Marine Commandant, legal staff, targeted in IG Complaint

[cpwill]

The top Marine general and four of his legal advisers are implicated in a complaint to the Defense Department Inspector General charging they inappropriately inserted themselves into the prosecution of cases stemming from the infamous video showing scout snipers urinating on dead insurgents in Afghanistan.

The complaint, filed by Marine Maj. James Weirick, an attorney assigned to Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va., alleges Commandant Gen. Jim Amos, or others acting on his behalf, deliberately sought to manipulate the legal process, effectively stacking the deck against the scout snipers in the video.

Weirick’s complaint, a copy of which was obtained by Marine Corps Times, also alleges Amos showed preferential treatment to ensure the promotion of then-Maj. James B. Conway, the son of Amos’ predecessor as commandant, retired Gen. James T. Conway. Conway was executive officer of the scout snipers’ unit, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines...

Weirick is not the first to raise questions about whether the commandant’s firm hand with Marines has breached the law. As Marine Corps Times and other media outlets reported in October, at least four military judges have ruled Amos committed apparentunlawful command influence by nature of his tough talk in the Heritage Brief.

In blasting bad behavior by Marines and urging others to hold those involved accountable, the judges ruled, he potentially violated the rights of those charged with crimes by pressuring jury pools to find Marines guilty.

The judges in those four cases did not find that the commandant committed actual unlawful command influence, which could have led to the cases’ dismissal. They instead offered defense attorneys remedies to mitigate the damage, such as allowing for extended questioning and additional dismissals of jurors who are seen as potentially biased.

To date, nearly 80 claims of unlawful command influence have been made since Amos’ Heritage Briefs, but none has resulted in a case’s dismissal, said an official at Marine Corps headquarters who asked not to be named.

A spokesman for the commandant, Lt. Col. Joseph Plenzler, told Marine Corps Times in October that Amos’ intent with the Heritage Brief was to “change behavior,” Plenzler said, “not to influence the outcomes of any particular courts-martial.”...

I had to go to that Heritage Brief thing. I left visibly angry. It didn't change my behavior. What it changed was my attitude. If I walked away from that brief with one lesson in my mind it was "The Senior Leadership of the Marine Corps either does not understand what it is like to be a Marine in combat, or does not care. In the event that you ever become a political liability to our relationship with the Beautiful People, we will throw you under the bus without a second thought."

 

[MMC]

[/FONT][/COLOR]
I had to go to that Heritage Brief thing. I left visibly angry. It didn't change my behavior. What it changed was my attitude. If I walked away from that brief with one lesson in my mind it was "The Senior Leadership of the Marine Corps either does not understand what it is like to be a Marine in combat, or does not care. In the event that you ever become a political liability to our relationship with the Beautiful People, we will throw you under the bus without a second thought."

Heya CPW.

Yeah I was just reading this. When was it this way "ever" with Hard Corp? Not to mention he swapped out Generals. Seems there is a lot of this going round.

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos speaks to Marine officers and staff NCOs during the Heritage Brief at the Pentagon in 2012. (Cpl. Cody A. Fodale/Marine Corps)

The brief later became fodder for dozens of defense motions in all sorts of criminal cases, as defense attorneys charged it amounted to command influence in their clients’ cases.

Swapping generals
Trouble began Feb. 10, 2012, one month after the urination video surfaced, Weirick alleges. Amos, unsatisfied with the approach taken by the three-star general overseeing the urination case, made a change, the complaint says.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, who at the time was commanding Marine Corps Forces Central Command, initially had control of the case. This was logical, as MARCENT oversees operations in Afghanistan and routinely serves as the convening authority in judicial matters tied to the war zone.

According to Guy Womack, the civilian defense attorney representing Sgt. Richards, Waldhauser was preparing to meet with his client when Amos made the switch.

Waldhauser intended to offer Richards nonjudicial punishment, Womack said.

Said Rachael Richards, the sergeant’s wife: “We had everything lined up to fly out on Valentine’s Day to meet with the general to receive his punishment. Then everything changed, and the Heritage Brief started soon after.”

