Captain Mathew L. Golsteyn’s Silver Star revoked
Captain Mathew L. Golsteyn was awarded a Silver Star for his valorous actions in Afghanistan against Taliban insurgents that raked his team with fire while their vehicles were mired. In fact his actions were so valorous that he was being considered for an upgrade to the Distinguished Service Cross until this happened, according to the Washington Post;
In a rare reversal, however, Golsteyn, now a major, no longer has either award. The Special Forces officer and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was later investigated for an undisclosed violation of the military’s rules of engagement in combat for killing a known enemy fighter and bomb maker, according to officials familiar with the case. The investigation closed last year without Golsteyn’s being charged with a crime, but Army Secretary John M. McHugh decided not only to deny Golsteyn the Distinguished Service Cross, but also to revoke his Silver Star.
McHugh cited a provision in Army regulations that if facts become known that would have prevented the awarding of a medal, the award can be revoked. The Silver Star was approved by a top commander in Afghanistan — Army Gen. David M. Rodriguez, then the three-star deputy commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan – according to Golsteyn’s lawyer, Phil Stackhouse.
Because of the nature of the captain’s work in Afghanistan, we’ll probably never know the reason why the Army arrived at this decision to revoke his awards. But there it is.
Category: Big Army
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/03/average-soldiers-don-t-trust-their-generals-and-they-have-a-point.html
The article is interesting but leaves a couple of critical points unanaswered – to wit, they ask ‘does the upper chain of command have your best interests at heart?” and they say in 2009 positive answers were at 53%, recent answers 27%. Considering who took office in 2009 – anyone ask what that number was in 2007 or 2008?
Too, read the ultra-lefties’ comments: Did you know (according to them) Rumsfeld fired every general who disagreed with him? That the entire time the Bush administration was in, we had only 35,000 troops in Iraq at any time? Or the tired assertion that we are playing the part of Saudi’s Janisaries?
Also, from the article above:
Yet another example of the absolute lack of integrity and utter moral cowardice of both the senior Army leadership and it’s civilian overlords, ain’t it GDC.
He ain’t guilty but lets punish him anyway.
That herd is in desperate need of a culling.
This is the same crowd that is kicking Soldiers out regardless of contracts, regardless of regulations, regardless of directives or any other rules that dictate how it is done.
Luckily in “some” cases Senators and Representatives have stepped in to get them to cut it out, but not in all of them.
Wait, he killed a known enemy fighter and bomb maker? That’s a good thing, right? I’m so confused…
Ahh, but if he killed those people without following General Order #1 and the Rules of Engagement then it constitutes a crime, even though the evidence shows they were bad guys.
He probably didn’t do the 5 S’es before capping them, or he wasn’t wearing his PT belt while doing it or some other shit.
I’m betting on unauthorized eyepro…
Gotta be honest, a room temperature enemy fighter and bomb maker is okay with me, even without the Good Guy not wearing a PT belt and eye pro…
Sleeves rolled up AND hands in pockets, while walk-smoking and wearing non-issued pouches.
And,,,,, walking and talking on his cell phone….
I’ll go with him having Tattoos. He’s an SF guy, he’s probably got at least 3-5. A last parting gift from Mr Chandler before he left…
He did the 5 S’s but forgot the T, that’s were they always get ya….
Well, if you positively identify him as a person “declared hostile,” and then kill him, that normally will fit under the rules of engagement. This tells me we are not getting key portions of the story.
True. But the fact that this has occurred only after now-MAJ Golsteyn made public criticism of US activities and policies in Afghanistan is to me quite troubling.
It’s also troubling that the Army is failing to discuss MAJ Golsteyn’s investigation, or release the report thereof. Even if portions are classified, classified documents can almost always be sanitized.
Something about this whole situation seems mighty . . . odd, if not outright rotten.
^^^ THIS ^^^
Hondo:
This particular Maj simply didn’t rise to the level necessary to manufacture a sex crime “allegation”.
Jeebus. Don’t give ’em any ideas, Grimmy!
Its not the first time Mother Army has fileted an officer for criticizing something the Politik cronies have to say or plan.
Allen West was unavailable for comment.
If the action for which he was awarded the Silver Star included the grounds for which it was later revoked, I could see the revocation. But that doesn’t look to be the situation here. Instead, there appears to be the valorous combat action and, in an unrelated matter, what probably was the sudden and permanent retirement of an enemy bomb maker. I suppose he was to have arrested him, mirandized him, and shipped him to Cuba so that he could later be released by the Golfer in Mom Jeans. Once again, we have insufficient info from the most transparent government in US history.
