Here is a really messed up story involving a USFK soldier who had his wife cheat on him, get pregnant, then falsely claim the child was his, and then falsely claim the baby died at child birth:
Sgt. Steven Garcia holds the baby, who is at the center of an unusual custody battle.
A South Korea-based soldier has been entangled in a monthslong drama complete with a cheating spouse, long-distance lies and kidnapping charges.
Sgt. Steven Garcia, 24, is a patrol supervisor with the 142nd Military Police Company at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. In January, he was told that his wife, Marina Garcia, had given birth to a daughter back home in Arizona who died during childbirth.
“When my sister called me about that, it was pretty emotional,” Garcia told KVOA News in Tucson. “We cried quite a bit together over the phone. It was devastating.”
But he soon learned it wasn’t true.
On Feb. 5, an Arizona highway patrolman pulled over an out-of-state vehicle for speeding north of Willcox, Ariz., according to court documents. Inside was a Texas couple and a newborn.
Upon questioning the couple – Alex Hernandez, 33, and his wife, Leslie Morin Hernandez, 41 – the trooper learned that neither was a biological parent of the 3-day-old infant, the documents said.
Further questioning at the police station revealed that Alex Hernandez had fraudulently signed the birth certificate as the father after Marina Garcia arranged to give the child to them.
The Hernandezes were taken into custody, and the baby, who relatives said is named Leo, was handed over to Arizona’s Department of Child Safety.
Later that day, detectives questioned Marina Garcia, who was living in Sierra Vista with her boyfriend, an Army specialist. She admitted to conspiring with the Hernandezes and planned to travel to Texas to sign away her parental rights after recovering from delivery, according to court documents obtained by Stars and Stripes. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but Sergeant Garcia unsurprisingly wants a divorce. He also wants custody of the baby even though it is not his because he was a child that was adopted.
It looks like US Army basic training will be modified to improve the discipline of the millennial generation:
Drill Sergeant (Staff Sgt.) Jonathan Christal, B Battery, 1st Battalion, 40th Field Artillery, marches Basic Combat Training Soldiers in for classroom training. (U.S. Army Photo/Mr. James Brabenec)
The U.S. Army will soon launch a redesign of Basic Combat Training intended to build more discipline after many commanders complained that new soldiers often show up to their first units with a sloppy appearance and undisciplined attitudes.
By early summer, new recruits will go through Army BCT that’s designed to instill strict discipline and esprit de corps by placing a new emphasis in drill and ceremony, inspections, pride in military history while increasing the focus on critical training such as physical fitness, marksmanship, communications and battlefield first aid skills.
The program will also feature three new field training exercises that place a greater emphasis on forcing recruits to demonstrate Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills, the list of key skills all soldiers are taught to survive in combat.
The new program of instruction is the result of surveys taken from thousands of leaders who have observed a trend of new soldiers fresh out of training displaying a lack of obedience and poor work ethic as well as being careless with equipment, uniform and appearance, Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost, commanding general of the U.S. Army Center of Initial Military Training, told defense reporters on Friday.
“What leaders have observed in general is they believe that there is too much of a sense of entitlement, questioning of lawful orders, not listening to instruction, too much of a buddy mentality with NCOs and officers and a lot of tardiness being late to formation and duties,” Frost said. “These are trends that they see as increasing that they think are part of the discipline aspect that is missing and that they would like to see in the trainees that become soldiers that come to them as their first unit of assignment.” [Military.com]
Women quietly broke through barriers last fall when they became the first in the Army to earn the prestigious Expert Infantryman Badge at Fort Bragg.
The badge, which was created in the 1940s, only recently opened to women when the Department of Defense struck down regulations that prevented them from serving in infantry jobs. The women earned the badge during testing with hundreds of male candidates in November — about two years after infantry jobs opened to women.
“This historic achievement is a reminder of the great things we can achieve when women are seen and treated as equals and given the same chance to contribute to their country,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said in a statement. The Democrat from Illinois was among the first Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but what is ironic about this is that female ROK soldiers have been able to earn the EIB before female US Army soldiers:
It looks like the final decision on the “Pinks and Greens” will be coming soon:
Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey stands with soldier models wearing the proposed Pink & Green daily service uniform at the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia, Pa., December 9, 2017.The U.S. Army will soon make a final decision on whether to switch back to its classic World War II-era dress uniform.