Soon after, Amos delivered his Heritage Brief for the first of 27 times, addressing thousands of officers and staff noncommissioned officers all around the world over the next several months.His presentation included images from the urination video — which Weirick’s complaint cites as an unfair use of evidence from an ongoing criminal trial — and references to his personal opinion about the case. According to Weirick’s complaint, the commandant said it was “behavior unbecoming a Marine.”

That, the complaint alleges, “makes it almost impossible for any of the accused to receive a fair trial.”

Womack, Richards’ defense attorney, also contends it was inappropriate to move the case from Waldhauser to Mills.

“The commandant had no business and no right to interfere,” he argues. “If the general for MARCENT can be trusted to fight a war for the Marine Corps — the most important job in the Corps right now — certainly the commandant can trust him to handle an NJP.”

Classified material
The IG complaint alleges the commandant’s legal advisers sought to classify evidence assembled in the investigation in an effort to “prevent or delay the disclosure of information before court-martial, to conceal violations of law, and prevent embarrassment to the United States Marine Corps.”

The complaint alleges that the commandant’s legal team ignored the recommendations of Weirick, his supervisor and four civilian security specialists employed by the Corps, whom the complaint describes as experts on classification matters.

Citing the same issues, Weirick also filed a report last month to the Department of the Navy Central Adjudication Facility, part of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service responsible for determining eligibility for security clearance. In it, he requests the agency determine whether the commandant’s lawyers, Col. Joseph Bowe, and civilians Robert Hogue and Peter Delorier, still merit their security clearances, and whether “they still possess the requisite reliability and trustworthiness such that entrusting them with access to classified information is clearly consistent with the interests of national security.”

In blasting bad behavior by Marines and urging others to hold those involved accountable, the judges ruled, he potentially violated the rights of those charged with crimes by pressuring jury pools to find Marines guilty.....snip~

Marine Corps commandant, legal staff targeted in IG complaint | Marine Corps Times | marinecorpstimes.com

 

[fmw]

It fits with the rest of the military attitude. I'm bothered by the ads that call the Navy a "global force for good." It would be better for our navy to be a global force for death and destruction. We want our Army to be loved. Better it should be feared. And with this attitude we go off to fight other people's wars willy nilly. And we do knowing that nobody fears us any longer. Maybe we should bring the Peace Corps back and put the folks in uniform. It literally amazes me.

 

[penn1954]

Lets hear it for the PC REMFs in charge-NOT !!

God help us if we need to win a war with these commanders!

 

[APACHERAT]

These Marines who urinated on the enemy, an enemy who was trying to kill them and may have killed Americans in the past. well this has been natural for thousands of years.

I know since WW ll there were directives that soldiers and Marines shouldn't desecrate or mutilate dead enemy soldiers. But when it did happen, BFD !

This should have been no more than an Article 15.

So I turn to the Patton Papers. When George Patton was crossing the Rhine and as soon as he was in Germany he ordered his driver to pull over. Patton dismounted and announced that he was going to piss on Germany and the German people. He whipped it out and began urinating.

As for Commandant Amos, he seems more feminine than he was four years ago. He actually looks gay. Has Obama also PCed Amos ?

The scuttlebutt is, who's next to be relieved of their commands by Obama for not being politically correct enough for Obama's liking ?

I thought I would never live long enough to be able to say I was the "Old Corps." During my days only those who served with the China Marines were considered to be the "Old Corps." In 2000 not even old WW ll, Marines were considered to be "Old Corps." The joke after repealing DADT was if you served before repealing DADT you were "Old Corps." I guess and it's no joke, any Marine who served before January of 2009 served during the "Old Corps."

 

[MarineTpartier]

Guys, I can tell you where all of this originates.
A) He wasn't a Marine when he was commissioned. He was Navy. Nothing wrong with the Navy. But Naval Officers should stay with the Navy, not come over to the Marine Corps.
B) He has NEVER been to combat. He is a pilot. He has no idea what it feels like to be in combat, command men in combat, or even be in command of a unit that deploys a portion of his unit to combat. He doesn't even have a combat action ribbon.
C) See B. And if you read his bio and think "Well, it says he was in OIF I." Yes, thousands of feet above guys like me slogging through the streets of Nasiriyah and Baghdad. He didn't see crap but a beautiful view of the battle.

