MILITARY STORIES

[downtheline]

"In June 2022, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan decided to ease the state’s uptight concealed carry law with the New York Supreme Court’s decision in Rifle vs. Bruen, which concluded that the second amendment includes the right to have a firearm outside of the carrier’s home.
The GiveSendGo campaign, created by Stark, is asking for $100,000 to help Muldrow with his legal battle"

First off, salute to that man for helping someone out and not dying. Im surprised those cops didn't find an excuse to shoot him, even after he told them he was carrying. Hope he gets a great lawyer, and sues that Police Department into oblivion

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/family-believes-woman-was-murdered-during-deployment/

​

Family believes woman was murdered during deployment​

Posted: Sep 14, 2022 / 09:19 PM CDT | Updated: Sep 14, 2022 / 09:33 PM CDT

(NewsNation) — Denisha Montgomery’s family is demanding answers after they say she was murdered while serving her country overseas.

Montgomery, 27, pursued her dreams and joined the Army two years ago. She was determined to help provide for her three young boys.

However, her trust in the military abruptly changed when she was assigned to the 139th Military Police Company stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany for the summer.
According to her family, she no longer felt safe with her fellow soldiers.

Pfc. Denisha Montgomery

On July 19, she made a frantic video call to her family and asked them to record it.
“I just want to come home. Look what they did to me,” Montgomery said in the recorded video. She is seen with serious bruises and open wounds on her body.
In the 12-minute video call with her family, she said she went with a group military police from her unit, off base to a water park, and said they had been drinking. On the car ride back, they assaulted her.

“They choked me out like they was doing this in the car. I kept telling them … I cant breathe,” Montgomery said in the video.

In and out of tears on the call, she vowed to report her assault the next day.
Her family also called the Red Cross and reported what she had told them: that four military police officers assaulted and strangled her.

In a text message to her uncle the next day she wrote, “they told me if I report an assault I’ll be charged with assault too because I mushed the female and bit the male that was choking me.”

On Aug. 9, 21 days later, Montgomery was found dead in her barracks. That same day, the Army told her family that she took her own life.

“They said, ‘We’re sorry to inform you that your daughter has committed suicide by suffocation.’ And I said, ‘How do you suffocate yourself? How can you possibly suffocate yourself?’ mother Heather Montgomery said.

Rodney Montgomery, Denisha’s father, said he knows his daughter would never kill herself.

“I know my daughter, she’s strong. She’s not a weak person. she’s a very strong person.”

The Army released a statement five days later confirming Montgomery was found unresponsive in her barracks and said “the incident is currently under investigation by the U.S. Army criminal investigation division.”

“It doesn’t make any sense. How are you still investigating when you prematurely said she committed suicide? That tells me that you’ve already have a determination,” said Tomeka Light, Denisha’s aunt.

Light served 13 years as an Army sergeant and was awarded the Purple Heart. She worries that something bigger may be at play.
“Something told me that her life was in danger,” Light said.

None of Montgomery’s family believes she took her own life. Her husband, Joshua Smith, also said he knows that she did not commit suicide.

NewsNation has asked the Army about the investigation, but officials declined our request for an interview.

They sent the following statement: “special agents with department of the army criminal investigation division are investigating the death of Spc. Denisha Montgomery.”

Executive Director of Combat Sexual Assault Lindsey Knapp, who represents Denisha’s family, said that the military was too quick to call this a suicide.
“We’ve got a service member who was afraid for her life, and assaulted, 21 days prior to her death,” Knapp said Wednesday night on “NewsNation Prime.” Knapp has also personally reached out to numerous military officials but hasn’t heard back.
“What we’re calling for now is that the FBI immediately take this case over. Because what the military has shown us is that they are unable to take this case and give Denisha the justice that she deserves,” Knapp said.

Never Alone Advocacy founder Amy Frank, who is also representing Denisha’s family, said that no one was looking into an “attempted murder on her life” after the reported assault.

