This may be one of the greatest screw over jobs I have seen a Soldier receive due to an administrative error, he went from early promotion of Lieutentant Colonel to retired as a Captain:
When the Army selected Ronald Schow for an early promotion to lieutenant colonel in 2011, service officials realized they made a mistake five years earlier. Schow’s previous promotion to major had never been submitted to the Senate for confirmation, as required by law. His name had been left off the list that the Army sent to Congress in October 2006. Yet, the Army still sent Schow a promotion order that he and his unit believed to be accurate, and he was pinned with a major’s golden oak leaf on the chest of his uniform. Eventually, the Army decided to revoke the rank and return Schow to a captain — the rank at which he retired in 2017 after years of trying to rectify the error.
After exhausting all administrative options to gain a major’s retirement pay, Schow filed a lawsuit last year in Federal Claims Court to get $180,000 in back pay and retirement pay that he would have received if he had retired as a major. However, he said he’s not able to sue for negligence that led to lost earnings from not being promoted to lieutenant colonel because of the limitations service members have in suing the military.
A Supreme Court decision known as the Feres Doctrine blocks troops from suing for anything that occurred to them in the military that is related to their service. “It was terrible. Everyone thought this was an administrative issue, but it turned out to be a legal issue. There’s no precedent for demoting an officer without kicking [him or her] out of the Army,” said Schow, who lives in Indiana and is representing himself in court. “Not only did we lose money during the years where I got demoted, we lost money during the years where I should have been promoted. And to be honest, it’s affected my post-retirement prospects.”
You need to read the whole thing at the link to understand the context of what happened. Basically one guy at Human Resources Command being sick led to the paperwork error that led to for some reason no one in the Army being able to fix. You would think this would be something a Congress person would dig into to rectify.
It is amazing how long this guy was able to get away with this scam and make millions of dollars undetected:
A former Army sergeant was sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding millions of dollars from the service in a rideshare scam using illegally obtained personal information from more than 800 soldiers, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. Kevin Romulus Pelayo, 45, co-owned and operated a rideshare company, Soldiers Vanpools LLC, out of Killeen with his wife, Cristine Furio Fredericks, 40, according to court documents. The company claimed to shuttle military personnel to and from Fort Cavazos, then known as Fort Hood, from Jan. 1, 2014, through June 10, 2020. Killeen is the city just outside the gates of Fort Cavazos.
The rideshare company was funded by the Army’s Mass Transportation Benefit Program, a federal subsidy for government workers to use mass transit, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Western District of Texas. “Pelayo and Fredericks submitted the names, Social Security numbers, and other identifying information of active-duty soldiers to the MTBP on a monthly basis from 2014 to midway through 2020, falsely claiming that the soldiers were active participants in the rideshare program,” according to federal authorities.
This story has been all over social media and now being covered by the Stars and Stripes:
An Army master sergeant who says he lost a leadership role due partly to his beard and haircut has ignited online debate over both the impact of shaving waivers on careers and the extent to which service members can express themselves on social media. Master Sgt. Darhem Parker, who has more than 24,000 followers and 550,000 likes associated with his TikTok account, celebrated his elevation to first sergeant as part of the Hawaii-based Alpha Company, 29th Brigade Engineer Battalion in an April 30 video post.
“Somebody in real life is going to see that picture on their wall and be pissed (expletive) off,” Parker says as he shows off his command picture while pointing out his haircut and his beard. Parker wasn’t wrong about that. He was counseled by his battalion sergeant major on May 2 for inappropriate online conduct, he said during a video interview Tuesday. Parker said he mostly agreed with the counseling regarding his video.
“When I look back on it, I cringe when I say I agree, but I ain’t always right,” Parker said Tuesday. “I could have toned down the passion or the ‘I told you so’ attitude.” What Parker didn’t expect was the mention of his appearance in the counseling statement, along with the instructions to retake his command photo after correcting his haircut.
You can read much more at the link, but what he ended up being relieved for was not the beard, but for taunting on social media. If he would not have posted anything on social media this whole thing would have never had been an issue. Just another example of how social media has caused another career to crash and burn.