Exactly.
Blue falcon power activate.
He probably forgot to ask enough times for permission to fire. In the YouTube videos I’ve seen in the last couple of days, the average number of requests to engage has been four.
I might butcher this… so forgive me
A private is approached by a possible insurgent, he gets on company net to request permission to engage
Company calls battalion
Battalion calls Brigade
Brigade calls division
Division calls the pentagon
The pentagon calls the President
The President dispatches Seal Team Six
Seal team Six arrives to a dead private with a radio in his hand
This sounds like the same standard top-down chain of command that Nazi Germany (and I’m sure, many other countries) used during WWII. The common soldier in the field had to WAIT for the higher ups (ad nauseum) to make a decision before they could make a move.
In spite of Nazi Germany’s early successes, this top-down mentality is what eventually lost them the war.
And what does NAZI stand for? National SOCIALIST Party. ANd what is Obozo pushing on America? SOCIALISM. So this same mentality that lost Germany during WWII, has infected America. How far will we be dragged down this road before we either lose it all, or find the leadership with the spine to say “NO” (“NEIN”) and turn us around??
I witnessed Soldiers standing in guard towers on my FOB in Iraq get shot at and instead of returning fire, call for permission because their CoC had them scared of being charged with crimes. Nice way to fight a war. ain’t it?
In Afghanistan we saw guys emplacing IEDs on cameras near my FOB fairly often. The TOC called the squadron TOC asking to IDF the crap out of them and they were denied:
“They’re digging next to the road, if we fire Arty / Mortars at them, we might damage the road. Send your QRF out there to get them.”
Luckily, it finally came down to the TAC-P swinging around and saying, “you wanna drop a bomb on them?” (with a smile on his face of course.) So the commander took him up on it, drop the bombs and took out most of them. At least one crawled off and died in pain.
After that I had the opportunity to tell a whole bunch of Maliks “this is what happens when you don’t stop them from working for the Taliban.”
All it took was that one set of bombs dropping to reduce to almost nothing the IED emplacement on that road for a couple months.
Though someone killed someone, so I’m sure the administration will investigate it shortly to see if we caused them any pain or suffering because they were acting like the enemy. But regardless of that it was our fault they were trying to kill us of course.
I will stand with this Sheepdog anyday. Unfortunately there is a line of us that have bent over to receive our unjust rewards!
He failed to get approval from a JAG CPT.
What’s next, are they gonna revoke his PT Belt, too?
I am sure Jordan would welcome with open arms.
I found out the truth of this story:
It was an admin error. After obtaining permission from JAG, JOC and Battalion HQ Chaplain, he forgot completely to fill out the US ARMY ENEMY KILL REQUEST FORM (USAEKRF). He forgot to fill out block # 6 that decribes sex of enemy. Male, Female and Transgendered blocks were all left unchecked.
OUT!
LMAO!! And to think that there’s over 51 different types of transgender identities. Here’s a few. Pangender. Gender Variant. Gender Fluid. Non-binary. Male to Female/MTF….
Bing West said this, “Eventually, the high command terminated Gant’s career and those of two other superb Special Forces officers who agreed with his values: Matt Golsteyn and Dan McKone. We Americans admire our Green Berets because men like Gant, Golsteyn and McKone live among the tribes and challenge our Islamist enemies to do battle over basic ideals. Their seniors should mentor them and direct their enthusiastic efforts. Regrettably, the Special Forces command did not address the lack of leadership by the colonels who failed to guide junior leaders such as Gant and his comrades.”
This ties in nicely with the recent findings by several sources that our current senior leadership at the Puzzle Palace are not our best and brightest anymore, that we are unwittingly encouraging our best and brightest to leave the military and take their dynamic entrepreneurship elsewhere as the high command becomes increasingly risk adverse….
That risk adverse senior leadership failed to lead and instead ended careers that were perhaps too zealous for their superiors. And now we see a secretary of the Army agreeing with the Puzzle Palace cowards and screwing Golsteyn…
We are sending a message to our mid grade officers and senior enlisted, we may not believe we are sending this message but it sure as hell is being received loud and clear. The Army is done with top performers, they want more go along to get along jagoffs like Martin Dempsey and SMA Chandler….politicians instead of dynamic leaders like Mattis….after the RIF finally ends it will be interesting to see what’s left.
“An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Tommy sees!”
“(T)hat we are unwittingly encouraging our best and brightest to leave the military and take their dynamic entrepreneurship elsewhere”. I don’t know, VOV. I doubt that there’s anything “unwittingly” about the culling of the best and brightest.
