major MTF. It would blow your mind how many HIV+ active duty servicemen/women there are.
I have previously worked with COL Pounding, he was an upstanding guy and extremely personable. It is disheartening to see this side of his personality come out which would never have been suspected. My question is they are looking at him having sex with a woman who is not his spouse, is his wife backin ghim or just being quiet in hopes he will retain part of his retirement (if busted or court-martialed and found guilty) IOT collect her due.
Three black eyes for the T10 AGR program in a month (COL Pounding, LTC Greene and COL(Ret.) Sines (Army Guard Recruiting Chief) makes me seriously reconsider staying in the T10 AGR program.
As a reserve AGR i feel the same pain. When one agr does something questionable or Illegal, all agrs are looked down on and the whole program is given more bad publicity.
Though when one of us does well, tpu’s are often Ready to jump up and steal credit.
There are good agrs and bad agrs just the same as tpus, regular army and gummint civilians.
I had a different experience with Pounding. Let’s just say that I’m not shedding any tears over his situation. The T-10 program is sending good COLs and LTCs out the door with REFRAD boards that don’t seem to catch folks like Pounding, Green, or the multitude of others who are protected by COLs and GOs.
I’d hold off on Sines at this point, he was only indicted, and (IMHO) only because Porter was singing like crazy to save his own retirement, throwing anyone and everyone under the bus. From what I know of the situation (limited, but I believe enough) Chuck will be exonerated in the end, which could adversely Rob’s sentencing come January.
You are right. I meant Porter. SOrry about that.
Just in case anyone was wondering about what is being discussed above – I think this is it:
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/national-guard-officials-retirees-arrested-for-bribery-1.306083
I, too, worked for COL Pounding at Arlington Hall before PCSing a few years ago. I agree with ARNG. He was a great boss, and I can place that label on very few. Am I disappointed? Sure. But whether we want to admit it or not, none of us are perfect and we have all done some things that could have gotten us publicly criticized at best and thrown under the jail at worst. Do we know the REAL facts of this case? Are we privy to the personal agendas involved in this case? Is anyone in this case completely clean? I am not condoning, nor supporting, COL Pounding’s behavior in this matter, but I am saying this: We have a way of coloring the totality of the capabilities, the character, and/or the life of an individual based upon the actions during a relatively small sliver of time. There are a ton of people who have committed acts that are clearly illegal but that did not define them or their overall character. COL Pounding is facing the military justice system and will have to face the consequences of a guilty verdict, if rendered. Whatever the verdict, I will tell you from working closely with him, and proudly working for him, for years, Jeff Pounding’s totality of service is much more positive and is of much greater character than this. There are many T-10 AGRs at Arlington Hall who have much lower and despicable character than Pounding (like Porter and Green among others (once again from personal interactions))…THEY JUST HAVE NOT BEEN CAUGHT YET!!!
I worked with COL Pounding, been TDY with him a few times. This does not surprise me he is a real skirt chaser. He may be good at his job, but COL Pounding deserves jail time. I have personally seen him go to extremes to cover his actions. I am surprised it took this long for someone to find out.
I guess it’s going to be a while before I get my OER signed.
I wonder how I go about getting my rating chain changed?
Doh!!!!Unintended consqequences of one individuals actions cascades down the chain. Wonder how many more are going to be affected.
I know of at least 2 Majors, another CPT and a Lt Col.
Sad, I know two of those individuals. Guess it’s time to bring one the G5 people from AHS 1 to take his place.
ha! colonel pounding!
make your own joke here
So bottom, not top.
Well before he was promoted to Colonel, he was Major Pounding for a while…..
I don’t know much about AIDS so I did some quick googling. Turns out that the aside from needle sharing, the most common way to contract is by getting boinked in the butt by an infected person. I thought any kind of sexual activity would do it. I was wrong. There are claimed exceptions but ass up is the most common.
HIV
A study from the US has found that some groups of people with HIV, especially those treated before their CD4 count falls below 350 cells/mm3, now have life expectancies equal to or even higher than the US general population.
However, it also finds that life expectancy for some other groups – most notably women and non-white people – is still considerably below comparable members of the general population and that for people who inject drugs, life expectancy in the era of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has not improved at all.
A second study, which looked at death rates among both HIV-positive and HIV-negative members of two cohorts of people with or at risk of HIV, has found that the death rate from non-AIDS-defining illnesses among people with HIV who started ART above the 350 cells/mm3 threshold was not, and never has been, any higher than among comparable HIV-negative people.
In other words, the sole contributor to the increased mortality in people who started ART early was AIDS. This was not, however, the case for people who started ART later, who had raised mortality due to non-AIDS-related causes as well as due to AIDS.
This guy could have shortened this woman’s life span, the appropriate response should be similar.
What a rat bastard.
Rumor mill has it he had a deployment to Hati in 2005.
The very unfortunate losers in this are his family, the Guard, T-10, and of course the woman. When you lay down with dogs you wake up with fleas! This is no excuse btw, but did she follow him around the country?
We need to get this guy out now! What a piece of work.
Minuteman,
I worked with COL Pounding, been TDY with him a few times. This does not surprise me he is a real skirt chaser. He may be good at his job, but COL Pounding deserves jail time. I have personally seen him go to extremes to cover his actions. I am surprised it took this long for someone to find out.