This man will go down as the worst commandant ever. He has brought shame upon the Marine Corps with his constant meddling of our law processes, changed traditions that we held dear (rolled sleeves), has not fought nearly as hard to keep women out of combat as he did gays out of the military (we care much more about women in combat), and has no clue what young Marines experience. I have never cared who the Commandant was. Most of them have known to leave well enough alone, make their one minor uniform change that will be their legacy, then ride off into the sunset to take their cushy DOD advisor job.
This guy continually says and does things that make us despise him. He constantly brow beats his commanders about "making it how it was" and bringing the garrison, no war mentality back to the Corps. Guess what douche, that's why we sucked in Iraq in 2003! We weren't ready. From commanders like you to Pres Clinton's total refusal to give us any money, we were on the verge of being a totally inept military. Luckily, in one of the few good things he did, W Bush came along and threw us a bone. I could only imagine what would have happened had Clinton been POTUS and Gen Mattis hadn't been a Marine in 2003. Thank God.
The Corps will not be a better institution when Amos leaves. Someone will have to pick up the pieces. I just hope they put a ground guy in charge again. I don't care if he is infantry, artillery, tanks, whatever. But he needs to be ground side and he needs to have been in combat. Period.

 

[cpwill]

Guys, I can tell you where all of this originates.
A) He wasn't a Marine when he was commissioned. He was Navy. Nothing wrong with the Navy. But Naval Officers should stay with the Navy, not come over to the Marine Corps.
B) He has NEVER been to combat. He is a pilot. He has no idea what it feels like to be in combat, command men in combat, or even be in command of a unit that deploys a portion of his unit to combat. He doesn't even have a combat action ribbon.
C) See B. And if you read his bio and think "Well, it says he was in OIF I." Yes, thousands of feet above guys like me slogging through the streets of Nasiriyah and Baghdad. He didn't see crap but a beautiful view of the battle.

This man will go down as the worst commandant ever. He has brought shame upon the Marine Corps with his constant meddling of our law processes, changed traditions that we held dear (rolled sleeves), has not fought nearly as hard to keep women out of combat as he did gays out of the military (we care much more about women in combat), and has no clue what young Marines experience. I have never cared who the Commandant was. Most of them have known to leave well enough alone, make their one minor uniform change that will be their legacy, then ride off into the sunset to take their cushy DOD advisor job.
This guy continually says and does things that make us despise him. He constantly brow beats his commanders about "making it how it was" and bringing the garrison, no war mentality back to the Corps. Guess what douche, that's why we sucked in Iraq in 2003! We weren't ready. From commanders like you to Pres Clinton's total refusal to give us any money, we were on the verge of being a totally inept military. Luckily, in one of the few good things he did, W Bush came along and threw us a bone. I could only imagine what would have happened had Clinton been POTUS and Gen Mattis hadn't been a Marine in 2003. Thank God.
The Corps will not be a better institution when Amos leaves. Someone will have to pick up the pieces. I just hope they put a ground guy in charge again. I don't care if he is infantry, artillery, tanks, whatever. But he needs to be ground side and he needs to have been in combat. Period.

This post needs to be read aloud with the National Anthem and the Iwo Jima Memorial in the background.

HOW THE CHESTY PULLER DID A MAN WHO DIDN'T EVEN ****ING COMMISSION A MARINE LIEUTENANT AND HAS NO COMBAT EVER BECOME COMMANDANT :doh



I read through the "guidance" that went out, and read my two little books like I was supposed to. How banal. It reminded me exactly of the MHG Commander at 2MARDIV when I checked in, who told us that the wars were over, and that was good because it had kept us from Doing What Marines Do as he ordered weekly uniform inspections. Apparently there is a whole breed of pre-9/11 officers and SNCO's in the Marine Corps who think that What Marines Do isn't "Win Wars", its "Stand Uniform Inspections".

 

[mak2]

What about rolled sleeves?

Guys, I can tell you where all of this originates.
A) He wasn't a Marine when he was commissioned. He was Navy. Nothing wrong with the Navy. But Naval Officers should stay with the Navy, not come over to the Marine Corps.
B) He has NEVER been to combat. He is a pilot. He has no idea what it feels like to be in combat, command men in combat, or even be in command of a unit that deploys a portion of his unit to combat. He doesn't even have a combat action ribbon.
C) See B. And if you read his bio and think "Well, it says he was in OIF I." Yes, thousands of feet above guys like me slogging through the streets of Nasiriyah and Baghdad. He didn't see crap but a beautiful view of the battle.

