Desmond McGill

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A Navy corpsman has been charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction in eastern North Carolina.

The Daily News of Jacksonville reported that 25-year-old Gregory Desmond McGill was charged Thursday by Onslow County sheriff’s deputies.

McGill had been arrested Tuesday after deputies said he had a concealed gun, ax, machete and Molotov cocktails in his car. The vehicle was about 100 feet from the Hubert Volunteer Fire Department, where his estranged wife’s roommate works.

While McGill was in jail, detectives found a military M81 time blasting fuse in his home Thursday and added the charge of possession of a weapon of mass destruction.

McGill was scheduled for a first appearance in court Friday. It was unclear where McGill was stationed and whether he had an attorney.

From NavyTimes.com

I was hoping someone would step up and say we screwed up, he’s “NOT GUILTY”.

My hopes were dashed.

One of our own plead guilty to falsifying documents etc, and wore a Purple Heart, a award he never was awarded.

He was a Navy Corpsman, and also a Chief Petty Officer, this is a double barbed hook to me.  I am a member of both fraternities.

I always post the positive stories on our site, and I post the negative stories as well.  It is rare that a SNCO does something like this and gets called on the carpet in this fashion.  I want “EVERYONE” to see what happens when you start with “1″ lie, how they multiply.

All I can say is Honor, Courage and Commitment, mean something.. Remember and live by these words and you will never find yourself in this predicament.

It is a sad day for the HM and CPO Community.  A real sad day.

The Good News?  There is tomorrow!  There are many more heroes serving in our Corps!! Many, Many Many hard chargers out there doing the daily do!

US NAVY

I salute you!

I never forget what you do, but it is good to put our trash out for all to see as well.  This is one of those times..

D/C

Corpsman jailed for unauthorized medal

Whether Robert White was injured in Iraq in 2005 and deserved a Purple Heart makes no difference now.

The chief hospital corpsman wore the award without receiving it through official channels, and in the Navy’s eyes, that makes him a faker.

The 19-year sailor, who was selected for advancement to senior chief in March, pleaded guilty Dec. 16 to the unauthorized wearing of a Purple Heart while he worked at Great Lakes, Ill.

White’s military judge sentenced him to 45 days in the brig, busted him down to E-5 and ordered him to forfeit four months of pay.

The Navy initially charged White with several counts of filing false documents, making false statements and knowingly wearing a Purple Heart he never formally received.

He pleaded guilty to Article 134, unauthorized wearing of a Purple Heart; and Article 107, making a false official statement.

White also pleaded guilty to fraternization for dating the second-class personnel clerk who entered White’s Purple Heart information in his official Navy file.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges related to submitting false documents.

White’s guilty plea marks an ambiguous end to the case that initially threatened a general court-martial, years in the brig and a dishonorable discharge.

Still unresolved is his claim that he sustained a minor hand injury during a mortar attack in July 2005, when he was deployed with 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, in Hit, Iraq.

White and his immediate supervisor — who took the stand during White’s Article 32 hearing in September — put in late paperwork for the Purple Heart several weeks after White said he was wounded.

A Purple Heart for White was never was approved, and Marine Corps officials said they have no record of granting or denying the award to White.

In White’s guilty plea, he told a military judge that he knew he did not receive the award through official channels, and that he went out and bought the medal himself.

“He did put in [paperwork] for it, but he never got it — and he knew he never got it,” said Lt. Carrie Theis, the lawyer who prosecuted White at Great Lakes Naval Station.

The admission contradicted a witness’s testimony during the Article 32, in which he said White claimed to have found an envelope containing his medal and citation sitting on his desk one day.

Question is called moot

The question of whether White deserved the award is moot, Theis said.

“We are not really pursuing where [the paperwork] may have been stalled up.” Theis said. “It sounds like it was somewhere in theater.”

The investigation stemmed from a formal accusation from a senior chief storekeeper who worked with White at Great Lakes and grew suspicious after hearing rumors that White never earned the award.

To friends and co-workers, White told wildly inconsistent stories about how he earned his Purple Heart. He once told a military doctor that an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle and caused severe injuries that led to a 72-hour coma and a medical evacuation to Germany.

