Command Master Chief Ronald K. Shasky chooses suicide
Mick sends us a link to the story of Command Master Chief Ronald K. Shasky II, who was facing court martial charges for sex crime and fraternization, but he chose suicide instead. He was found dead in his Chesapeake, Virginia, home on January 31;
Officer Kelly Elliott of the Chesapeake Police Department confirmed Thursday that Shasky’s death was a suicide. Chesapeake police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are investigating.
Shasky was relieved aboard the destroyer Mason in spring 2017 for misconduct, Hillson said, and was facing an April special court-martial on abusive sexual contact, fraternization and false official statement charges.
Category: Navy
Sad all the way around, but, at least he saved us some cash and aggravation.
No need for a Court Martial, you’ve already convicted.
What a creepy look in that pic. Had the photog just refused his advances or something? Weird.
Wife. Six children. The less said the better.
Obnoxious jerk couldn’t face punishment for what he did? How many lives did he destroy along the way to destroying his own?
He will not be missed.
Dunno on this one. Was he convicted?
Condolences to his family. For a couple things.
Yes indeed.
It might help to remember that the accusations could be false.
Maybe it’s time to actually put salt peter in the chow.
Who knows what demons reside in a persons head.
Sometimes this is the better outcome…it sucks for the family, but so does having a sex offender dad in prison for decades.
Suicide finalizes events for the individual involved. It leaves behind a great deal of hurt, but I’m coming to consider that some folks are better off dead than alive and this man might be one of those people.
Some guys I’ve know over the years who’ve committed suicide were tragic losses in that a little help might have saved them and allowed them to contribute, but a few others I’ve known? They and their families are far better off that they created a closure of sorts.
Probably not a popular opinion, but not every suicide is a tragedy.
Had two good friends when I was younger whose Dads committed suicide . It was really hard on them at the time . But later in life , they followed their Dad’s lead and committed suicide themselves . As a Cop , I always told folks about them when they thought about doing the deed . I’d tell them that I’d never do that to my kids . It don’t get that fucking bad — no matter what !!
I’ve read that the offspring of those who have committed suicide are far likelier than others to do so.
Ya nailed it.
He left a wife and six kids behind? Nothing happy about this regardless of how you look at it.
Suicide does not kill or destroy one’s own inner demons, it projects them onto others.
There is always more than one victim of suicide. Prayers for his family.
Spunds like seppuku.
Suicide is the sincerest form of self-criticism.
All sad … nothing good!
If he was guilty, then good riddance. If he wasn’t, it’s tragic. I have no idea which is the case here. It could very well be that he was innocent and feared being railroaded. Or it could be that he was guilty and chose to avoid having to admit it.
Will the court-martial proceedings still go forward with him dead?
No point. Any punishment now would just add to the family’s pain.
Could also have the potential to clear his name. Suicide is not an admission of guilt.
I suppose, if the family wants to push it. Dead have been represented before, for just that reason.
Criminal cases never go forward against dead men. Civil cases sometimes do, against their estates.
If the command wanted to do an investigation, even a formal investigation with a board, to “clear his name” or not it could probably do so.
(In a civilian court, prosecuting a dead man would be a constitutional violation, because there would be no “case or controversy” within the meaning of Article III.)
There are a lot of assumptions on her about the CMC. I can say that his end is unfortunate and I’m sure his family will miss him. I can say he most certainly would not have spent years in prison, nor had to register as a sex offender. Nothing he is alleged to have done rises to that level. The allegations fall into sexual harassment.
Or hostile work environment of one or the other type: quid pro quo or hostile work environment. The other charges were false report and fraternization. Depending upon the man, charges of this type may alone destroy him, w/o regard to guilt. As other have said, this is a sad case and I wish his family well.
Boomer please contact me
RIP Chief and forgive those who will convict you without a trial. Let he who has not sinned throw the first stone.
Boy have things changed since I was in.
This guarantees his wife and 6 kids get benefits
No such guarantee with the option he was facing
His wife is an active duty CPO. They had benefits no matter the outcome of his trial.
Guilty or innocent he left his family to clean up the mess…condolences to his family..