The U.S. Army will make a final decision in a matter of months on whether to switch back to its classic World War II-era “pink and green” dress uniform as part of an effort to more closely link troops to the service’s history, the Army said.
The uniform would replace the current Army Service Uniform — introduced in 2008 — which would be used as a more formal dress uniform.
The proposed change has the support of the Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey, who donned a prototype at the Army-Navy game in December.
“That (World War II) was a point in history where soldiers were highly respected and there was a sense of nationalism in the country. When you looked at them you said that is an American soldier,” Dailey recently said. (……)
A switch, however, appears inevitable. The Army has showcased the uniform at prominent events, such as the Association of the U.S. Army convention in October and the Army-Navy football game. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but just like replacing the Army Combat Uniform (ACU) with the current Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) was the right answer despite the ACU’s short life cycle, I think replacing the ASU with the “Pinks and Greens” is the right answer as well.
A US Army general is in trouble for disrespecting a Congressional staffer:
The U.S. Army says “appropriate administrative action” has been taken against a two-star general faulted for mistreating a congressional staffer, but the service refused to specify the steps it took against Maj. Gen. Ryan Gonsalves.
“The matter is now closed,” Army spokeswoman April Cunningham said in a statement.
Gonsalves, who served as commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Infantry Division until August, had been in line for a promotion. In July, he was nominated by the Army for a third star, but the White House rescinded the nomination on Nov. 27, after an inspector general’s probe.
The allegations against Gonsalves centered on complaints that he failed to treat a female congressional staffer with “dignity and respect” during an October 2016 meeting at his Fort Carson headquarters. [Stars & Stripes]
So what was the horrible thing that MG Gonsalves did? He called a Congressional staffer “sweetheart”:
The IG says it was able to substantiate an accusation that Gonsalves called the congressional staffer “sweetheart” during a meeting about the 4th Infantry Division’s mission, which amounted to a violation of Army command policy.
The IG complaint also said that Gonsalves took issue with the staffer’s youth and told her she should take detailed notes on why the military needed funding “since she was a Democrat and did not believe in funding the military,” the IG report said.
Is it just coincidence that Army starts winning football games after it allegedly drops standards for its football players?:
The Army football team and the United States Military Academy have come under fire for the second time in two weeks after another report by The Daily Beast was released Friday, accusing West Point of letting its “most high-profile players operate under a different set of rules than typical cadets.”
The report cites “failing classes, openly disregarding rules and avoiding discipline” among the academy’s football players. (…..)
The Daily Beast said it viewed internal e-mails stating football players frequently required special summer courses to maintain eligibility.
According to the report, 11 members of the football team attended a house party at an Airbnb rental in Garrison, leaving post without permission, and some had violated restrictions, the report says. The rental was vandalized, according to the report. Captains Ahmad Bradshaw and John Voit are listed in the report as attending the party.
The Daily Beast also reported that senior wide receiver Jeff Ejekam missed the first two games of the season stemming from an arrest in June for driving while impaired in North Carolina. Eight Army football players have been enrolled in the Academy Substance Abuse Program since August, the report says. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but if true I definitely do not agree that a cadet who gets a DUI should be allowed to remain at West Point considering how many active duty soldiers I have seen have their careers ended by a DUI.
My personal opinion on this is that I would rather have a smaller group of highly qualified soldiers than a larger group of soldiers with standards dropped. However, the Army is saying they are only allowing in soldiers who have admitted to marijuana use which is on the lower end of criminal activity:
Faced with increasing demand for new soldiers, the Army has reached deeper into the pool of marginally qualified recruits, offered hundreds of millions in bonuses and relaxed the process for granting waivers for marijuana use.
The Army will reach its goal of 80,000 new soldiers without compromising quality, predicted Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow, who leads its recruiting command. The need for new soldiers comes as Congress has reversed trends begun in the Obama administration to downsize the military. An additional headwind for recruiting in all the service branches: a growing economy where civilian jobs, not joining the military, attract young people.