After White pleaded guilty, his attorney presented several medical professionals who testified regarding White’s diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

White’s future status with the Navy remains unclear. He is seeking a medical discharge based on his PTSD.

He may face administrative proceedings to determine the circumstances of any retirement or separation. A Wisconsin native, White has been in the Navy for 19 years, 15 on active duty, Theis said.

Rear Adm. Douglass Biesel, commander of Navy Region Midwest and the convening authority in the case, still has to approve the judge’s sentence and plea agreement.

White’s case is not unique, said Mary Schantag of the POW Network, which tracks claims of military honors.

“It’s not an isolated incident. It happens more than you would think,” she said. “These guys had earned the right to be called a hero and yet they still have to fudge it.

“And that erases everything. It’s sad that they will forever be known as a liar instead of a good sailor.”

The Corpsman.com Staff

By Patrick Howington – Louisville Courier-Journal
Posted : Sunday Oct 26, 2008 15:40:29 EDT

Jeffrey Wiener was an emergency medical technician in New York when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, killing thousands and shocking the nation.

What he saw and experienced that day prompted Wiener to enlist in the Navy Reserve after moving to Louisville in 2002.

That led to a tour of duty in Iraq, where Wiener, 31, was killed in 2005 while serving as a hospital corpsman. He left behind a wife and two daughters.

Yesterday Navy comrades, family members and former co-workers at Jefferson County Emergency Medical Services honored Wiener’s memory at the dedication of a drill hall bearing his name. The hall is at the Naval Operations Support Center in Louisville.

More than 100 sailors and civilians attended the dedication of the HM2 Jeffrey L. Wiener Drill Hall at the center on Southside Drive.

“We’re just honored that he just made such an impact on everyone that he met here,” said Wiener’s widow, Maria Wiener, after the ceremony. “It was such a short time that he knew them, but they haven’t forgotten him, and it’s just amazing.”

“It means my son will always be remembered,” said his mother, Diana Wiener. “It means that his sacrifice wasn’t in vain — that he will always be in somebody’s mind and (people will) know what Jeffrey stood for.

“Jeffrey loved his family, his country, and most of all his daughters and his wife. After 9/11, he was trying to make sure that his girls’ future was secured.”

Jeffrey Wiener was a Navy petty officer third class assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. He died May 7, 2005, after insurgents shot him during a four-hour firefight. The firefight followed a suicide bombing near a civilian hospital in western Iraq that killed three Marines.

Yesterday’s presentation included a slide show of Wiener working for EMS, training reservists and serving in Iraq — and of his flag-draped casket.

In speeches and interviews yesterday, sailors and public officials said Wiener was driven by a desire to help people. They said he pushed those around him — even paramedics with more experience — to give 100 percent effort.

Seeing how emergency medical crews sometimes had trouble maneuvering stretchers in tight quarters, Wiener helped train colleagues to use a flexible stretcher that could fold around patients like a cocoon. The maneuver is still known as the “Wiener roll,” said Dr. Neal Richmond, director of Louisville Metro EMS.

“Jeffrey committed himself to protecting and healing others,” said U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “That’s why he joined the Navy. That’s why he became a hospital corpsman.”

Giovanni Caruso Dattalo, a petty officer third class, said Wiener was both friend and mentor — teaching him how to shine his boots to perfection and teaming with him to teach medical techniques to new reservists.

“He went out of his way to help any person he could in any situation,” Dattalo said.

— A NAVADMIN released Sept. 29 emphasized the Navy’s exceptional progress in attaining
a culture of fitness and announces several policy revisions to strengthen the Navy Physical Readiness Program(PRP).

“Navy Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA) failures have decreased more than 50 percent over the past four years. We’re really seeing a change in culture and change in lifestyle. Better fitness ultimately leads to better quality of life, better performance and better readiness,” said Rear Adm. Daniel P. Holloway, director, Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education, N13.

In recent years, the Navy has made significant strides in helping sailors achieve a culture of fitness. The addition of elliptical and stationary bike options for the cardio portion of the PFA was welcomed by many sailors. A General Military Training (GMT) program on NKO in 2008 provides sailors greater insight for physical training and preparing for the PFA. Most recently, an official PT uniform was adopted around the fleet.

