Yabut claims that he was ordered to drive 577 through Richmond
According to Stars & Stripes, 1st Lt. Joshua Yabut, the Virginia Guardsman, claimed to the Associated Press That he was ordered by his superiors to joyride the M577 through Richmond this week;
But a spokesman for the Virginia National Guard denied 1st Lt. Joshua Yabut’s claim.
“Lt. Yabut was not authorized by the brigade commander or anyone else to drive the armored personnel carrier off Fort Pickett to any location for any reason,” spokesman A.A. “Cotton” Puryear wrote in an email.
Yabut told The Associated Press he was first notified of the training exercise by his commander a week before he drove the vehicle away Tuesday evening from Fort Pickett. Yabut said he was later given the command in coded military language to conduct the exercise, which he said was aimed at gauging police response.
“I didn’t want to do it, but I believed it was a lawful order, and as a commissioned officer I was required to do so,” Yabut said.
Totally plausible.
Category: Dumbass Bullshit
MY ASS, he would have gotten MUCH farther with the excuse that he got lost while doing Mounted Land Nav!!!
And as anyone knows, LTs frequently get lost. So it would have been more believable.
I had a Lieutenant once who earned the callsign Yabut. Everything out of his mouth started out Yeah but…
Simple miscommunication.
Put that retard back in the “home” he escaped from! imo
Wait, he’s a 1LT? I hadn’t been following this story all that closely, but I figured it had to be a SPC4 who got hammered on Moonshine and BBQ sauce…
More seriously (and avoiding the LT getting lost jokes), what officer has 577 on their .mil license?
I would think none. But then I drove my company’s jeeps in the RVN with no military driver’s license. But over there, many rules that impaired doing our jobs were relaxed or ignored.
29 years old with 11 years of service USUALLY indicates prior enlisted, where he could easily have been qual’ed. Or he just “stole the keys” and took off on his own – most military vehicles are designed so privates can figure out how to operate…
And I had to state USUALLY because yours truly was a 1LT in the Guard at age 30 with 10 years TIS and 8 years TIG – used to brag about being the senior O2 in the armed forces – all as an officer. Long story for another thread, perhaps. Or I’ll just keep the rest to myself 😉
DAMMIT AZtoVA,
I thought I was the senior damn 1LT in the USAR at one point in time. 🙂
But you have me beat, so as far as I know this makes me 3rd…LOL
Maybe fourth!
I commissioned after almost 23 years of enlisted service. I’m coming up on 31 years total in a few months.
Officers in my old unit were not given licenses because they were not allowed to driver military vehicles because they would be liable for the full cost of the vehicle, and whatever other damages they caused with that vehicle. Now that is a run on sentence to be proud of. Enlisted troops could only be charged a certain amount, like a half months pay for two months. So I have been led to believe was the case.
Meth is a hell of a drug.
Crack is wack…
See, kids? This is why drugs are bad.
Folks at Army WTF are amazed that the 577 ran that far.
More than once I had fuel filters crap out, reducing power.; once at NTC end of mission was told to drive it to the dust bowl making about 3mph. Took hours
We had a couple of them in my battalion in Germany. They never left the motor pool and I think the mechanics scavenged parts from them for the M113’s.
I’m surprised it even started. My reserve unit we had a problem with the alt needing to be replaced all the time on our S3 577, the S2 577 ran fine every time. What sucked was it was the newer version with the electronic transmission, so after slave starting it, you had to stay hooked up on the slave cable, shift into drive, disconnect then move it to the main bay, hook back up to a slave cable and shift into park, then shut it down. That damn 577 was always deadline for the 2 1/2 years I was a weekend warrior.
While this guy is going to get flamed on his OER, the BMO deserves a top block and an ARCOM.
Took me a minute but I got it
I love message in the coded military language part.
Maybe he received the order through coded gang hand signals.
“given the command in coded military language”
And there’s today’s lesson, boys and girls:
Never spin the KAL-55B Whiz Wheel while you’re whacked on crack.
Bill O’Rielly will write a book about this incident. It’s title will be Killing My Career.
Michael Savage will name his new book “Yabut’s War”.
book not boo. It’s nowhere near Halloween yet. We need an edit button.
Fixed that for you.
Had this happened when Robert Heinlein was alive, he would’ve gotten the idea for a new science fiction book, “Have Moonshine Will Travel”.
Well, Heinlein did write a story called “The Roads Must Roll”. (smile)
Yeah but……….
Dammitt, 26Limabeans,
ya’ beat me to it…
He’ll be saying that for a long time to come. LOL.
First thing I thought when I saw it as well….
….let’s play rabbit.
I’ll shit it.
You grab it.
PTSD paper work pending (100%).
LT, following the voices in your head is not the same as obeying a lawful order.
reminds me of the chorus from the Little Walter song “Crazy Mixed Up World”…BTW a song I recommend if you haven’t heard it, its a moderately fast blues, with Willie Dixon putting down a thumpin’ driven bass line.
What did Fraser Crane ask—-“What color is the sky in your world?”