“If leadership believed that she was suicidal, she should have not been walking around with a gun. What I do know is none of this makes sense,” Frank said on “NewsNation Prime.”
© 1998 - 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

 

[downtheline]

Military is great at shifting the blame, and covering shyt like that

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

***A drunk ass contractor starts shyt with some enlisted and gets knocked out and they trying to give these dude time for it

From left to right: Chief Petty Officer Eric Gilmet, Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Draher and Gunnery Sgt. Joshua Negron. (United American Patriots)​

A Marine judge has denied the request of two Marine Raiders facing homicide charges to dismiss their cases due to allegations of unlawful command influence.

Gunnery Sgts. Daniel Draher and Joshua Negron requested that their charges of involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, obstruction of justice and violation of a lawful general order and dereliction of duty be dismissed following a similar request made by co-defendant Hospital Corpsman Chief Petty Officer Eric Gilmet.

Marine Lt. Col. E.A. Catto, the judge in Draher and Negron’s case, issued his ruling on Monday.

In his opinion he mostly sided with the three-judge panel of the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, which released their ruling that reinstated charges against Gilmet on Aug. 15.

A three-judge panel reinstated charges against Chief Petty Officer Eric Gilmet following a July appellate hearing.​

By Todd South

The case​

The three service members had been working with Marine Special Operations Command and were deployed to Iraq when they went to an off-base nightclub in Irbil, Iraq, to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2019.

While in the club, camera footage and later statements to law enforcement showed retired Army Green Beret Master Sgt. Rich Rodriguez, then working as a military contractor, approach the trio and begin an argument about how they were not showing him enough respect due to his rank and status in special operations.

At that point, the men waved off Rodriguez’s comments. But later, when the club had closed, Rodriguez waited outside and confronted Draher, restarting the argument.

During a brief fight, Rodriguez was knocked unconscious. The people at the club left the scene. Gilmet, Draher and Negron transported him back to base. Gilmet, a corpsman, monitored Rodriguez, as did the others in shifts. But at some point, over the night, he stopped breathing.
The trio began performing lifesaving measures and took him to a nearby medical facility. He died later at a military hospital in Germany.

Threatening Statements​

Gilmet’s charge dismissal request came after his then-attorney, Marine Capt. Matthew Thomas received what he reported as threats to his career for representing high profile, controversial cases.

Those threats, he’s claimed, came from the then-deputy director of the Judge Advocate Division of the Marine Corps, Col. Christopher B. Shaw, at a Nov. 18, 2021, meeting between Shaw and local military criminal defense attorneys at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Shaw had been touring area facilities to meet with judge advocates general. During a planned talk, Thomas asked Shaw if defense counsel faced career challenges when representing defendants in high-profile cases.
“I know your name and I know what cases you’re on and you are not protected,” Shaw told Thomas.

Shortly after those comments, a complaint to the Marine Corps triggered an investigation of Shaw’s comments. Multiple military lawyers present filed sworn statements acknowledging that they had heard Shaw’s comments and felt that it had a chilling effect on their potential work.

The military judge in Gilmet’s case dismissed his charges in January, citing unlawful command influence.
This was after he had released Thomas and his co-counsel from the case. Both feared that they could not continue representing Gilmet without fear of reprisal in command relates to their potential future careers as Marine JAGs.
Prosecutors appealed the decision by the judge in Gilmet’s case. Attorneys for Draher and Negron filed the same requests.

Military appellate court judges heard the prosecution’s appeal on the Gilmet case in summer 2022 and reversed the lower court judge’s decision.
Draher and Negron are next scheduled for a motion hearing on Sept. 27.

Recent ruling​

Both Catto and the three-judge appellate panel agreed that the prosecutors needed to show how Shaw’s comments were not unlawful command influence.

