Outrage over the Johnson verdict? No way!
If you haven’t heard, Col. James H. Johnson III, the former commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, who we’ve discussed twice in the last few days was sentenced in his trial for forgery, fraud, lying and bigamy yesterday. He got a wrist slap of a $300,000 fine for his plea of guilty to 13 charges and conviction on two others. Johnson keeps his rank, his current pay and his retirement.
Well, Stars & Stripes discovered that some folks are outraged over the little pat on Johnson’s rump the court calls punishment;
“Once again, it appears there are two different standards for officers and enlisted in the Army,” [Greg Rinckey, a former Army judge advocate general] said. “If this had been an enlisted soldier, you have to believe there would have been a reduction in rank and jail time. And that perception of different rules does become a problem.”
But Fidell said the verdict appeared mainly to be an attempt to protect the family that Johnson left behind.
“Obviously they wanted to preserve his pension so that his wife — one of his wives, anyway, the legal wife — could get the benefit,” [Eugene Fidell, military law expert who teaches at Yale University] said.
In some cases, the court-martial panel feels the need to send a loud and clear message, but this likely wasn’t one of them, Fidell said.
“It’s a freakish case,” he said. “I don’t think they’re going to have to worry about an upsurge in bigamy as a result of this.”
Yeah, I’m sure they were thinking of Johnson’s first wife, but how much would they take into consideration a wife of a sergeant guilty of that much malfeasance? I think it’s the greatest miscarriage of justice in the history of military justice. The thing is that Johnson wasn’t thinking about the welfare of his first wife, so why should Big Army consider it? Because it’s not their money they’re giving her – it’s the taxpayers’ money.
Category: Big Army, Military issues
@44. Unfortunately today in actual army it is the higher up you go the more standards that no longer apply.
Long gone are the times when Joe’s ate first and cpts and 1sg stayed until everyone else’s normal duty day was over etc. I had 3 ncos that still played the Joe’s eat first… 2 SSG 1 SGT. I have been bumped in line by 1sg,sgm and every officer from anything like chow lines to emergency room lines. Dislocated shoulder where half my shoulder is where my biceps should be bumped by a SGM that I kid you not had the runs.
In reality all the shoulds and I woulds of you older gents just flat out aren’t anywhere near the norm. It is a new army kinder and gentler for all but the actual working men. So to end rant I would say I am not surprised in the least.
Col. Johnson’s “ethical training bio”- (just a snapshot):
Four Years at West Point-
Moral-ethical development occurs throughout the entirety of the cadet experience by living under the honor code and through formal leadership programs available at the academy.
DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY
Infantry Officer Basic Course:
The mission of 2-11 IN is to educate, train, and inspire Infantry Lieutenants so that upon IBOLC graduation, they demonstrate the competence, confidence, physical and mental toughness, and moral/ethical fiber necessary to lead platoons in any operational environment.
Command and General Staff College:
Emphasis is on effective ethical decision making for optimal organizational performance. A foundation in systems and critical thinking is provided. Topics include the legal environment of business, forms of business and nonprofit organizations, employment issues and practices, workforce recruitment and retention, conflict management and alternative dispute resolution, management of diverse virtual teams, ethical and legal conduct of domestic and international business, and corporate social responsibility.
Naval War College (yes Johnson graduated from there:
To Educate and Develop Leaders
The Naval War College provides current, rigorous and relevant professional military education (PME) programs supporting the Navy’s Professional Military Education Continuum.
The desired effect is a career continuum of PME, including leadership development and professional ethics, which produces a group of leaders of character.
I guess Johnson didn’t take to the above items too seriously or had a problem with narcolepsy and slept through the classes.
OK… Johnson knew better and chose to be a criminal. The fucking court martial board knew better as well.
#45 : Enlisted do not serve on an officer’s CM. There is good reason for this, as subordinates should never be put in a position where they are deciding the punishment of someone in a higher grade. Besides the obvious reasons not being bad for standards and discipline, its just not a good idea. While we have come a long way, especially in how NCOs are treated, no matter how smart the enlisted person and how many degrees they may have, they are still enlisted and have a defined role.
Before any one go all of course an officer would say this, I’m an SNCO who’s working on a second Master’s degree. Enlisted should never be involved determining an officer’s guilt or punishment.
-Ish.
Don’t think that’s it, Joe Williams. The UCMJ became law in the early 1950s. That was a much more morally “black/white” era than today. My guess is that the thinking of the day was more along the lines of “an officer is either worthy of serving or should be shown the door; no in-betweens”.
