Three U.S. Navy Officials Fired After XO Found Naked And Drunk Strolling In The Woods

The entire command leadership of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 — Cmdr. James J. Cho, left, Lt. Cmdr. Jason M. Gabbard, center, Command Master Chief Jason K. Holden — was relieved Feb. 11. (Navy)

The Hill: Three Navy leaders fired after officer found drunk, naked in woods: report

The U.S. Navy has fired an entire unit's command leadership after the unit's executive officer was found drunk and walking naked in the woods, The Navy Times reported Wednesday.

Lt. Cmdr. Jason Gabbard — of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4, currently deployed to Okinawa, Japan — was fired Feb. 11.

Leadership relieved Gabbard after he was discovered in the woods on Camp Shields wearing only his boots, following a command gathering for chiefs and officers, service officials told Navy Times.

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WNU Editor: This is not how I would like to end my navy career.

More News On Three U.S. Navy Officials Being Fired After The XO Was Found Naked And Drunk Strolling In The Woods

Seabee command triad fired after XO found strolling naked in woods -- Navy Times
U.S. Navy Officials Fired After Leader Found Naked and Drunk in the Woods -- Newsweek
Three Navy leaders fired after executive officer found drunk, naked in the woods -- Washington Examiner
Seabee XO's Naked Drunken Jaunt In The Woods Gets Entire Staff Fired -- Task & Purpose

The U.S. Navy Aviators Who Drew A Giant Sky Phallus Have Been Punished

Photo: The reprimands were not made public as it was meted out in an administrative proceeding

Daily Mail: US Navy hands out punishment for the two aviators held responsible for skywriting a giant penis over Washington state

* The reprimands were not made public as it was meted out in an administrative proceeding
* A military source said that the individuals responsible were permitted to retain their status as aviators
* The aviators, who belonged to Electronic Attack Squadron 130, used an EA-18 Growler aircraft during the incident
* US Navy chiefs ordered the fighter jet aircrew grounded after the stunt garnered massive Internet attention around the world

The US Navy said on Saturday that it has reprimanded two aviators for skywriting a giant phallus over Washington State last month.

Commander of Naval Air Forces, Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, handed down the punishment after convening a Field Naval Aviator Evaluation Board to address the matter, The Military Times reported.

'The American people rightfully expect that those who wear the Wings of Gold exhibit a level of maturity commensurate with the missions and aircraft with which they've been entrusted,' Shoemaker said in a statement following the decision.

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Update #1: Navy aviators disciplined over air phallus after Coronado hearing (San Diego Union Tribune)
Update #2: Navy: Aviators Who Drew Sky Phallus Have Been Punished (Military.com)

WNU Editor:  These pilots have not been kicked out .... so they may have a chance to fly again.

The Story About Three U.S. Marine Officers And What Happened When They Lost A Bogota Pub Crawl

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". :)

General Leading The U.S. Air War Against The Islamic State Dismissed Over ‘Sexually suggestive’ relationship

Lt. Gen. John W. Hesterman (right) listens as Gen. Lloyd J. Austin gives remarks during the Air Forces Central Command change of command ceremony at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., July 11, 2013. Hesterman was taking over the command at the time. (Photo by Airman 1st Class Daniel Blackwell/ Air Force)

Washington Post: ‘Sexually suggestive’ relationship ends career of Air Force general who ran air war

The Air Force has fired one of its most senior generals after an investigation into whether he had an affair with a married female officer found that they had exchanged emails that were “sexually suggestive.”

Lt. Gen. John Hesterman was removed from his position as Air Force assistant vice chief of staff, service spokeswoman Anne Stefenek said Thursday. Hesterman previously served as the commander of Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT), leading the early days of the U.S. air war against the Islamic State militant group while deployed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar from July 2013 to last June.

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WNU Editor: What exactly is a ‘sexually suggestive’ relationship. To me it is either yes or no .... but suggestive?!?!?! And it is enough to get you fired? There has to be more to this story.

