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.”

Da-Chief,

Not to sound rude, and correct me if i’m wrong, but I beleive you made a major unfounded insult to the FTS community with the following post:

“I am really “DISSAPPOINTED” in my FTS Brethren.. Other then the HM1’s, The biggest Majority of Folks are in the E-5 Range for FTS, “ONLY 38 PASSED THE EXAM??????”!!!”!”!”!”
It is time to open the books folks!! You should be scoring as high as your A/D brothers and sisters. You bring shame upon the FTS HM community by not studying for the advancement exam as well as to yourself.
Good Luck Folks!
Da-Chief”
If you look at the spreadsheet on the advancement site you would see that 37 people took the exam and every single one of us passed. So, I’m pretty sure we studied for the exam. I would appreciate it if you would re-examine your post and try to be a little more accurate next time before you start saying we are bringing shame to the community. How about addressing the 53 HM2 failures in the USN community?
We should be building each other up, not tearing them down.
Very Respectfully,

Ok Fine.. I just wish the newer sailors would get facts prior to shooting with their Pea-guns.. here is my response.:

Ok so your telling me there are only “38” HM3’s who took the exam??

WRONG, buddy, get your facts straight yourself..

HM2 is the biggest RATE and Rank in the FTS program, There are more then 38 Folks who took the exam for HM2.

Please, Please Come to me when you know what your talking about.

I was in the FTS program for 24 years. I “DO” know what I am talking about and have served in NOLA at HQ etc… I have many Friends who are HM3’s in the program, and there are more then 38 who took the exam…

You see I am a proponent of the FTS program, But if this keeps up I can imagine, and probably will see the program abolished just for USN.

Here is the Breakdown shipmate..

Out of the entire TAR FTS program, only “38” passed the test.. of which only 15 were advanced. Look I cannot say anything about the reason for the low numbers for the actual folks getting Advanced, what I can tell you is that there were more “A LOT” more than 38 Folks taking the HM2 Exam.

Give a Phone call to the Enlisted Leaders Office.. If you want I will get you the phone number, I correspond with them weekly.

D/C

So you see, I struck a nerve, I honest to god hope so. For “YEARS” When I served with folks at a joint USN/FTS Command, We would see USN folks not get advanced who were scoring “60’s” and above and we had folks in the FTS program getting advanced with 37’s, or low 40’s.

If it were up to me, I would have the FTS folks have to meet the same cut off as the A/D folks. This way we know, especially now that they can’t sit on their keesters only at a Reserve Center, That they will know what to do and hit the ground running if they are deployed.

FTS Sailors are “SAILORS” and should act like our A/D counterparts.

JMHO
D/C

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?