Here is another weird story of a stupid Soldier getting himself in significant trouble:
A U.S. Army staff sergeant who was visiting his girlfriend in Russia was arrested and remains in custody on charges he stole from her, U.S. officials said. Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, was detained Thursday in Vladivostok, a military and commercial port in the Pacific, and is in a pre-trial detention facility, Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said Tuesday in a statement. Black was assigned to Eighth Army, U.S. Forces Korea at Camp Humphreys in South Korea and was scheduled to move to Fort Cavazos, Texas, Smith said. Instead, Black, who is married, traveled to Russia to see a longtime girlfriend, according to officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel details.
His arrest further complicates U.S. relations with Russia, which have grown increasingly tense over the war in Ukraine. “Instead of returning to the continental United States, Black flew from Incheon, Republic of Korea, through China to Vladivostok, Russia, for personal reasons,” Smith said. “Black did not request official clearance, and [the Defense Department] did not authorize his travel to China and Russia. There is no evidence Black intended to remain in Russia after his [permanent change of station] leave period ended.”
You can read more at the link, but the Soldier’s mom believes the Russian girlfriend was a spy that lured him to Russia. Here is what else his mom had to say to ABC News:
Upon arrival in Russia, Jones said Black told her he was questioned by authorities at the airport for “nine hours.”
“He said he was when he got off the plane, that he was pulled to the back in this room for nine hours and questioned why he was there,” Jones said.
Jones said she did not know if her son had a visa to visit Russia.
Jones was critical of her son’s girlfriend, whom she says he met at a club in South Korea over a year ago. Jones claims her son told her the girlfriend was deported to Russia from South Korea after she and Black allegedly got into a dispute in the fall of 2023.
“I knew something was going to happen,” Jones said.
Considering they questioned him for nine hours, that leads me to believe the girlfriend was not a spy. Instead Russian intelligence probably could not believe their good fortune and needed nine hours to figure out what to do with him. It looks like SSG Gordon has been lying to his family as well:
“There was some woman involved… He had been seeing her for a good while. Apparently she was living in South Korea until she was deported,” he said. “I have a feeling that she had a lot to do with it,” Jones said, adding that he learned of the arrest last Thursday.
According to Black’s stepfather, Jones had left the U.S. for South Korea two and a half years ago, “and the army kept extending him there. He was only supposed to have been there for a year.”
The Army did not involuntary extend him in South Korea for an additonal 1.5 years. He very likely volunteered to extend so he could spend more time with his Russian girlfriend. Notice he decided to go back to the U.S. after the Russian girlfriend was deported. This is what happened that caused her to get deported once again from The Daily Beast article:
The channel also claims Black has a history of beating Vashchuk, who is said to have called the police on him over an incident in South Korea. He’s charged with “theft causing significant damage to a citizen,” which carries a maximum penalty of five years behind bars.
Unnamed U.S. officials told the AP that Black and his Russian girlfriend had gotten into a “domestic dispute” last fall while they were in South Korea and she left the country shortly after.
The domestic dispute probably caused South Korean authorities to check her immigration status which led to her getting deported is my guess. So this guy gets into a domestic dispute with her that causes her deportation, I doubt she was very happy to see him turn up in Russia looking for her. Anyway this is what the Russian news media has been reporting that SSG Black did that got him arrested:
Russian news Telegram channels including Baza reported that Black had been serving in the South Korean port of Pyeongtaek when he met a Russian woman, who moved back to Vladivostok. Black visited the woman recently, during which time they argued. Gordon is accused of attacking the woman and stealing 200,000 rubles; around $2,200.
Radio Free Europe was able to track down the Russian girlfriend’s TikTok trail to provide further information about her:
U.S. Staff Sergeant Gordon Black (left) and his Russian wife, Aleksandra Vashchuk
RFE/RL found a TikTok account of Black’s romantic partner, Vladivostok native Aleksandra Vashchuk, who posted numerous videos of the couple together in South Korea, including at least one showing Black in his U.S. Army fatigues.
Among the hundreds of often profanity-laced TikTok videos posted by Vashchuk, 31, are several in which she refers to Black as her “husband” and affectionately as “pindos,” a Russian slang word for Americans that roughly translates to “Yankee punk.”