I think Captain Mathew L. Golsteyn is too good a guy for the Army, and the Army top brass noticed this, and tried to get him kicked out by any means necessary. They’re kicking out or disgracing all the true warriors and patriotic soldiers out of the military and replacing them with “yes men” who will follow orders and do what they’re told – to the point of asking permission to defend their selves when fired upon. Men like him will only be a monkey wrench in their ultimate plans. What those “plans” might be I do not even care to speculate…
From the article: “The Army tried to turn up anything it could, but was unable to find one piece of evidence to corroborate the allegation.” So it’s just an allegation, not a fact. It is from a different incident than the one which awarded him the Silver Star. They took his SF status and his decorations based on yet to be proven allegations. Typical Obama Pentagon mentality. “Let’s see, how else can we hide our heads in the sand from the enemy staring us in our faces and instead fuck with and fuck over our own?” Secretary of the Army, John McHugh never served a day in uniform. He is a sock puppet for Obama in the Pentagon, like most there and has no clue what armed combat is. Of course, neither does Obama. So McHugh took the liberal left low road and picked this Captain to what, show the enemy once again we are nice guys, show the world we are all things to all people? This is not just a bad play all around in my book put a disgraceful dishonor to a warrior and hero. I would say the Administration and Pentagon should be ashamed to show their faces when this is mentioned but they know no such thing as shame. Give the Captain back his full SF status, his SS and/or DSC and consume yourself Mr. McHugh, with finding some Al Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS to kill. After all that’s our job in combat is it not? Kill the enemy. Captain Mathew Golsteyn is a soldier’s soldier and a stand up officer in my eye. The fact that despite pressure from big Army on his men to “roll over on him” they stood firm, speaks volumes to me. I would put my life in Captain Golsteyn’s hands any day. We need more like him and less PT belt wearing, let’s check the ROE handbook first, full of shit, no guts, whining officers and soldiers. I think most soldiers though, are like him in thought and practice when meeting and fighting the enemy. Us first and foremost,… Read more »
Word my brother, word….
see above we share this sentiment indeed.
I hope you are feeling well and moving forward to great health this fine wintry day!!
Veritas Omnia Vincit…Thank you and I’m getting better each day.
“…our current senior leadership…are not our best and brightest anymore…”
That’s because Obama fired them, or had them fired.
IF we get a decent President elected in 2016, he’s going to have to clean the nest out all the way down to about the rank of Major, before we find healthy leadership again.
Maybe the administration needed that Silver Star allocation for “SGT” Bergdahl’s “lovely parting gift?” regards, Alemaster
I think the Army is pissed because soldiers did what soldiers are supposed to do. And today’s Army is PC and that dosen’t work any more. It’s been 40+ years since enlisting, I don’t understand all the permission shit. ROE must really have changed.
This sounds suspiciously like the case in 07 where the 2 SF Soldiers were accused of murder after shooting a confirmed bomb maker and trainer.
So, Afghani bomb makers’ union were/are supporting the DNC financially.
Who knew?
Every day, I just get sicker and sicker to my stomach. Sigh.
Every day, it gets harder and harder to not consider filing for early sep and going to school so I can say that I did something with my life other than send notifications up my chain when something comm-related on my base breaks.
So… Let’s see if this makes sense.
“Illegally killed a KNOW FIGHTER AND BOMB MAKER”
I don’t think the word “illegally” goes anywhere in this sentence.
Maybe that’s why they’re after him.
In his report, he called the guy an illegal fighter and bomb maker.
If he had said, “he’s an undocumented fighter and bomb maker” we wouldn’t be discussing this.
Interesting passage from the linked article:
“The Silver Star was approved by a top commander in Afghanistan — Army Gen. David M. Rodriguez, then the three-star deputy commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan – according to Golsteyn’s lawyer, Phil Stackhouse.”
““I firmly believe that had he known about the derogatory information that was [found] by the aforementioned investigation, he would have never awarded Major Golsteyn the Silver Star,” McHugh said in a Nov. 17 letter to Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R.-Calif.), who has advocated on Golsteyn’s behalf. “”
General Rodriguez, as far as I can determine, is still alive. Why not ask him? McHugh’s use of the word “believe” suggests that no one has actually asked General Rodriguez; if someone had asked General Rodriguez, and if the General had concurred, the word would be “know”, not “believe”.
Never ask a question you do not want to hear the answer to.
He’s the CDR US AFRICOM, and is a pretty easy guy to find as he is usually in his Pentagon office (all COCOM’s have one BTW) every 6 to 8 weeks or so.