Unfortunately, today we don’t seem to view things quite the same; IMO that’s not good. Maybe it’s time to change that part of the UCMJ to allow reductions in grade for officer personnel as part of a courts-martial sentence.
Then again, in today’s “touchy-feely” world, that would probably end up being abused too.
High level politics govern officers careers-always has and always will. What you know matters alot, but who you know matters even more. For COL Johnson to be awarded a crown jewel BDE command like the prestigious 173rd means coalition of sponsorships at 3 and 4 star level. Factor in his dad is retired 3 star & former CC of 82nd Airborne Div(many of todays senior Army leadership are well aquainted and probably loyal to/helped by LTG Johnson). Yes, also lets not forget he is a ring knocker USMA class of ’86. COL J probably merely had to be a solid not spectacular performer to be a strong contender for 173rd post. COL Johnson being hauled away to the DB would have been an awful embarrasment and repudiation of the judgements of the legion of 3 and 4 star GOs who gave their endorsement for command. Was not going to happen. Deals would be cut to save face. There is outrage that if it were some flunky SFC or CPT they would be in the DB in record time. So what? Bet their dad isn’t a retired 3 star or have powerful sponsors at 3/4 star level. Move on folks, nothing to see here.
Hondo and all therest of you activly serving,how do you cope and survive in this PC crap?
@56: I know the term “PC” gets overused, but what is PC about COL Johnson getting a lighter punishment than some folks expected him to get? I don’t think that term means what you think it means. Was it an example of protection, either of the folks who put the COL in a brigade command (as related above) or his spouse who still needed some bennies? Possibly. Was it a case of rank having privileges? Perhaps. PC? In all fairness to the term, PC has hardly been used, if ever, to describe a failure to appropriately punish a white, non-disabled, heterosexual male.
Colonels very rarely see prison walls & Generals/Admirals are (insert laugh track) immune to such indignaties, but they do get rapped hard on knuckles on occasion (many for political reasons and not misconduct). Some examples:
MG Samuel W. Koster(My Lai Massacre)busted ret’d as 1 star.
GEN John Lavelle 4 star CC of 7th AF retired as 2 star.
ADM Richard Macke 4 Star CC of PACOM retired as 2 star.
MG David Hale recalled to AD from retirement & busted 1 star.
MG John Maher(Sex Scan)busted by Secy Army & retires as COL.
RADM Ralph Tindal(Tailhook Scandal)retires as 1 star.
VADM Richard Dunleavy(Tailhook Scandal)retires as 2 star.
RADM Riley Mixson(Tailhook Scan)reprimand & ret’d. in grade.
RADM Wison Flagg(Tailhook Scan) reprimand & ret’d in grade.
Maj Gen Thomas Fiscus (Sex Scandal) retires as Col.
GEN Kevin Byrnes 4 star CC of TRADOC retired as 3 star.
VADM John Stufflebeem (sex scan) fired ret’d as 2 star.
GEN David Mckiernan 4 star CC of ISAF fired & ret’d in grade.
GEN Stanley McChrystal 4 star CC ISAF fired & ret’d in grade.
Some of the above commanders were well liked and respected (not dirt bags) but due to lapse in judgement or bad luck- political decisions were made to make an example out of them.
Here is a facinating excerpt from Wikipedia about MG Samuel W. Koster who commanded Americal Div. & their involvement in My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. ( He actually might have been exception to rule that officers can’t be demoted ).
Early in 1970, Koster and 13 other officers were charged with trying to cover up the massacre. Charges were dropped, however, after the Army determined that he “did not show any intentional abrogation of responsibilities”. Koster, who was the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point at the time, was due to be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General (three-stars), but his involvement in the My Lai coverup caused him to be denied this promotion, and further inquiries led the way to his demotion. He was subsequently censured, stripped of a Distinguished Service Medal and demoted one rank, to Brigadier General, for failing to conduct an adequate investigation.
Following his demotion, Koster was reassigned to become deputy commander of Maryland’s Aberdeen Proving Ground, in charge of Army weapons testing. He retired from the military in 1973. His decorations included the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Legion of Merit. His sons are career Army officers, two having graduated from West Point.
Devtun: sounds to me like an administrative action vice a courts-martial.