Most of the videos of the couple together in 2022 and 2023 appear to have been shot in South Korea, where Vashchuk says on TikTok that she had lived for more than five years. (…..)
In one of the videos posted to Vashchuk’s TikTok account, which she closed to the public on May 7, Black is seen in his U.S. military fatigues with his name clearly visible on his uniform.
In one video, Vashchuk asks Black to comment on U.S.-Russian relations for her followers. He echoes several talking points frequently used by the Kremlin to justify the February 2022 invasion, calling NATO “pretty aggressive.”
“I understand Russia’s position, obviously. They want to defend their country,” Black says in the video before Vashchuk interjects and says former U.S. President Donald Trump “is better” than current U.S. President Joe Biden.
You can read more at the link to include some of the videos that SSG Black was in. What is unclear is that media has been saying SSG Black is married. His mom claims Vashchuk is a girlfriend. If so then who is he married to? Someone back in the U.S. or is the media referring to his supposed marriage to Vashchuk? Anyway this whole situation is pretty stupid and should serve as warning to others to not travel to Russia.
This is a picture from about a week ago of a soldier riding his bike to work at Fort Liberty/Bragg. It got some laughs on social media, especially since he’s a captain who’s wearing elbow and knee pads, but no big deal.
Here is the latest example of the weaponization of the Army’s SHARP program:
Sherry Bunn, Meredith’s attorney, said the decision to dismiss was based on evidence obtained during the law enforcement investigation into Meredith’s wife, Col. Ann Meredith, who was fired in March from her command of the 89th Military Police Brigade at Fort Cavazos.
Ann Meredith was fired because she sent a text message that was considered interfering with the investigation into her husband, according to a post to her personal Facebook page. She was disciplined through administrative action, according to Fort Cavazos.
The evidence shows Jon Meredith’s “accuser and her husband, a lieutenant colonel, colluded to create a false sexual-assault allegation against Meredith because the accuser’s husband was upset about the rater comments on his officer evaluation report,” Bunn said. The evidence was discovered in the couple’s cell phone messages from October 2022, she said.
Bunn said she only recently gained access to the evidence from Ann Meredith’s file, but she said the Army has had it for the past year.
You can read more at the link, but Army investigators had this evidence for a year and did not disclose it to the judge. Over the past year COL Meredith has been a regular feature in the news shredding his reputation over what has turned out to be a false accusation. I wonder if any charges will brought against the people that conspired to make the false allegation?
The never ending battle over the ACFT continues to be waged:
The new sergeant major of the Army offered a full-throated endorsement of the Army Combat Fitness Test on Tuesday as lawmakers on Capitol Hill debate defense spending and the future of the controversial physical assessment.
“We’re going to continue doing the ACFT,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Weimer said during a question-and-answer session at the opening of this week’s annual Maneuver Warfighter Conference on Fort Moore, Ga., the former Fort Benning. “The ACFT is really helping us change the culture of fitness in the United States Army.”
His backing of the six-event, CrossFit-style Army fitness test comes as competing bills in Congress propose different futures for the Army’s physical exam.
The House-passed version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act would force the Army to adopt gender-neutral standards for the ACFT. But the Senate version of the bill would mandate the Army dump the ACFT, at least temporarily, in favor of its old test, the three-event Army Physical Fitness Test, or APFT. Both chambers in July passed their version of the legislation, which sets annual Pentagon policy and spending priorities, but must rectify differences within the versions before one compromised bill approved by Congress can be sent to the White House to be signed into law by the president.
The Messenger got access to the Serious Incident Report (SIR) that was filed for the defection of PV2 Travis King. It shows that how the United Nations Command vets people taking the DMZ tours is clearly broken:
When King arrived for his tour of the demilitarized zone the following day, he checked in with a U.S. government identification card. The tour company submitted the list of participants in the tour to the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, the international body which supervises the armistice between the two Koreas. King had been placed on an international hold by U.S. and South Korean authorities owing to his disciplinary exhibits, and it’s not clear why he was not flagged prior to taking the tour.
United Nations Command approved the manifest submitted to them by Hana Tours ITC.
What is most interesting from this report is apparently the North Koreans had a van waiting for King that he ran into after he crossed the border:
The tour began around 2:30 p.m. at Camp Boniface, a military post of the United Nations Command, just south of the southern boundary of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, the report details. Roughly an hour later at 3:30 p.m., King walked away from his group and sprinted through a space between U.S. and South Korean troops.