“Since 2005, the Navy has made significant strides to support and encourage physical fitness,” said Holloway, citing the addition of new testing options, which include the elliptical and stationary bike. “The majority of Navy personnel performs the PFA semi-annually and can easily meet or exceed the minimum physical fitness standards. I challenge each of you to continue the excellent progress we’ve made to improve Navy’s overall physical fitness for the improved health and readiness of the force.”

The new NAVADMIN builds on the Navy’s culture of fitness and supports the rigors of shipboard life, global missions and individual augmentees, according to Holloway. The changes announced in NAVADMIN 277/08 include: Effective Oct. 1, 2008, unless the most recent PFA was passed; sailors who have failed two PFAs in the past three years shall not be assigned to overseas,
pre-commissioning, instructor duty, special programs billets, or Global War on Terror (GWOT)Support Assignments (GSA). Special programs billets include recruit division Commander, recruiting duty, joint duty and Washington D.C. staff.

Additionally, individuals who have not passed the current PFA and have failed three times in four years, will not be allowed a short term extension for the purpose of passing the PFA.

Software upgrades to the Physical Readiness Information Management System (PRIMS) will allow commands to enter all waivers, including current progress and readiness waivers. Commands are required to enter all PFA waivers into PRIMS. Current waivers must be entered no later than Dec. 15, 2008. This upgrade will allow the Navy to track the progress of sailors who need administrative separation processing due to multiple PFA failures. Effective Oct. 1, 2009 the Navy will discontinue waivers for progress. The present requirement for processing for administrative separations (ADSEP) for three PFA failures within a four-year period remains.

For more information read NAVADMIN 277/08, posted on the NPC Web site at www.npc.navy.mil.

Download the info: Here:

**More Navy Doc Goodness from the FORCM!!
Landlord Foreclosure info

**CPO Re-balancing for newly minted CPO’s (I.e your moving!) Welcome to the CPO CRAZYTRAIN!

**IA info (Individual Augmentation) Update

**SRB, NEC Manning, and other goodness..

We will be discussing all of this, tomorrow night (Wednesday 03 Sept 2008) on our Attack of Da-Chief Netcast.  You can listen on Corpsman.com Live or directly on Talkshoe and get involved with the broadcast @ Talkshoe !

Enough Babbling, here is the FORCM info..

“From the Desk of the BUMED FORCE MASTER CHIEF”

and Director of the Hospital Corps

2 September 2008

1. LANDLORD FORECLOSURES

Please review the attached info sheet Landlord Foreclosures. This should provide some relief for Sailors who are in a situation where their landlord forecloses, and the Sailor and or their family is forced to move.

2. COMNAVSURFOR ANNUAL CPO RE-BALANCING
Please review the attached GENADMIN on COMNAVSURFOR CPO Re-Balancing due to selection results. This message provides guidelines for re-balancing excess CPO’s resulting from their recent CPO advancement selection.

3. FEDERAL VOTING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (FVAP)

Are you registered to vote? Now’s the time to register and request your absentee ballot for the November 4, 2008 General Election!

Fill out the Voter Registration and Absentee Ballot Request Form at www.fvap.gov to register and request a ballot from your state. You can also use our new automated tool to guide you through completion of the Form, by following the link on our homepage.

Ask your Unit Voting Assistance Officer for help or a cardstock version of the Form.

Be smart, do your part, vote!

4. NAVY RESERVE COMPONENT INDIVIDUAL AUGMENTATION (IA) MOBILZATION

Please review the attached NAVADMIN 235/08 as it provides Business Rules for Navy Reserve Component IA Mobilizations.

5. NAVY FAMILY OMBUDSMAN APPRECIATION DAY

14 September is set aside to recognize the contribution of our Family Ombudsmen. These dedicated volunteers work tirelessly and give of their time to improve the readiness and lives of our Sailors and their families. For more information please review the attached NAVADMIN 217/08.

6. SELECTIVE REENLISTMENT BONUS (SRB)

Please review the attached NAVADMIN 240/08 as it announces the revised SRB Award Levels for Active and Reserve Component Full Time Support (FTS).