A bit of old-timey background. If I recall correctly, that occurred during a time when Regular officers serving on active duty had two different appointments and two different ranks: a temporary one (AUS), and a permanent one (RA). AUS officers served “at the pleasure of the President”; RA officers occupied statutory billets and had some additional job security. The theory was that AUS appointments could be used for rapid expansion/promotion/reduction as the required size of the force increased or decreased, while RA appointments retained the permanent Army cadre. Some officers were AUS only, and really got the short end of the stick during drawdowns (e.g., got shown the door or reverted back to enlisted status). That’s one reason why “going RA” was such a big deal during that era.
During Vietnam, the two ranks a RA officer held were very often different; a serving COL might have an AUS grade of COL (the rank at which he was currently serving) but have a permanent (RA) rank of LTC or lower. That system came to an end in 1980 or 1981 when DOPMA was instituted.
What it sounds like is that Kosler had a permanent (RA) grade of BG, but was serving in his temporary (AUS) grade of MG when the misconducted occurred. I believe – but am not positive – that under such circumstances the temporary grade could be revoked administratively, causing the officer to revert to his permanent grade. Hence his losing a star but not getting the boot. But also not a courts-martial sentence.
You’ve piqued my curiosity, though, and I may try to research that case and the old policies. But it’s probably gonna take some time to find info about a personnel system that ended 30+ years ago. (smile)
Hondo,
Yes, I see where your coming from. Your logic makes perfect sense. I forgot that commissioned appointments used to be divided into two categories. If Koster’s MG rank was(AUS)than his rank was tied to his job…lose job lose rank.
One of astonishing examples from history was Dwight Eisenhower who as SACUER held (AUS) 4 star rank w/ (RA) rank of Colonel. He was MG George S. Pattons boss, however Patton’s MG rank was (RA). Patton liked to needle Ike that he better not get fired as SACUER or its back to Colonel and polishing Pattons boots and brass.
3 and 4 star ranks are technically temporary ranks as well
being directly contingent to the job. So LTG and Full GEN wear their 3 and 4 stars but their permanant rank was always a MG (being highest permanant rank in U.S. Military). These guys usually retire w/ current rank though, getting senate approval 99% of time (except when under investigation for misconduct).
Your the man Hondo
Somehow, someway we must get(remove) PC and politics from our services. I know “perfect world dreamig.Think how fast the Middle East problems would over if the Dogs of War were unleased instead of muzzled?. Meanwhile different pranks for different ranks.
Joe Williams,
The military and politics are inextricably linked. Consider that officer commissions are signed by the President and confirmed by Senate. Promotions run thru the POTUS/Senate chain as well. All the way back to middle ages General/Admirals were trying to appease Kings & Emperors and telling them what they wanted to hear if they knew what was good for them. To fail in a military campaign back in old days could mean death literally so commanders had to play politics and deflect blame.
Admiral John Byng of British Royal Navy lost the island of Minorca to French in 7 years war in mid 1700s and he was tried and convicted in court martial for failing to do his “utmost effort” to achieve victory. ADM Byng was sentenced to death by firing squad
(Reminds me of Darth Vader executing Admiral Ozzel for screwing up in Empire Strikes Back). These days officers face instant retirement/career ending reprimands for displeasing civilian/military superiors. Things are the same as they always were – even best/brightest officers fear for their careers knowing a single mistake can mean the end.
Our officers are Warriors/Diplomats/Ambassadors/Scholars but not policy makers. They faithfully obey civilian authority which is as it should be (5 star Gen Macarthur defying orders from President Truman is no-no and deserved to be canned). Our officers of today are simply better than past generations. Not perfect but better. Better merit based promotions/identifying croyinism and continuous officer education in advanced management & leadership schools. Consider up to WW2 the U.S. military used senority-not merit for officer advancement. Officers didn’t have to be very good they just had to live longer than next guy for promotions. Sorry for the rant.
Devtun, you missed “in a perfect world”, also in this world there would be no wars. Just Dreaming
Joe Williams,
You keep focusing on political correctness mantra, and i’m trying to understand what your specifying exactly. Who defines the boundries? We all have to live together and abide by certain rules, policies, social norms and decorum. Lacking these there is chaos. Ask 100 people about whats PC and you might get 100 different answers. Maybe like porn you know it when you see it? Remember the military is a product of our larger society and the “civilian world” imposes what many consider are highly PC measures. Consider:
-Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless USA” is banned at some schools, parades, festivals, and other public veneues because it might offend latinos and muslims.
-Ditto w/ Star Spangled Banner & America the Beautiful.