Security Forces chased King as he ran to the far end of what’s known as conference row, the bright blue buildings in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. The Army private then ran north to Panmungak.
The report says King ran to the back of a Korean People’s Army building where he entered a van and was driven out of the area by North Korean troops. (……..)
A U.S. military official familiar with the investigation told The Messenger the U.S. military is looking into the possibility that the North Koreans had prior knowledge of his intention to cross the border. The U.S. military official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing investigations.
You can read more at the link, but King likely had this defection planned out. However, I don’t think he was smart enough to find a way to contact the North Koreans to actually coordinate his defection. It will be interesting to see what the investigation determines.
It looks like either PV2 King is a bad drunk or has some serious anger management issues. Considering he deliberately planned his defection to North Korea I think he has some mental and anger management issues:
Seoul police arrested King just before 4 a.m. on Oct. 8 in Mapo and placed him in the backseat of a squad car, according to records from Seoul Western District Court. He refused to answer questions, kicked the car’s doors and ranted: “F— Korean, f— Korean Army, f— Korean police.”
The court records redact the names of victims and the defendant; however, a court official on Tuesday confirmed by phone that King was the defendant in the case.
He was also fined about $3,950 and paid roughly $790 for damage to the police car, the records state.
King joined the Army in January 2021 and was a cavalry scout administratively assigned to the 4th Infantry Division in South Korea, according to Pentagon spokesman Bryce Dubee.
King was also accused of assault on Sept. 25, according to court records. Seoul police say he pushed and punched a fellow customer at a Mapo bar who refused to buy King a drink, records state.
Here is what we know about Travis King, the U.S. Soldier who ran across the DMZ to North Korea laughing earlier this week:
Officials say Pvt. 2nd Class King has been a cavalry scout with the U.S. Army since January 2021.
The 23-year-old had been stationed in South Korea, but had recently served two months in a prison there on charges of assault, the Associated Press reported.
Several South Korean media outlets report that King had punched a South Korean national in a club last September. He had also been fined 5 million won ($3,942) for causing public damage and being uncooperative with police during his arrest.
According to an accountfrom the Chosun Ilbo newspaper,citing legal sources, King yelled obscenities at South Korean police as he kicked the doors and interior of a police vehicle.
Before bolting into North Korea, King was being escorted to an airport outside of Seoul where he was expected to board a plane bound for Fort Bliss, Texas, to face military disciplinary action.
Officials escorted him through airport security, but King somehow managed to ditch the escort and make his way out of the terminal and back to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.
That is where officials said King, who was dressed in civilian clothes, joined a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom.
You can read more at the link, but King had to have planned this out because here are the rules for going on a tour of Panmunjom on the DMZ:
According to the UNC rules the roster of the tourists to Panmunjum should be reported 48 hours (2 days) prior to the tour briefing time (13:45) in the camp Bonifas on the tour day. So person who is interested in this tour should send your name, passport number and nationality to us at least 3 days before.
The fact he claimed that he lost his passport to not board his flight is further evidence of how planned this was:
On Monday, the American solider was escorted by military police from Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, to Incheon International Airport. The solider then went through a security checkpoint alone because the military police officers were not allowed to accompany him.
King arrived at the boarding gate, but did not board the plane.
“At the gate, he approached an American Airlines official and reported that his passport was missing, and was able to return out of the departure gate under the escort of an airline employee,” an official at Incheon International Airport told The Korea Times, adding that King appears to have lied about his missing passport.
Once a passenger goes through the customs and immigration checkpoint at Incheon airport, he or she cannot go back to the terminal without a valid reason approved by an authorized personnel.
So this was clearly not a drunken spur of the moment type of defection like we saw decades ago with Charles Robert Jenkins. King had this planned out at least three days in advance. The closest defection to this I can think of is PFC Joseph White who defected in 1982 likely because he was forbidden by his unit leadership from meeting his Korean girlfriend. So he got pissed off and crossed the DMZ into North Korea. In 1985 North Korea reported that White died in a river drowning. Will a similar fate await King?
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