If You Are In The U.S. Air Force Be Careful When You Quote Miley Cyrus

Shane Harris, Daily Beast: Air Force Grounds Pilots for Quoting Miley Cyrus

They were all well-regarded officers—until the Air Force found out they were texting lyrics from rappers and pop stars. Now they’re accused of secretly dealing molly and dope.
Imagine every off-color text message and ill-considered joke you’ve ever sent a friend was scooped up by authorities and used against you as evidence of a serious crime.

That’s what a group of Air Force pilots have accused their commanding officers of doing in an investigation that could wreck the pilots’ careers. And the strangest part: These allegations of drug use were based solely on a series of text messages—texts that often were little more than quotes from the lyrics of rappers and professionally naughty pop starlets.

WNU Editor: So much for privacy in the military.

Does The U.S. Air Force's Nuclear Forces have A Drinking And Cheating Problem?

Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James talks to members of the 341st Missile Wing during a visit to Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana January 22, 2014. John Turner/US Air Force/Reuters

US Nuclear Forces: Drinking And Cheating? What The Pentagon Wants To Fix. -- Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor

Deborah Lee James, the new secretary of the Air Force, vows senior persistent oversight of the scandal-stricken nuclear forces and an attempt to boost missileers' self-esteem.

Nuclear weapons are, of course, the most dangerous in the US military’s arsenal. That’s why a series of scandals surrounding alleged mismanagement, cheating, drunken carousing in Moscow bars, and drug abuse in the Air Force’s nuclear command has Pentagon officials vowing to make big changes in the way the nuclear forces operate.

Here’s what’s been happening:

Drunken cavorting in Moscow bars, you say?

Yes. While on a trip to Moscow last year, Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Carey – who was at the time in charge of US intercontinental ballistic missile facilities and operations – allegedly got drunk and, according to an internal Air Force report, “talked loudly about the importance of his position as commander of the only operational nuclear force in the world and that he saves the world from war every day.”

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My Comment: I suspect that this is a huge problem that involves far more people that what the Air Force is revealing.

Why Is The Pentagon Promoting Abusive Leaders?

Pentagon Investigations Point To Military System That Promotes Abusive Leaders -- Washington Post

There are miserable bosses, and then there are toxic military commanders.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Schmidt was unquestionably among the latter in the view of some staff members under his thumb. A profane screamer, he ran through six executive officers and aide-de-camps in a year. He retired this month after an Air Force inquiry concluded that he was “cruel and oppressive” and mistreated subordinates.

More than a dozen people who worked with Brig. Gen. Scott F. “Rock” Donahue, a retired commander with the Army Corps of Engineers, reported him as a verbally abusive taskmaster. One was so desperate to escape from division headquarters in San Francisco that he asked for a transfer to Iraq. An Army investigation cited the general for “exhibiting paranoia” and making officers cry.

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My Comment: As I had mentioned in a post on Tuesday .... this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What's Wrong With America's Generals As More Sexual Misconduct Is Revealed

Military Brass, Behaving Badly: Files Detail A Spate Of Misconduct Dogging Armed Forces -- Washington Post

Brig. Gen. Bryan T. Roberts publicly warned his troops at Fort Jackson, S.C., last spring that he and the Army had “zero tolerance for sexual harassment and sexual assault.” Here’s what the Army didn’t tell the soldiers: At the time, Roberts himself was under investigation by the military over allegations that he physically assaulted one of his mistresses on multiple occasions.

Martin P. Schweitzer, a commander with the Army’s legendary 82nd Airborne Division, was respectful and polite when he met a female member of Congress to discuss matters at Fort Bragg, N.C. Afterward, however, he couldn’t resist tapping out e-mails to two other generals, describing the lawmaker, Rep. Renee L. Ellmers (R-N.C.), as “smoking hot” and jokingly referring to explicit sexual acts.

David C. Uhrich, a one-star Air Force general, kept a vodka bottle in his desk at Joint Base Langley-Eustis and repeatedly drank on duty, so much so that another officer told investigators that “if he did not have his alcohol, the wheels would come off,” according to the findings of an Air Force probe. The married Uhrich later sought treatment for a drinking problem, but not before he was also investigated for allegedly having an affair, something prohibited under military law.