7. NEC MANNING (NECMAN) DOCUMENT

Understanding the NECMAN can be a challenge: Please review the attached NECMAN for August 2008. Enlisted Programmed Authorization (EPA) Total (Green): 2008 EPA numbers (updated twice a year) (BILLETS) Individual Account (IA) EPA Total (White): EPA personnel we planned for in the training pipeline.

Adjusted (Blue) is the difference between the EPA total and IA EPA.

INV TOTAL: (Green) monthly reported from the Digital Dashboard, the number of personnel actually in inventory (BODIES) I/A Account (White) number also reported monthly from the Digital Dashboard listing personnel in I/A account which includes TPPH (Transient, Patient, Prisoner, Holdee (TPPH), Student, and Limited Duty Pipelines Adjusted INV (Blue) is the difference between the Inv Total and I/A account Total Inv/EPA is the percentage we utilize to determine our manning for each NEC.

8. FORCE MASTER CHIEF/CPO SELECTEE RUN

I would like to thank all the participants that supported the Annual BUMED Force Master Chief run. We had over 200 Navy Chief Petty Officers and Chief Selects participate this year. The pride and enthusiasm we take in wearing the Anchors was evident throughout the day. I am already looking forward to next year’s event.

Director of the Hospital Corps

POINTS OF CONTACT

HMCM(SCW) Jim Menke
Deputy Director of the Hospital Corps
(202) 762-3139

HMCM(SW/FMF) Doug Glascoe

Hospital Corps Planner/From the Desk

(202) 762-3147

NCCS(SW/AW) Marco Soave
Navy Medicine Force Retention Hospital Corps Planner
(202) 762-3173

HMCS(FMF) Matt Lubold

HM Monthly

(202) 762-1682

HMCS(SW/AW) Jose Esquillin
FORCM Executive Assistant
(202) 762-3137

Ms. Evelyn Burford

Scheduler Exec. Secretary/Ret. Ltrs/Travel Mgr.

(202) 762-3030

James A Healy Veterans Administration Hospital, Tampa, FL— On Monday 4 August 2008, the MCPON and I, along with HMCM Terry Prince, Headquarters, Marine Corps, participated in the advancement ceremony of HM2 Anthony Thompson.

HM2 Thompson is presently apatient at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Tampa, FL. Petty Officer Thompson was on his second deployment to Iraq with 2nd Battalion7th Marines Fox Company 3rd Platoon near Fallujah, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive under an overpass where Thompson and his Marines were standing on April 20, 2007.

The blast injured Thompson and seven Marines. CAPT Watkins, Commanding Officer, Navy Safe
Harbor representing the Chief of Naval Personnel (Admiral Ferguson) read the promotion citation and MCPON had the honors of pinning the new E5 rank insignia on HM2 Thompson.

In attendance at his promotion ceremony was his wife Ivonne and 10 month old son AJ. Other family members and guests included: HM2 Thompson’s mother, sister, brotherin-law, and mother-in-law, Sailors from NAVCENT, other patients, CDR Hartford (Tamp VA Safe Harbor Representative and Master of Ceremonies) and the VA staff members.

Also in attendance was HM2 Dye, the corpsman and shipmate deployed with HM2 Thompson and who responded to the accident that saved HM2 Thompson’s life.

Watching HM2 Thompson get promoted, once again reminded me of the unbelievable sacrifices so many of you have had to endure. I want to offer my sincerest thanks to each of you for what you do for Navy Medicine.

I am in awe of what each of you do daily to ensure we meet the mission of Navy Medicine which is Force Health Protection. Our enlisted sailors are without a doubt the backbone of this enterprise we call Navy Medicine and I continue to be honored and humble to serve as YOUR Force Master Chief.

HM2 Anthony Thompson Promoted.

(This is from the FORCM’s July/Aug Newsletter, I just recieved it I want to thank FORCM for keeping Corpsman.com in the loop.)

The dog days of summer are here and can you believe in another couple of weeks many of your
children will be returning to schools and colleges. I’m sure some of you can’t wait for the
kids to get back to school and others can’t believe the summer break is almost over. I hope that
you took some much needed leave to spend with your families.