Even suicide and facing a CM they get benefits?
What have “they” been convicted of, so as to lose any benefits “they” would have had coming?
Any punitive discharge strips ALL military benefits. That includes retirement and post-retirement medical, commissary, MWR, and PX.
Family benefits generally exist based on having a sponsor who is (or was at time of death) entitled to military benefits. No sponsor entitlement to post-service military bennies in general means no family benefits. And VA benefits are NOT, strictly speaking, military benefits; they’re VA benefits. They’re run by the DVA, not DoD.
That’s one reason court martial panels sometimes “go easy” on senior NCOs and officers. IMO, often they don’t want to “hurt their families” by dropping the hammer with a punitive discharge. So they don’t, and the guilty individual sometimes gets far less than they deserve when convicted.
It’s also IMO at least partly responsible for the reluctance of courts-martial to dismiss officers from the service. The UCMJ doesn’t allow officers to be reduced in grade by a court martial (officers either get retained in grade or dismissed, which is the equivalent of a DD). That means that other than a big honking fine there’s no good “intermediate sentence” available for officers that doesn’t nail their family as well (dismissal means no possibility of retirement, and thus no post-service bennies). In contrast, courts-martial can reduce enlisted personnel in grade as part of their sentence but opt to allow them to retire.
Tragic doesn’t cover it. No winner here.
I was wondering about the bennies and any life insurance that he may have had. I’m hoping that he had a bundle.
And suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness, no matter what happens, it is always better to stand and take your medicine than to quit early and leave the loved ones with unanswered questions.
I’m also wondering if there was more than these charges and he just bailed out so they wouldn’t catch him with a bunch of other crimes…
Condolences to the family.
A lot of folks over in the comments at Navy Crimes are coming out in defense of the CMC so there might be more to this. One recurring theme in the comments is Navy Crimes didn’t wait long to run with the story thereby subjecting his widow and kids to even more grief.
The really sad thing is there is enough grab assing (and worse) going on in the fleet that it’s assumed guilty until proven innocent when these charges are made. With Fat Leonard and the steady drumbeat of bad news from the Mess, as well as stories of watch stander incompetence and collisions, and now the drug ring on CVN 76, one has to wonder how much longer this tomfoolery will be tolerated. Maybe CJCS needs to put a boot up some blue and gold flag officer rear ends.
This totally stunned me, because this is not the Ron I knew.
I was stationed with Ron onboard USS Sentry (MCM 3) and he was a class act all the way around. He was passionate about his people, his ship, the Navy, and his family and friends. He literally saved me from doing the very destructive action he did to himself. I only wish I could have talked with him before this tragedy and done the same for him as he did for me and saved his life.
Studies by the Navy (and other branches of service) have shown that the personnel with the highest risk for suicide in the Navy are senior enlisted. There is a unique expectation and pressure that comes with being a Chief Petty Officer, and some can handle it better than others. I thought Ron of all people had the ability to weather any kind of storm, but psychologists will tell you it sometimes only takes that one thing to put someone past the breaking point. I’m not sure why he did it, but can imagine how he might have felt at the moment because I’ve been there before.
TL;DR No one is an island; if you or someone you know thinks so or feels so shamed they think their life/career/marriage/everything is over, please get hel.
I knew Ronn and his family from the time he was a first class up until 2015, when we lost touch. This is not the man I knew. He will be missed.
He was guilty. I’m his soon to be ex sister in law (married his wife’s brother). The whole family is beyond messed up and Ron was no exception at all. His widow has a habit of snobbing sexual abuse. Thankfully she’s retiring. He also lied to her and told her that his ex wife had passed and that his children from that previous marriage weren’t his. It came out when their oldest son found his half brother on Facebook. The man was a series of messes.
Thank you.
He was guilty. I’m his soon to be ex sister in law (married his wife’s brother). The whole family is beyond messed up and Ron was no exception at all. His widow has a habit of snobbing sexual abuse. Thankfully she’s retiring. He also lied to her and told her that his ex wife had passed and that his children from that previous marriage weren’t his. It came out when their oldest son found his half brother on Facebook. The man was a series of messes.