-Display of American flag must be joined by Mexican flag at some Southwest schools.
-Wearing of clothing w/ American flag or symbolism is frowned upon in certain places.
-Patriotic bumper stickers a no-no.
-Most Police Depts can’t ask suspect if they are American citizens.
– At sports stadiums overseas Americans discouraged from chanting “USA, USA, USA”
– Can’t say short = vertically challenged
– Can’t say crippled = physically disabled
– Can’t say kill = target neutralized/subdued
– Can’t say retarded = mentally deficient
– Col Johnson corrupt/terrible officer=innapropriate conduct
Remember, Americans can’t agree on whats black or white, whats blue or red, and what is up and what is down. They surley as hell can’t agree on what constitutes PC. These are same people join military with their sets of biases on what is PC in their world view.
Speaking of war, even “in the perfect world” there is warfare. Why? Because its good business. Doesn’t matter if your a Republican, Democrat, or Independent–there is tons of money to be had directly or indirectly. The disease of “more” can’t be cured. Truly, only the dead have seen the end of war.
In place of “search and destroy,” substitute the phrase “sweep and clear.”
Very catchy.
Does this mean Ann Margaret’s not coming?
Kinda doubt it, NHSparky.
Devtun: Internet’s a very useful thing sometimes. Here’s what appears to be the good scoop on what happened to Kostler. Definitely appears an admin demotion. And he actually had the nerve to appeal his demotion and forced retirement to both the ABCMR and in Federal court!
http://federal-circuits.vlex.com/vid/samuel-w-koster-v-the-united-states-38434292
Hondo,
Great work finding the case file. So Koster’s MG rank was (AUS), but I was thinking even if he was MG (RA) that perhaps it was no slam dunk that Army would have permitted him to retire as MG (deemed unsatisfactory service in that grade). He was due to be promoted to LTG because that is rank USMA superintedent carries. To go from possible 3 star down to 1 star must have been incredibly stinging.
I read article many years ago that MG Koster was highly regarded by superiors and subordinates. Did good job w/ a motley crew Division such as 23rd Americal (My Lai aside). As Superintendent he instituted welcome reforms in West Point cirriculum and effectivly cracked down on the terrible hazing of Plebes. Apparently he got a rousing standing ovation of gratitude from the 3,000 + West Point Cadet Body in dining hall when he announced to them his resignation as the USMA Super. (due to ongoing criminal investigation).
– Thanks for research&link Hondo
No. 65
— THE HELL YOU SAY — NO ONE HAS EVER STOPPED ME,
ESPECIALLY NOT YOU !!
No. 62 Joe Williams —
“. . . problems would over if the Dogs of War were unleased instead of muzzled.”
DAMN RIGHT !!
KILL !!
Political Correctness is
. F A S C I S M
. Pretending
To Be Manners
The Army has not changed in the 16 yrs since I retired. I would love to know how many of those Colonels who sat on Colonel Johnson’s court martial (1) Where West Pointers, (2) had ever served under his Dad, or (3) served with him. I have sat on a court martial, and it seems that Senior NCO’s are harder on their own, whether enlisted or NCO’s, then Officers are on their own. Look at the Air Force Drill Sergeants being sentenced at Lackland AFB.
@ 72…I wish I could say that the Navy was better, but it’s not. Back around the turn of the millennium, there was a Navy O6 psychiatrist at Camp Lejeune who got busted having sex with his patients in his office. Apparently the not so good doctor, who had done this with others subordinate to him, was telling his patient she would not get better unless she engaged in this particular type of “therapy.” While he got a year in the brig, he was also allowed to retire at rank. He’s now practicing collecting your tax dollars and practicing psychiatrist on an unrestricted license in NC. As if the crime and lack of appropriate punishment were not enough, he had the audacity to appeal his conviction on the grounds that what happened in his office was “private.” Thankfully, he lost.
I would agree with the comments of others that while it does seem that enlisted are, by and large, dealt with more harshly, it doesn’t take very much for a junior officer to be shown the door. If you are an E4 and you get pulled over for a DUI, your career can probably survive provided you are otherwise a hard charger. If you are an O2, forget it, you are done. That upfront punishment may be less but you’re not going any higher up the ladder than you are.
To me, the greatest injustice is the disparity in characterization of service. I feel bad for some of these kids that end up with Big Chicken Dinners on relatively minor stuff while you see others skate with backside intact. If it were me, I’d rather do the time upfront for a more benign characterization.