Marine Brig. Gen. Kevin M. Iiams, left, ordered the investigation, and handed off the report to Maj. Gen. David G. Bellon, right, who took command of the Southern Command subsidiary U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South in Doral on May 22, 2017. SGT. JACOB SMITH U.S. MARINE CORPS
Miami Herald: Marine officers are drugged, robbed after Bogotá pub crawl and could face charges
Three married U.S. Marine officers have found themselves under investigation for a night in February that went off the rails in Bogotá, involving allegations they went drinking with some local women, were slipped illicit drugs, robbed of U.S. property and landed in a local hospital emergency room.
The men may have fallen prey to what is known as “burundanga poisoning,” according to a report on the investigation conducted by the Marine Corps Forces, South, a Southern Command subsidiary, and obtained by the Miami Herald.
The report recommended that Marine Col. Roger T. McDuffie, a Harrier pilot who serves as the chief of operations at the unit known as MARFORSOUTH; Maj. Andrew L. Mueller, described as a theater security cooperation planner; and Maj. Mauricio Saenz, exercise planner, face “appropriate administrative or judicial proceedings.”
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WNU Editor: I do not understand why they should be punished. It is bad enough that these officers .... yes officers (one colonel and two majors) .... were drugged and robbed in the company of prostitutes .... but they lost a Bogota pub crawl!!!!!!! Their fellow Marines are going to rib them about that for years (if they remain in the service). But this pales to what they must have faced when they got home .... these guys are married .... and I suspect that their wives must have demanded some serious answers. The sheer thought of what they had to go through gives me the shivers. But it is also moments like this that reminds me of a quote that I always enjoy repeating .... "in war time .... it is better that the other guy gets it than you". :)
Oy. Forehead smack.
ReplyDelete/Can't blame this one on Fat Leonard.
ReplyDeleteAnother waste of taxpayer $$$. And what is gained? In 1967 my AFQT score was 96. If I had been treated respectfully, I would have stayed in. The $250/month in VN wasn't the cause of my dissatisfaction. Money was not an issue at that time in my life. Respect certainly was. The army's loss and to some extent, mine.
Roger
"Subsequently, someone stole Mueller’s work laptop and iPhone 6 as well as McDuffie’s iPhone 6, all government-issued equipment."
ReplyDeleteDo we think that there was no information on there which would be valuable to the enemies of the US and Columbia? Poor babies will have to explain to their wives...poor babies.
It seems to me that they broke several layers of rules to get to the outcome of losing possibly classified information. Shouldn't they be fired at least?