This man will go down as the worst commandant ever. He has brought shame upon the Marine Corps with his constant meddling of our law processes, changed traditions that we held dear (rolled sleeves), has not fought nearly as hard to keep women out of combat as he did gays out of the military (we care much more about women in combat), and has no clue what young Marines experience. I have never cared who the Commandant was. Most of them have known to leave well enough alone, make their one minor uniform change that will be their legacy, then ride off into the sunset to take their cushy DOD advisor job.
This guy continually says and does things that make us despise him. He constantly brow beats his commanders about "making it how it was" and bringing the garrison, no war mentality back to the Corps. Guess what douche, that's why we sucked in Iraq in 2003! We weren't ready. From commanders like you to Pres Clinton's total refusal to give us any money, we were on the verge of being a totally inept military. Luckily, in one of the few good things he did, W Bush came along and threw us a bone. I could only imagine what would have happened had Clinton been POTUS and Gen Mattis hadn't been a Marine in 2003. Thank God.
The Corps will not be a better institution when Amos leaves. Someone will have to pick up the pieces. I just hope they put a ground guy in charge again. I don't care if he is infantry, artillery, tanks, whatever. But he needs to be ground side and he needs to have been in combat. Period.

 

[APACHERAT]

HOW THE CHESTY PULLER DID A MAN WHO DIDN'T EVEN ****ING COMMISSION A MARINE LIEUTENANT AND HAS NO COMBAT EVER BECOME COMMANDANT :doh
.

Just another "yes man" that Obama has put in command so he can continue to use the military for social engineering.

Personally, Obama's "yes man," Gen. James Amos looks like he has gone gay.


A PC Marine


A real U.S. Marine


Col. Chesty Puller on a bad day when he was surrounded by 10 Chinese commie divisions.

 

[apdst]

This is what happens when we have a regime in power, that is more interested in being politically correct, than anything else.

Of course The Commandant injected himself into the body pisser case; he had clear instructions from his benefactor--The One--to do so.

When we have generals who are placed in command because of their political alignment with the sitting president, vice their ability to lead armies on the battlefield, mens's lives will be lost. This is nothing but history repeating itself.

 

[MarineTpartier]

What about rolled sleeves?

We don't roll our sleeves anymore brother. They stay down year round. Just like our sisters in the Army.

 

[MarineTpartier]

This post needs to be read aloud with the National Anthem and the Iwo Jima Memorial in the background.

HOW THE CHESTY PULLER DID A MAN WHO DIDN'T EVEN ****ING COMMISSION A MARINE LIEUTENANT AND HAS NO COMBAT EVER BECOME COMMANDANT :doh



I read through the "guidance" that went out, and read my two little books like I was supposed to. How banal. It reminded me exactly of the MHG Commander at 2MARDIV when I checked in, who told us that the wars were over, and that was good because it had kept us from Doing What Marines Do as he ordered weekly uniform inspections. Apparently there is a whole breed of pre-9/11 officers and SNCO's in the Marine Corps who think that What Marines Do isn't "Win Wars", its "Stand Uniform Inspections".

I think one thing we all need to remember is that many officers toe the party line when their superiors want a message to get across. "Doing What Marines Do" has been said in more than one command lately. I believe Fuhrer Amos is saying that and making his subordinates say it too. Unlike us enlisted trash, they don't believe they can stray from the party line without getting their pee pee smacked. A good example is Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser. He disagreed with Mein Fuhrer and the Fuhrer relieved him.

 

[cpwill]

I think one thing we all need to remember is that many officers toe the party line when their superiors want a message to get across. "Doing What Marines Do" has been said in more than one command lately. I believe Fuhrer Amos is saying that and making his subordinates say it too. Unlike us enlisted trash, they don't believe they can stray from the party line without getting their pee pee smacked. A good example is Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser. He disagreed with Mein Fuhrer and the Fuhrer relieved him.

classic sign of small-penis-syndrome.

also this:

The Marine Corps officer who filed a complaint against the commandant for intervening in the Taliban urination cases against eight Marines is now the target of reprisals from superiors, his attorney says...

