One Honest Man Makes a Difference
George Toubekis is the mayor of University Park, Iowa. He’s also a member of the Iowa Army National Guard – a Sergeant First Class.
Last year, he was deployed to Afghanistan. He was stationed at Camp Marmal, in Mazar-i-Sharif. While there, he was assigned duties as Fuels Manager for Regional Command – North.
SFC Toubekis found some issues indicating possible theft of fuel. So he took appropriate action.
An investigation resulted in the identification of multiple fuel-theft rings. He’s now credited with preventing the theft of up to $20 million worth of fuel – so far. The tally will likely climb for a while.
For the full details, please read this article from the Army Times. It’s well worth the time.
Kudos, SFC George Toubekis. You may have only been doing your duty as you say – but you did it exceptionally well. Many thanks.
Category: Politics
Hear, hear.
Integrity. It’s an Army Value but one you just don’t hear enough about these days.
I salute SFC Toubekis for doing the right thing…because it’s right. I’m sure he made quite a few enemies by draining what sounds like a swamp of miscreants, but if that ain’t the definition of moral courage, I don’t know what is.
One of my Citadel classmates was found guilty of contract scamming/kickbacks in Iraq a few years ago and it broke my heart…won’t say it surprised me because while we were acquaintances, I never really had a great feeling about him in terms of his personal honor. Did some “shady” things at school- never an honor code violation, but he certainly skated up to the very edge.
Great to see this NCO be a difference maker like this.
So refreshing to read after a week of MAJ Hassan, Princess Manning and “Poppa Panda Sexy Pants” BG Jeffrey Sinclair..ugh.
need a like him in this world
I hope the citizens of University Park appreciate his integrity and example enough to keep re-electing him to office.
@2: Amen to that!
He was definitely being a real Man doing what he did about what he saw. Glad to see we’re not alone in taking a stand against what’s wrong!
Aw, folks are out there every day doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. That said, it is VERY nice for honorable behavior to be recognized publicly for a change.
Well done, SFC Toubekis. Thank you.
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/134410p.pdf
The SFC/Mayor is a good guy, but unless his active duty orders were for 270 days or fewer, he was in technical violation of DODD 1344.10 by participating in council meetings while on active duty.
That’s my state! That’s my state! *happy dance* 😀
This news is most welcome. I’ve about had it with the mainstream media cycle lately.
I guess I can say I’am some-what proud to say that I am from Iowa, not really Iowa born, Kentucky born, so I guess you’d say, Iowa Hillybilly
Sam Naomi (Where The Tall Corn Grows)
@7, really? How Many Politicians hold rank in the reserves? The intent of the regulation you stated is to ensure service members don’t show up in uniform at political rallies in uniform, implying the military backs a certain party. His job as Mayor in reality is no different than him moonlighting at a gas station attendant or as a waiter. As long as he wasn’t wearing a uniform on screen while he held the meeting he didn’t even come close to breaking a regulation.
I can attest to the fact that as a former employee(bulk fuel ops manager) for RC South for supreme group LogCap,that over 35% of of fuel would just go missing,and the big brains in Dubai,just would bill the DOD anyway.That from a company under investigation for over- billing the DOD for LogCap food/services to the tune of over 1 billion dollars(said with a Dr. Evil accent). What a war we are in huh boys?
One of the down sides to involving civilian contractors, is that they have a lot more ability and incentive to rip off the government.
Foreign nationals look at our assets as a piggy bank to rob blind.
When Pinatubo erupted in 91 Subic bay got all jacked up. There were tons of food in warehouses that was probably going to go bad. The base commander told the Mayor of Olongapo we would set up a distribution area outside of base and give the food to the people. Mayor Gordon said he would take the food and distribute it himself. The Base commander told him to fuck off, he’d let the food rot before he let Gordon turn around and sell it to someone else.
@10: You need to read the Directive more closely, especially paragraph 4.5 (“4.5. Holding and Exercising the Functions of a State or Other Non-U.S. Government Office Attained by Election or Appointment”). If his orders were for more than 270 days, he should not have been exercising his duties AT ALL, in uniform or not. If his orders were for 270 days or fewer, then he’s in the clear.
Now Secretary Hagel should hold a press conference and say “Since SFC Toubekis has saved us over $20,000,000 that we didn’t even know we were missing, I vow to use that money to restore full funding of TriCare for retirees and maintain the 1.9% cost of living raise for active duty troops.”