“It’s in an environment where unemployment is 4.5%,” Snow said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if this will mean weight and fitness standards for soldiers coming out of basic and AIT will be lowered as well like there were before?
If only half the accusations this retired Lieutenant Colonel makes in this opinion piece are true there are still some serious issues at West Point:
West Point
The recent coverage of 2LT Spenser Rapone — an avowed Communist and sworn enemy of the United States — dramatically highlighted this disturbing trend. Given my recent tenure on the West Point faculty and my direct interactions with Rapone, his “mentors,” and with the Academy’s leadership, I believe I can shed light on how someone like Rapone could possibly graduate.
First and foremost, standards at West Point are nonexistent. They exist on paper, but nowhere else. The senior administration at West Point inexplicably refuses to enforce West Point’s publicly touted high standards on cadets, and, having picked up on this, cadets refuse to enforce standards on each other. The Superintendent refuses to enforce admissions standards or the cadet Honor Code, the Dean refuses to enforce academic standards, and the Commandant refuses to enforce standards of conduct and discipline. The end result is a sort of malaise that pervades the entire institution. Nothing matters anymore. Cadets know this, and it has given rise to a level of cadet arrogance and entitlement the likes of which West Point has never seen in its history. [Medium]
Even the curriculum itself has suffered. The plebe American History course has been revamped to focus completely on race and on the narrative that America is founded solely on a history of racial oppression. Cadets derisively call it the “I Hate America Course.” Simultaneously, the plebe International History course now focuses on gender to the exclusion of many other important themes.
On the other hand, an entire semester of military history was recently deleted from the curriculum (at West Point!).
I recommend reading the whole thing at the link, but LTC Heffington’s accusations definitely explain how Rapone was able to graduate. It also explains how cadets are able to make political statements in uniform with no consequences. If things are as bad at West Point as claimed Rapone ought to apply to become an instructor because he would be the perfect teacher to instruct a “I Hate America Course”.
Considering how good the old “pinks and greens” uniform looks it is a shame the US Army ever went away from it in the first place:
At AUSA PEO Soldier is demonstrating a prototype World War Two Pinks and Greens-style service dress uniform.
SGT Schacher and SFC Johnson wear prototypes of male and female versions of the uniform. This is only a prototype, intended to solicit feedback and there is currently no requirement for a new Service uniform. However, if this concept is adopted by the Army, the final uniforms will be different. [Soldier Systems]
You can see additional photos at the link, but imagine how awesome this uniform would look if soldiers were allowed to wear “The Ike Jacket” with it as well:
I think the biggest challenge that would prevent this change is simple uniform change fatigue. The Army has gone through so many uniform changes in the past few years leaders may be hesitant to make another change; even a change that would be for the better.
A photo of U.S. Army infantry officer and West Point graduate Spenser Rapone was making its rounds online Monday due to the fact that – while in his uniform – Rapone had the words “Communism will win” scrawled inside of his cap. [Gateway Pundit via a reader tip]
I saw this and I thought this has to be fake, but this is an actual real story. Over at Task and Purpose they have confirmed that Rapone is actually a commissioned officer now and going through infantry training:
Rapone’s no mere troll. He’s a real socialist, who believes American society should be radically reconceived to make citizens more equal. He’s written passionately about “white supremacist iconography” and “profoundly racist culture” at West Point, which he shares as an alma mater with most of the Confederate army’s officer ranks. But it is his alma mater nonetheless. While he renounces private property ownership as the United States practices it, he owns a little piece of the Great Chain and the Point,and its history is now a part of him. He didn’t destroy USMA; he joined it, and seeks to change America from within. As much as he can, as a serving Army infantry officer, anyway. “Symbolic victories are important,” he writes. For all the radical flair, you could imagine him agreeing with the guarded patriotism of that old classical British conservative, Edmund Burke: “To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.” [Task and Purpose]
So I guess it is okay to promote Communism in uniform now. So what would happen if someone decided to start promoting Nazi ideology in uniform?