You know, I can’t help but wonder if this had anything to do with that recent HRC message from 2+ weeks or so ago – the one reminding commanders that awards can be revoked – that Jonn wrote about here:
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=57737
In retrospect, to me that certainly looks like an example of “prepping the PR battlefield”. But maybe that’s just me.
No, you are not alone, Hondo. That thought occurred to many.
I don’t believe it was an accident….but, I also believe there were more cases than this that warranted the publication of the guidance (which was already in regulation anyway).
Given that it appears that this was only an allegation, I would suspect the MAJ Golsteyn eventually gets his Silver Star back via the Board for Correction of Military Records process. Unfortunately, that takes alot of time and work.
No Luddite, you are wrong. It is the prerogative of this administration to denigrate all that is holy to America and Americans. By trashing our true heroes he expects us to look at him to be the hero he sees himself as.
It is an extension of ovomit’s innate messiah complex delusional psychosis and narcissistic personality psychopathology.
O is a megalomaniac in the classic form of the word and this is just another manifestation of his serious mental illness.
Dude, despite agreeing with much of your assessment of the current resident of 17 Pennsylvania Ave NW, they could care less about some random major.
The “rediscovery” of the authority to revoke awards had more to do with high profile bad behavior by the likes of former BG Sinclair.
FWIW, I have to wonder why the SECARMY even had this on his desk? It’s pretty prejudicial if there were going to be charges or even administrative action.
CAW CAW!
Blue Falcon strikes again…..
They really did one over on this guy. He won’t be able to sit down for years.
Is there anything we can do to help the Major? Is anyone trying to go to bat for him? Whatever happened, he’s going to need some serious horsepower just to keep from losing his commission.
…Kinda interesting that just a couple weeks back, there was a post here about an Army message reminding people that they could revoke awards.
Mike
No evidence, no charges released?
This is the same BIG ARMY that refuses to release the investigation(s) and prosecute a KNOWN deserter/traitor ….bergdahl.
F’ing disgusting.
Not big Army any more.
Being run by assholes and yes men.
This entire mess sounds like something that our favorite turd burglar turdbath himself would foist on an unsuspecting public.
I was serious above when I spoke of O’s mental illness, he is every bit as sick as Hitler was before Hitler took power in the late 1930’s.
The one fortunate thing is that O is in a country that absolutely continues to build an attitude of absolute despisement toward him in all things O.
The left looks at him with less and less respect simply because they see exactly how feckless this man is.
His Narcissism is legendary and will no doubt go down in history as the one defining trait that signifies all that is wrong with him as he is no doubt determined to be the worst President in the History of the United States.
In all actuality Woodrow Wilson is in league with O because he was the founding member of the “progressive” movement and started all the things that have come to fruition in the world of Ovomit and his crew.
Daily we are subjected to lower and lower admonitions about the real world this man lives in where he is the all great and consuming intellect of the modern world to himself and his minions but to the rest of us he is only a charlatan that has fucked everything he has touched up to the n’th degree.
This revoking of this good man’s Silver Star is nothing but a symptom of a deeper severe mental illness that has been correctly diagnosed by all the other commentators on this page.
Look to Ofuckface for the real reason this man is being taken apart from the hero he obviously is.
It would be good for people like Sean Hannity to get involved with this. He, Rush, or best of all, Mark Levin would be able to put the political pressure on this administration to relinquish the stranglehold they have on a true hero’s balls when in reality they aren’t worth the sweat that drips from them on a hot August day in Fallujah…
HEY BERNATH!!
Don’t you have anything else better to do other than be a total bullshit artist?
Stop your whining and get off social media for good. Then get off and stay off the internet.
Once you done that, go take a swim in the Gulf of Mexico…swim until you meet up with a few hundred jellyfish. Annoy them. Let them sting you over and over again.
OR
STFU!!!
From the Washington Free Beacon:
“Army Major Matt Golsteyn betrayed by cowardly leaders”
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/afghanistan-war-hero-stripped-of-silver-star/
The latest is they also revoked his Special Forces designation and are kicking him out. Someone please explain to me how PFC Bergdahl who deserts in the face of the enemy gets promoted twice and a cushy desk job somewhere, and probably 100% service connected for the rest of his life. Yet this warrior who saves soldiers lives and actually fights the enemy gets royally screwed. Yeah, that enhances moral and defines “Army Values”.
Might want to check out this article, it seems he’s got a lot of support from anyone NOT in the Puzzle Palace.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/02/06/cia-job-interview-led-to-criminal-investigation-of-green-beret/