Of course, we all know this money will really go back into some other black hole or pet project.
Wow John R, good way to misread and ignore. The spirit line is there for a reason. Also I would like you to consider the ESGR laws.
@ #13: Things may well have changed, but in the not so distant past, NG members seldom got orders for that long. Has it changed? Or is there some other reason you seem to be hung up on this point?
Yes, I am well aware that it is not at all uncommon for NG folks to be away from home that long, but they used to cut successive orders to cover the entire timeframe.
We have reserve members of our state legislature, as do many states. They are even allowed to vote on pieces of legislation while in theater, if it is something for which a single vote might be significant to passage of the legislation. Got a problem with that, too?
Whether or not I have a problem with it is irrelevant. The DoD has a problem with it. I am familiar with ESGR, but that doesn’t apply here. Unless I’m misunderstanding what happened, he continued to perform mayoral duties (the article mentions Skyping into council meetings, but I’m sure there was more) while deployed on active duty orders. If those orders were for more than 270 days, he was in technical violation of the Directive.
And voting on legislation is also not authorized if the orders are for more than 270 days.
Well John bring up a complaint and see how far it goes. You seem to be the only one who has an issue with it.
John, if you’re that worried about it, may I suggest you call the JAG and file a complaint?
You can go here or you can contact his unit here.
Hope that helps you. Good luck and let us know what you find out.
I have a really good feeling what they are going to say…
My point is this: why have a DoD directive if there is to be selective enforcement or no enforcement?
Because this isn’t a violation of it, but you can report it if you think it is.
So where are you getting that there was a violation???
(Anyone else forming an opinion that John R is one of the guys busted for fraud? Or a defense attorney looking for any ridiculous bit of nothing to obfuscate the obvious good that SFC Toubekis managed to provide the good citizens of this country?)
I don’t know what or who he is, but going after a mayor of a town of 500 for sitting in on town council meetings while deployed? Really that is a stretch. Are we going to start advocating that any elected official that is concurrently serving either stop serving or stop being an elected official? That is completely stupid. Honestly, he wasn’t campaigning and he wasn’t violating the “spirit” of the regulation. I don’t think he was campaigning in uniform. Honestly I don’t think this is any worse than police or firefighter unions endorsing candidates, which is shady as hell, but that is a different argument all together.
If John isn’t one of the ones busted, he’s either a friend of them or someone who thinks (ominous music) we’re not being told the WHOLE story.
Maybe John R needs to have a pow-wow with USACID and SIGAR to shed more light on the fuel that went missing instead of preaching to the choir about a 270 day TOD in the Shitistan.
YES, OWB! Exactly what I am thinking. My spidy senses just went batcrap crazy, ma’am. 😉
I’m wondering where this John R comes from. Since you are constantly bleating about regulation lets look at the part you pointed out:
4.2.2. A regular member, or a retired regular or Reserve Component member on active duty under a call or order to active duty for more than 270 days, may not be a NOMINEE or
CANDIDATE for the offices described in subparagraph 4.2.1., except when the Secretary concerned grants permission.
The caps/emphasis is mine. SFC Toubekis ALREADY was the Mayor when he was activated and sent overseas. If you read further you would see even if someone wished to run they could apply for exception.
Several parts of this regulation are completely in violation of the constitution by the way, specifically the parts that stipulate that members cannot express or write partisan political opinions, even if they are not in uniform or using their military title in any way.
It was penned in the GW Bush administration by the way,another freedom that the gubmint’ is taking away.
Not affiliated with this case at all. I cited paragraph 4.5, by the way.
And what was that violation again??
Good grief, I feel like I’m repeating myself. I’ve never said he was in definite violation. I’ve said that if his orders were for more than 270 days he was in technical violation by performing his mayoral duties while on active duty (see paragraph 4.5). “Technical” is important, because all we have to go on is what he says he did and what the Directive states. It would take an OSD JAG interpretation/investigation to determine if it was an actual violation IF his orders were for more than 270 days. Now if they were and no one cares, then my question is why even have paragraph 4.5?
On the flip side, if his orders were for less than 270 days, no worries and no harm/no foul. I just think this is an interesting DoD Directive, and the mayor happens to be the subject of my curiosity.
Even if his orders were more for then 270 days he didn’t violate anything because he never RAN for office When he was on duty, he simply held an office he was elected to and did what duties he could that didn’t interfere with his duties as a SFC.