Maj. Weirick, a staff judge advocate at the Combat Development Command at Quantico, Va., accuses Gen. Amos of violating the military edict against unlawful command influence by urging guilty verdicts to the general overseeing the cases.

The major also told the Pentagon’s inspector general that Gen. Amos’ legal advisers unlawfully classified most of the evidence, including potentially embarrassing emails at headquarters, to keep the material away from defense attorneys....

Marine higher-ups responded Tuesday with a series of retaliations against Maj. Weirick, Col. Siegel said.
• Marines escorted Maj. Weirick out of his office and seized his government computer.
• He was transferred to a nonlegal job as a training officer.

• His new commander suggested that he get a mental health evaluation and report for an interview with a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent, to whom he refused to talk.

• The major was ordered not to communicate with officials, including Gen. Amos, and was denied leave.

• He was told to turn over his licensed personal firearms kept at home, which he did.

• The Corps also is doing a risk assessment to determine whether Maj. Weirick is a danger to himself or the base.

“These steps are all designed for a single purpose and that is to undermine the credibility of Maj. Weirick, the credibility of his complaints to the [Defense Department inspector general] and to push him very close to the very edge of being able to drum him out of the Marine Corps,” Col. Siegel said. “I’ve been practicing military justice exclusively for 40 years, 25 of which were in the Marine Corps, and I have never seen anything quite this destructive carried out by people who I considered to be heroes, the commandant of the Marine Corps.”...

Col. Siegel said that in another instance, the rules counselor on Gen. Amos’ staff accused Maj. Weirick of breaching attorney-client privilege for including in his inspector general complaint conversations he had with the commanding general at the time, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills.

She criticized the accusation as being bogus because her client obtained permission to include those facts in the complaint.

These events preceded Maj. Weirick’s office eviction on Tuesday.

“He was so rudely escorted out of his office by his colonel that he did not have time to remove personal photos of his wife, uniform items or anything,” Col. Siegel said. “He was at the uniform store this morning buying uniform apparel because he is not allowed, even with an escort, to retrieve anything from his office.”...

What a petty little bitch. What a blatant demonstration of an utter lack of any of our core values.

 

[mak2]

I did not know that. JUst be thankful we did not get those silly berets.

We don't roll our sleeves anymore brother. They stay down year round. Just like our sisters in the Army.

 

[Wiseone]

Just another "yes man" that Obama has put in command so he can continue to use the military for social engineering.

Personally, Obama's "yes man," Gen. James Amos looks like he has gone gay.

You ****ing make me sick.

 

[apdst]

We don't roll our sleeves anymore brother. They stay down year round. Just like our sisters in the Army.

I hated rolling my sleeves. I only did it when I was made to.

 

[APACHERAT]

You ****ing make me sick.

I diagnose acute homophobia my friend.

You should only get sick if you actually see the act of sodomy being performed, if just thinking about it makes you sick seek help.

When you apply for Obamacare I would suggest you go for the platinum plan so you're covered for this ailment.

 

[Wiseone]

I diagnose acute homophobia my friend.

You should only get sick if you actually see the act of sodomy being performed, if just thinking about it makes you sick seek help.

When you apply for Obamacare I would suggest you go for the platinum plan so you're covered for this ailment.

You do know how to make me made I'll give you that, but you're just an intolerant old fart well beyond his senses and well past any usefulness to anyone.

Also its ****ing stupid to hear someone in the military bitch about government healthcare when for as long as they were active duty and depending on their retirement for the remaining part of their lives they will be on government healthcare.

 

[MarineTpartier]

I did not know that. JUst be thankful we did not get those silly berets.

Amen brother

 

[MarineTpartier]

I hated rolling my sleeves. I only did it when I was made to.

That's because you're a hooah. We take pride in it.

 

[MarineTpartier]

You do know how to make me made I'll give you that, but you're just an intolerant old fart well beyond his senses and well past any usefulness to anyone.

Also its ****ing stupid to hear someone in the military bitch about government healthcare when for as long as they were active duty and depending on their retirement for the remaining part of their lives they will be on government healthcare.

Very true. That's why I stay out of the ACA debates.