Don’t do drugs! And don’t self-medicate unless you can buy it from CVS, Rite-Aid, or Sam’s Club.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Were the superiors issuing that order also using drugs? The same as the LT?? Was broadcasting the trip on Twitter part of the order?
Yeah, because the Army is in the habit of putting commissioned officers as drivers.
Heh. I once heard a former armor officer(testifying on an unrelated matter) asked if he “drove” a tank on active duty.
“No,” he explained patiently,”I was the commander. The most common words on my tank were, ‘Sir, don’t touch that!'”
(Do I have to admit that when I saw the headline, I thought “577” was how fast he was going?)
Doesn’t that “Skippy’s List” thing have something specific about the voices in your head not being part of your legal chain of command?
Ossifers gonna ossifer.
Is this going to affect my eval, sir?
damn they’re making ’em young now. does his mom know he was out playing army? he looks 12!
I know I’m probably playing too much of the devil’s advocate, but his name and complexion indicate Filipino or some similar origin. any chance this was a jihad failed as only a brand spanking shiny new officer could fail?
Jim,
I too thought he was too young to be 1LT.
Part of my job entails helping our Emergency Preparedness folks train Firefighters, LEO’s, Civil Support Teams, HAZMAT Teams, and regular army folks (usually from chemical battalions) on how to operate in a radiologically contaminated environment. We were working with a couple of companies from Ft Lewis (JBLM) for you 21st Century soldiers, and I swear to go the two Company Commanders (both CPT’s) looked to be about 16. That’s when I felt a bit ummmm mature.
Id sure hate to be 1LT Yabut’s chain of command at the moment…the VA Adjutant General is probably spitting nails..
I knew it was time to retire when I was getting Soldiers that were born after my enlistment date. Took a good bit of Jameson’s to ease that pain.
It’s a tough thing to see that someone was born after you joined the Army. It took me a while to get used to that.
Worse was finally getting the “you’re getting too old for this shit” speech from my Doc finally. Very rough to come to terms with that one.
What’s even worse when you start thinking that many field grade officers (MAJs/LCDRs) look like youngsters.
When that happens, yeah – you’re officially an old fart.
I saw a roster sheet that showed I was the only troop in the battalion that was born in the fifties. It also showed I had the highest GT score in the BN. I am good at taking tests.
Had my first one last year, and I’ll be done in December. Yeah, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
On the civilian side, we had a kid who was 18 come and do some temp work with us a couple of months ago. Hard working kid, but bless his heart, I showed him a computer diskette, and he had no idea what it was. Come to find out he’s the same age as the kid who played Carl in The Walking Dead. Now THAT was an age shock.
Come on, you’ve never heard a superior officer say something like, “Ok Lt Dumbass, you show them how it’s done!” and storm off? Oh, I’ve seen it. Of course back then, Lt, or whomever would get a sound ass beating trying to get away with it. Hondo? You’ve heard of the too stupid to believe it defense I’m sure. I’d bet it’s a lot more successful today than yesterday.
Come on; everyone knows “LT, make sure your inventory reports are complete before you leave work Friday” is code for “Go have some drinks then take an armored vehicle for a night ride through town and back”
I thought the code was, “That dawg won’t hunt, boy!” Spoken from behind a bush or a filing cabinet or something.
That fits so perfectly. I’m guessing he’ll get a lot of that in prison…
I couldn’t locate a proper Abbot and Costello version.
What will happen to him?
Will he be prosecuted by the state and then the Army?
Or will the Army take the lead?
What kind of punishment is likely?
Just a dishonorable discharge or jail time?
Hoping someone with JAG/Lawyer experience would chime in on this one.
In the area that I live at, the military has a cooperative agreement with the state that gives both Virginia, and the military, jurisdiction. The State could defer to the military, or both the State and the military could drum him up for different offenses.
In this case, he could face charges with both the military, and the State of Virginia.
I’ve never been in the National Guard, so hopefully someone who was in the National Guard could put a perspective on this. He could be subject to Virginia’s version of the UCMJ if he was on , as well as the State prosecutor for his driving antics.
I know that on the Army Reserve side of the house, something like this would’ve risked Article 15, UCMJ, officer separation, etc. If separation was recommended, he’d go before an officer separation board who’d review his situation, interview witnesses, then make their decision.
I do have National Guard experience, but not in Virginia. In my state the Guard never bothered with actual UCMJ action…the only “punishment” was administrative separation.
I have heard of states using their Article 15 equivalents. I have never heard of a National Guard command doing courts-martial in the modern era.
(The closest thing I know is from 1913: the State of West Virginia declared martial law during some violent strikes in the coal industry, and ended up trying some people by military commission. The infamous labor militant “Mother Jones” was one of the defendants though she didn’t get any punishment.)
As punishment, I would send him to the motor pool and have him break track for a week. Shouldn’t be any future problems after that.
thebesig: It’s my understanding that ARNG personnel are in general not subject to the UCMJ unless in Federal pay status (e.g., drilling/AT/ADT/ADSW/long-term orders). If so – and I’d ask one of our mil lawyer readers to correct me if I’m wrong – any charges he’d face would therefore be either state charges or Federal criminal (Title 18) charges. The US military wouldn’t have any jurisdiction.