Apparently his duties as Mayor didn’t stop him from being a good enough SNCO to bust out a bunch of thieves who were robbing the American taxpayers blind.
Sit back and think hard about the way you are trying to interpret that directive. Everyone who completes an enlistment is on IRR, and subject to recall. Everyone who “retires” at 20 are on the rolls of the reserves for another 10.
There are sitting congressmen right now (Duncan W Hunter for example) who are subject to recall. Does that mean he illegally ran for office?
“4.5.3. A retired regular or Reserve Component member on active duty under a call or order to active duty for more than 270 days may hold?but shall NOT exercise?the functions of a civil office as set out in subparagraph 4.5.1., as long as…”
That’s the operative section. Somehow I feel like you haven’t read the entire Directive, Just An Old Dog. Please do me a favor and read the entire Directive.
Based on para 4.5, it does look like a technical violation, as he would be allowed to hold but not exercise the functions of a civil office (4.5.3) if his orders were over 270 days. Mobilizations for Guard units are shorter than they used to be; are they that short?
It’s possible, too, that he was acting in a non-voting, advisory capacity or some such during his absence.
The entire directive was poorly written, “Technically” if a service member wrote a blog entry or a face book status saying the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian or other Political part were worse or better than the other they could be charged under this directive. The ONLY thing protected is a “letter to the editor”. Also as an active military member you can not have a sign for or against any political candidate or proposition in your yard,,, even if you live off base in the middle of the boonies in a home you own, The same thing goes for anything larger than a bumper sticker on your car.
The entire driving force behind directives like this in the past was to make sure service members didn’t wear uniforms to political rallies, mainly to prevent the public from being given the impression that the DOD backed one political party.
The way the fucksticks in DC have written it you are supposed to simply vote and keep your mouth shut.
Sig: it’s possible. The Army cut tours in Afghanistan to 9 months a couple of years ago. Mob orders don’t always include train-up and outprocessing time (mine didn’t). My pre-deployment training was under a different set of orders; I deployed on the start date of my deployment orders and redeployed in time to finish CRC redeployment processing the day before they ended.
A caveat: I was USAR vice ARNG, and I deployed as an individual. Unit mobilizations in the USAR were handled somewhat differently; the ARNG may well do things differently as well.
For a 9 month tour, it’s thus theoretically possible his orders were for 270 days. If his unit did pre-deployment training under different orders (say, ADT vice MOB), that would work. If not, I’d guess his MOB orders were almost certainly for more than 270 days.
@38: The sign prohibition only applies if a military member lives in base housing.
Your comment about the Facebook status is not entirely accurate. As long as they don’t conduct partisan political activity or violate Article 88 (officers) or Article 134 (enlisted) they are in the clear. The main thing is being identified as a military member. There’s a clear difference in posting a Facebook status saying that Republicans have a better energy policy than Democrats or vice-versa and what former Marine Gary Stein did on his personal and the Armed Forces Tea Party Facebook pages.
Again, all this is based upon what exactly? IF this, IF that doesn’t cut it.
How many days was he active? Until that question is answered, there is no evidence of any violation, hence my repeated question, “What violation?”
While you are checking, as Hondo has indicated, in the reserve forces, there tend to be orders issued sequentially to cover each segment of a mobilization. So, he might still have been active for a total of 270 or more days in a calendar year and still not fall under this directive.
Obviously, we here are unable to answer that question for you primarily because we do not have easy access to his records. Following closely behind that primary reason, at least for me, is that I just do not care. We who have served in the reserve forces are accustomed to the daily balancing act of maintaining concurrent civilian and military careers and/or businesses. Successfully doing so is not something which should be punished. It should also be obvious that those who do not keep them separated are not successful and should be corrected.
“Partisan Political” activity is opining about one party or candidate being better then the other. This affects active duty enlisted and officers. Its no longer good enough to say “I am a PO3 in the Navy, but my views are only my own” you cant say anything at all.
The only thing that active duty can do is “observe” political meetings or rallies even if they are out of uniform.
The only political thing you can do is inform service members that they
Commissioned officers have always been under orders that they cannot make statements critical of elected officials or policies.”
“There’s a clear difference in posting a Facebook status saying that Republicans have a better energy policy than Democrats or vice-versa ”
Not allowed. That’s partisan politics.