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Update #1: Reports detail misconduct among senior military officers -- FOX News
Update #2: General Gets a Wrist-Slap for Jerk-Off Fantasy About GOP Congresswoman -- Gawker

My Comment: I have been saying for the past few years (in this blog) that all the reporting on sexual misbehavior and misconduct in the U.S. military is just the tip of the iceberg .... guess what .... it is still just the tip of the iceberg.

Update #3: It looks like the German military has the same problem.

No Breastfeeding In Uniform

Proud: Servicewomen Terran Echegoyen-McCabe, left, breastfeeds her twin daughters while wearing her uniform alongside colleague Christina Luna and her little girl at Fairchild Airforce Base outside Spokane, Washington

Woman Behind Military Breast-Feeding Photo Fired From Job -- FOX News

The Washington state woman who orchestrated controversial photos of military moms breast-feeding their kids in uniform was fired from her civilian job as an X-ray technician and the women in the picture have been reprimanded, she said.

Crystal Scott, the spokeswoman for the Spokane-area Mom2Mom group, said her employer blamed media coverage of the controversy when she asked why she was fired. The photo was designed to pressure the military into being more accommodating to nursing moms.

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Previous Post: Can Women Breastfeed Their Babies In Uniform And In Public?

My Comment: I am not surprised by the reprimands .... but being fired from your civilian job because you did these photos .... that's a no-no.

Can Women Breastfeed Their Babies In Uniform And In Public?

Proud: Servicewomen Terran Echegoyen-McCabe, left, breastfeeds her twin daughters while wearing her uniform alongside colleague Christina Luna and her little girl at Fairchild Airforce Base outside Spokane, Washington

Mothers At War: Proud Military Wife Defends Photograph Of Her Comrades Breastfeeding In Uniform -- Daily Mail

* Air National Guards pictured nursing their children at Fairchild base, near Spokane, Washington
* One Facebook comment compared image to 'defecating' in uniform
* Founder of Mom2Mom Breastfeeding Support Group says 'We are not disgracing the uniform, we are very proud'

A photograph of servicewomen breastfeeding in public while wearing uniform has ignited a global debate.

The picture shows two mothers, Terran Echegoyen-McCabe and Christina Luna, both in active service, nursing their babies on an Air Force base.

The striking image has seen a flurry of comments, from supporters who say breastfeeding is a 'fundamental right' to another who compared it to 'defecating in uniform'.

The photos were taken for the Mom2Mom Breastfeeding Support Group, set up by a military wife and mother-of-three to raise awareness of all women's rights to breastfeed in public.

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More News On Women Breastfeeding Their Babies In Uniform And In Public

Military Moms Breastfeeding in Uniform Stir Controversy -- Shine/Yahoo
Military moms breastfeeding in uniform sparks controversy -- Digital Journal
Military mom's breastfeeding photo causes controversy and outrage -- Examiner
Photo of military moms breastfeeding causes controversy -- Examiner
Military Moms Breastfeed in Uniform & the World Freaks Out -- The Stir
Military Moms Breastfeeding in Uniform Surprised at Controversy Stirred by Pic -- Inquisitr
Breastfeeding in uniform: What’s your opinion? -- Air Force Times

WNU Editor: The photo gallery starts here. What`s my take .... Eric Palmer sums it up best.

200 British Soldiers In 'Tribal' Bar Brawl

Shameful skirmish: The Sportsman's Arms where British soldiers turned against each other

Shame Of 200 British Soldiers In 'Tribal' Bar Brawl: Taunts Between Rival Regiments Explode Into Violence In Kenya -- Daily Mail

More than 200 British soldiers were involved in a ‘tribal’ drink-fuelled bar brawl during a break from military exercises in Kenya.

Troops needed hospital treatment after a drinking session descended into shameful violence following taunts about bad driving and football rivalry.

Drunken soldiers hurled chairs, bottles and glasses across the hotel bar during the 20-minute skirmish – and it was reported that one squaddie was thrown through a window.

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My Comment: 200 soldiers in a bar fight .... hope someone puts it up on YouTube.