Most (if not all) states do have a state code of military justice. It’s my understanding that most are patterned on the UCMJ. In fact, Virginia’s appears to be effectively identical to the UCMJ:
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title44/chapter1/section44-40/
So in theory, he could face a court martial as a member of the VA ARNG – for violation of VA’s SCMJ.
That said, my guess would be that Alberich is correct and that the VA ARNG will simply admin discharge him – and let the VA and/or Federal criminal courts deal with the underlying misconduct. Unfortunately.
By the way: the ghost of Frank Zappa has a message for everyone: “My album was titled Shiek Yerbuti, NOT ‘Shiek Yabut-i’. This guy had nothing to do with it. I had far better things to do than write about tools like this fool.”
There might be a greater chance now than a few years ago. There have been increasing numbers of AGR’s replacing the technician force, at least among full timers. Soooo, he could well be subject to the UCMJ.
I was surprised to make this discovery not long ago. Very few technicians left at my old unit.
I can hear it now,
1SG: Sir I gotta talk to you about the new LT
CO: Whats up 1SG?
1SG: He is just a real “yabut”…
CO: Dammit, now I gotta see about transferring him to E Troop, you know where we sent the other one, for being a “rapone”
On the other hand, haven’t all of us 19E, D, K, and 11M’s always wanted to go do donuts on the base commanders lawn in a track???
*sigh*
I miss pivot steer……just wasn’t the same in an MRAP.
You hit a sturdy rock in an MRAP and the thing will flip over, let alone trying to do a donut in it.
Doc,
Pivot Steer ROCKS! 🙂 Is an MRAP like an MRE? (Kidding there, couldn’t resist).
I remember this one time at AT… We were at Yakima, I was a brand F-ing new E5, and a BFN tank commander. We were ummm conducting a tactical realignment, running like hell in other words, saw a upcoming drop of about five feet and screamed hard right to the driver. Threw the right hand track to the inside, ugh.
We were in the cavalry troop, and sat there forlornly as the buckwheats in the armor battalion laughed and pointed at us as the went by chasing the rest of my unit. It took two M88’s just to get us to the point where we could haul the track out and get it back on, broke a torsion bar, lots of cursing, chewed out by the PSG, well you know…:)
Tanking is a blast.
If he had only kept it on post. Now, he’ll be a McDonalds manager.
Oh, come on, you guys! Go easy on him, willya?
He was just going for a job interview running a street sweeper! The only thing missing was the big circle brush on each side, and he forgot to install the spray nozzles on the underside before he took off.
Seriously, give the little fellow a break. He’s even shorter than I am!
https://youtu.be/948-2Vzgi3w
Too. Many. Jokes. Brain. Overloading…..
If you believe an order is legal but might involve law enforcement or breaking the law in any way, get it in writing first.
I found the video to be hilarious! All those cops chasing what looks like a big toaster on tracks. Motor pool guys deserve an achievement medal for that thing working as good as it did. He drove it for 65 miles!
Can’t realy fault Yabut for wanting to stir things up. Can fault him for not using his brain though.
The poor 1LT was born at least 35 years too late. Driving armored vehicles on highways and in towns (and usually wrecking stuff) was an everyday event in what was then known as West Germany. He would have loved REFORGER, as no curb, building, or automobile was safe from damage being inflicted by an armored vehicle.
Even better was paying for the damage when the Herms charged you not just the chicken run over but also for the eggs she might have laid, some of the chicks which may hatch, THEIR eggs, etc.
Buddy of mine is a Abrams crewman in the NG. Last summer for their AT they went to Sweden (I think, some Nordic country). He said they were driving on the streets there and was surprised because the streets are much narrower than back here.
New Army tactic from Secret Squirrel HQ – all track crews are dismissed except for the TC – due to budget cuts he will perform all crew duties. What a maroon…
Translation: he’s still on drugs
“Sergeant, why did you tell the Lieutenant that he could go on a drive like that?”
“Sir? I don’t know what you-”
“Sergeant, I know you and I know your sense of humor. Start talking.”
I got a secret message also that day on my Army decoder ring. Something about Ovaltine.
Yabut Dabut DOH!
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Pulling the “A-Team Defense”. In 2018, a crackhead Lieutenant was sent to prison by a military court for a crime he didn’t commit. He promptly was pardoned by President Obama from a maximum security stockade to the Dupont Circle underground. Today, still unemployable, he survives as a keynote speaker at Anti Second Amendment demonstrations. If you have a social justice problem, if no one else can help, and if you can give him the attention that he craves, maybe you can hire the Millennial Generation Team.
Well, of COURSE they did. Military superiors are ALWAYS telling their subordinates to do fucking dumb, illegal shit that puts the public in danger.
Yep. I totally believe him…
And I just had a monkey fly out my ass..