 

[SBu]

[/FONT][/COLOR]
I had to go to that Heritage Brief thing. I left visibly angry. It didn't change my behavior. What it changed was my attitude. If I walked away from that brief with one lesson in my mind it was "The Senior Leadership of the Marine Corps either does not understand what it is like to be a Marine in combat, or does not care. In the event that you ever become a political liability to our relationship with the Beautiful People, we will throw you under the bus without a second thought."

It's the "zero defect" mentality. We will recruit you to kill, train you to kill, make you personally sacrifice for this country in ways the hipster generation cannot possibly fathom, send you to various dangerous **** holes around the world to kill ... but don't offend the delicate sensibilities of the gentle American public....no, that's where we draw the line! Assuming you're in Okinawa for a reason, thanks for your service...and stay safe from the typhoon heading you way!

 

[APACHERAT]

You do know how to make me made I'll give you that, but you're just an intolerant old fart well beyond his senses and well past any usefulness to anyone.

Also its ****ing stupid to hear someone in the military bitch about government health care when for as long as they were active duty and depending on their retirement for the remaining part of their lives they will be on government health care.

Not sure how old you are "Wiseone" but I thought you were a grumpy old vet who's been there and done that and served before the all volunteer military. That you would remember when those on active duty and there dependents had access to the best hospitals in the country, Navy and Army hospitals. (Not referring to VA hospitals during the era, they were a disgrace back then.)

Today our service members and their dependents are actually covered by an insurance policy, Ticare. We have soldiers showing up at non military hospitals and medical clinics.

I have only looked at the VA records from 1945 to 2000. Only 10 % of veterans of WW ll, Korean War, during the Cold War and the Vietnam War have ever registered with the VA. Usually the only VA benefits that most vets used before 2000 was VA college money and VHA home loans. To use those bennies you didn't have to register with the VA.

I'll admit that when I served and my father served during WW ll, the VA benefits were a whole lot better than those who served after ending the 200 year tradition of the "Citizen Soldier."

In my opinion, the heath care we received back then was better than today than those who are on active duty today. Back in the day, a soldiers wife came down with the flue she showed up at the same infirmary to see the doc as the same infirmary that some soldier was brought to if he was bit by a rattler while on a 50 mile force march. Do soldiers even go on 50 mile marches any more today ?

If you remember when Congress ended the draft, it was the same Congress who created the all volunteer military, passed the "War Powers Act" and created the "Total Force" concept so that the Army couldn't even deploy a brigade into combat with out having to call up on the Guard and reserves. We all know why they passed these legislations and who was behind it and who opposed it.

Side track: ( Why are some state Guard units still federalized and reserve units are still on active duty today ???)

Here's what I have observed over the past forty some years. The libs always want change and they never take the time to think things through, what will be the consequences ? Be it the all volunteer military which became a married military which is very expensive or flooding the military with females and believing that males and females would all become a-sexual.

The same people who didn't want to serve in the first place pushed these reforms through not realizing how expensive a married military would be. Now they don't want to pay for it.

When I served, around 15 % of the defense budget went to pay and housing and medical care for military dependents. By 2001 it had rose to 30 % of the defense budget. Today it's at 50 % of the defense budget. It is believed that with in another twenty years it will be 70 %

 

[cpwill]

Also its ****ing stupid to hear someone in the military bitch about government healthcare when for as long as they were active duty and depending on their retirement for the remaining part of their lives they will be on government healthcare.

You have much experience working with TriCare? People who have gotten to experience government healthcare can be the best posited to describe it.


And if you believe that it is ****ing stupid to say that, well, all I can say is that you clearly have a psychological disorder, and therefore should be prescribed water and motrin.

 

[MarineTpartier]

Well, here's the latest by the **** of the Marine Corps. Fired 2 Generals over the Camp Bastion breech in 2012. Sure, they should've been reprimanded. But asked to retire? No way. How does a General have any sort of situational awareness of what's going on, at all times, around his perimeter? This is exactly where the micromanaging, too involved leaders come from. If officers believe no one is safe from this kind of crap, they get in our (enlisted) business. When that happens, you have a bunch of useless 30 somethings that are just waiting to retire (Staff NCOs).
Marine Corps generals forced to retire over breach at Afghan base | Fox News