The four-star general in charge of troop training has been fired over a sex scandal. Not many details yet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/09/AR2005080900515.html
As a general rule, it’s a bad idea to order female recruits to “Git down and gimmee twenty” and then crawl underneath them.
It is appropriate to take an interest in the health and welfare of your troops, but it crosses some fuzzy lines when a non-medical officer conducts physical examinations himself.
As an officer and a gentleman, it is nearly always bad form to always put oneself on “shower patrol duty” as a punishment for “being a very naughty boy.”
I tell you what, them there ‘Mil-it-tary Ossifers’ are jest gittin’ otta con-trol. Here’s anuther wun what did bad things…
[quote]Air Force officer allegedly vandalized cars with pro-Bush bumper stickers [color=red]<–this is a link to story[/color]
DENVER - Denver police say a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force has admitted to vandalizing cars bearing pro-President Bush bumper stickers at Denver International Airport.
Police say he’s responsible for thousands of dollars in damage on at least 12 cars. Lt. Colonel Alexis Fecteau, 42, of Colorado Springs, turned himself in to Denver police Friday.[/quote]
[quote=“mofangongren”]The four-star general in charge of troop training has been fired over a sex scandal. Not many details yet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/09/AR2005080900515.html
As a general rule, it’s a bad idea to order female recruits to “Git down and gimmee twenty” and then crawl underneath them. [/quote]
If he had been a Democratic president, he would have had an unending stream of female interns to whom he could have given gynaecological exams with a Havanna…and only those asshole Republicans would have complained.
It’s an interesting situation – out of 11 four-star generals, he’s third in terms of seniority. The case apparently involves an affair with someone not on active duty or a civilian employee of the DoD. He’s been separated from his wife since spring 2004 and finalized the divorce very recently.
If the American Taliban of the extreme right are determined to cleanse the military of all immoral sex, I suppose this shows that they’re not afraid to make their point with the highest officers.
After all, despite “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the urgent need for arab-language linguists, the active search for homosexuals in the military has been brought to a furious pace under Bush.
Interesting AP article at http://www.gaylawnet.com/news/2002/mi02.htm#army_dismisses
Also check out http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=3482
[quote]YH: What is your opinion of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy?
Hughes: I’m firmly convinced that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is actually bad for our military and is detrimental to our national security as a result. I think our military readiness would be much improved if we did not kick out the talent we have been losing through the policy. The data really speak for themselves. Soldiers have been kicked out of over 161 crucial military specialties, especially the Arab linguists last year. Right now we’re hiring foreign nationals to do our Arab translations even at the level of intelligence. That strikes me as being a very unhappy state of affairs.[/quote]
mofangongren, your original post was very misleading since there was nothing in the article about his having sex with female recruits. Did you even read it before you posted it?
The rule against officers having exramarital affairs has been in place for a long time and this isn’t the first time it’s been enforced.
Richardm – Excellent question! The Washington Post had uploaded a much more detailed version with new information. Interestingly they uploaded the new article into the same link.
The older article (at the same link) only said that he had been dismissed and had no explanation why other than that it was related to sexual misconduct. It provided examples of the only other 2 times that very senior officers had been fired (one from the Bosnia era and another from the Gulf War), neither of which had been for sex-related offenses.
When I went back in, I was surprised to see that article removed the info on the other senior officers and added in a lot more info including the statement from the general’s attorney.
[quote]Four-star general fired; officials cite sexual misconduct
By Rowan Scarborough, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, August 10, 2005
“The Army has taken the extraordinary step of relieving a four-star general, with military sources citing sexual misconduct as the reason.
An official announcement yesterday did not specify why Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes, 52, was removed from his command of all soldier training and doctrine development, but two retired Army officers said it was for having an extramarital affair.”
- snip -
"Retired officers, who asked not to be named, said Gen. Byrnes had been under investigation for some time and had been in the throes of a divorce. "(excert)
washtimes.com/national/20050 … -1753r.htm[/quote]
This is p.o’ing a lot of staff officers. A lot of them went to bat for Gen. Byrnes when he & Rumsfeld got into it over proposed troop reductions.
The Army takes extra-marital affairs very seriously. No matter ones rank.
TC – It will be interesting to see what makes this situation’s facts stick out. Affairs and extramarital sex happens all the time in the military or else there wouldn’t be such entertaining neighborhoods in certain port cities. Did he screw the wrong gal … or did he just get screwed by Rummy.
Richardm – As a sidenote, I found the less-informative article that had originally been at the Washington Post link. It had been put out by the Associated Press.
What is extraordinary about this case is the fact he is a 4 star Gen. The Army does not make dummys 4 star Generals.
What do you base your Rumsfeld Conspiracy Theory on this time? Your “sex with trainees” jibe doesn’t appear to be based in any known reality.
This guy has had a pretty stellar career so far. He’s in a nasty divorce proceeding. My guess is scorned ex-wife with a a cell phone.
Who knows. Sh*t happens, Life goes On. Neither I nor you are in any way affected by this.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote]Four-star general fired; officials cite sexual misconduct
By Rowan Scarborough, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, August 10, 2005
"The Army has taken the extraordinary step of relieving a four-star general, with military sources citing sexual misconduct as the reason.
[/quote] [/quote]
Extraordinary, indeed! Did they relieve him by hand, or use some other means?