Please be safe in your travels. Speaking of being safe, recently MCPON Campa sent out an email
titled “Safety and Leadership” to all Master Chiefs Navywide and asked that we engage our sailors NOW regarding motorcycle safety. He went on to say that “we are losing entirely too many sailors to Motorcycle accidents, especially the sport bikes.”

Why?

Many of the accidents involving motorcycles sailors are being careless or have not been properly trained to operate or ride the bike. I ask that if you do ride a motorcycle and have attended the proper safety classes, ride safely obeying all rules and regulations of the road.

In other words obey safe practices (helmets, clothing, etc), situational awareness and caution on the roads. If you are thinking of purchasing a motorcycle or have not attended a safety class, I ask that you talk to your LPO or LCPO about attending a safety course as soon as possible before you purchase that bike or take your next ride.

I would like to congratulate a group of deckplate leaders on their selection to Chief Petty Officers. What a great accomplishment for you and your families. For those who’s names that didn’t appear on the selection board list this time around, please don’t give up. Your mentors and the career development boards are wonderful Navy tools to ensure you’re on the right track for the next selection board.

Remember you can’t get your record looked at if you’re not board eligible.

Start studying NOW!

The Surgeon General (SG) and I returned several weeks ago from our trip to California, Hawaii, Guam, Okinawa and Yokosuka. Thanks to everyone who made this a great trip! Lots of thought provoking questions from the sailors for both the SG and I. A brave HM3 wanted to know the SG’s definition of leadership and another HM3 wanted to know exactly what he did for her.

You’ve got to love our young Sailors!

If this is what is going to happen, it is time to get our folks out of that god forsaken crap hole ASAP.  I don’t want any of our folks there if they cannot fire back or carry a weapon. From the AP, Read Below:

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s government is grateful to U.S.-allied Sunni fighters but won’t allow them to keep their weapons indefinitely, the prime minister said Saturday, hinting at a more intense crackdown on the Sunni groups.

In recent weeks, the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has gone after Sunni fighters despite their alliances with the Americans. Some leaders have been arrested, while scores of others have been disarmed and banned from manning checkpoints except alongside security forces.

Al-Maliki’s government has mixed feelings about Sunni tribes that rose up against al-Qaida in Iraq, starting in 2007, and joined the Americans in the fight against the terror network.

The groups, known as Awakening Councils, Sons of Iraq and Popular Committees, have helped rout al-Qaida in some parts of Iraq. But Shiite leaders fear the Sunnis’ switch of allegiance is just a tactic, and that they could one day turn their weapons against the Shiite majority.

The U.S., which put many of the Sunni fighters on its payroll, has urged al-Maliki to incorporate them into his security forces, but the government has been slow to do so.

In a speech to Shiite tribal leaders in Baghdad on Saturday, al-Maliki mixed praise for the Sunni fighters with a warning. He said armed groups, alongside security forces, were tolerated for a limited period because their weapons were “aimed at the chests of the terrorists.”

“So they (the Sunni fighters) deserve our gratitude and the inclusion (into the security forces) because we adhere to a policy that there are no arms but the arms of the government,” he said.

In other developments Saturday, a suicide bomber struck a car bazaar in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, killing at least five people and wounding at least seven others, according to the U.S. military and Iraqi police.

Among those killed was a senior member of a U.S.-allied Sunni group from nearby Diyala province, said Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir, a senior police official in Kirkuk. The bomber also was from Diyala, which has been an insurgent stronghold and is the site of ongoing U.S.-Iraqi military operations, Qadir said.

In the capital, gunmen killed an adviser to Iraqi Culture Minister Mahir al-Hadithi in a roadside ambush. A bodyguard was wounded in the attack along a main thoroughfare in eastern Baghdad, police and hospital officials said.

Two cars were involved in the killing of the adviser, Kamil Shiya, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. One vehicle blocked Shiya’s car and gunmen opened fire from the second vehicle.

Shiya’s death was confirmed by officials at nearby Kindi Hospital.

Something has to be done now. Leave a comment below what do you think?

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Thanks!
Da-Chief