They agreed that Shaw’s comments were egregious. They also agreed that it did not constitute unlawful command influence and it did not jeopardize the defendants’ right to a fair trial.
However, Catto, in his recent ruling, noted some differences in the two cases.

The previous attorneys assigned to Draher and Gilmet did not seek to be dismissed from the case. They were dismissed at the request of the defendants, who believed that they could not proceed due to the unlawful command influence.

Though the judge in the Gilmet case ruled that enough evidence of unlawful command influence existed to release Gilmet’s attorneys, the appellate judges disagreed, saying in their August ruling that the prosecution never got the opportunity to respond to claims of unlawful command influence.

Marine Maj. Gen. David Bligh, staff judge advocate general to the commandant of the Marine Corps, immediately removed Shaw from his post, which became a permanent move later. He voiced his support for zealous defense and that such work would not have any negative effect on Marine defense attorneys.

But Gilmet’s attorney, a retired Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, told Marine Corps Times on multiple occasions that Shaw’s comments have had a “chilling effect” across the Marine defense bar, and they had nearly no one in the Marine defense bar willing to take the case for the same fears outlined in the original complaint.

Bligh also assigned Marine Col. Peter D. Houtz to investigate the claims against Shaw, who was not punished beyond his removal from the deputy director position.

Houtz’ investigation noted the improper comments of Shaw but declined to categorize it as unlawful command influence.
Houtz previously served in the same office as Shaw. He also currently serves on the appeals court that ruled against Gilmet. However, he was not one of the three judges impaneled to hear Gilmet’s case.
“It is corrupt, it is dirty, it is really, really troubling,” Vokey previously told Marine Corps Times. “It’s really, really bothersome.”

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

Nellis Air Force Base officer accused of raping, grooming minor victim, police say​

Nellis Air Force Base officer accused of raping, grooming minor victim, police say

A Nellis Air Force Base officer allegedly groomed a girl for sex, was accused of raping her and committed lewd acts in front of her, police

americanmilitarynews.com

Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS)

A Nellis Air Force Base officer allegedly groomed a girl for sex, was accused of raping her and committed lewd acts in front of her, police said.

Lt. Col. Kevin DiFalco, 40, faces a charge of child abuse and seven counts of lewdness in the presence of a minor.

The girl reported to a school counselor last week that she was raped and abused by DiFalco, a person she knew, between December and June. In an interview with police she said DiFalco began grooming her prior to December by sending her underwear and bikinis in the mail with notes saying he wanted to see her wear them, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

DiFalco and the girl started communicating on Snapchat in November. DiFalco allegedly asked the victim inappropriate questions and they used a code system to let the other know it was safe to talk freely. He also reminded the victim to delete her Snapchat history after each conversation, according to the report.

The girl described to police several occasions when she was raped by DiFalco. The victim also said she attempted to overdose in February because of the abuse and was hospitalized. She said she also developed a eating disorder because of the abuse, according to the report.
DiFalco was the 57th operations support squadron commander but was relieved of his position on Thursday due to his “alleged personal misconduct,” a Nellis spokesman said Saturday. The base confirmed that DiFalco was under investigation by Las Vegas police, in coordination with the Air Force.

DiFalco was arrested on Thursday and has since posted bail. He is due in court on Oct. 11.
___
© 2022 Las Vegas Review-Journal

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

US Army Reserves let in Chinese gov't agent, now convicted in spying operation​

The U.S. Army Reserves let into their ranks a Chinese national who was convicted on Monday of acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.

Following a two-week trial, a jury found Ji Chaoqun, 31, of Chicago, guilty of conspiring to act as an agent of China, acting as an agent of China without registering his activities, and making a materially false statement to the U.S. Army. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the jury decision in a Tuesday statement.

Ji is a Chinese national and, according to a criminal complaint, arrived in the U.S. in August of 2013. Ji went on to join the Army Reserves in 2016 under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program, which allows the U.S. Armed Forces to recruit certain legal aliens whose skills are considered vital to the national interest.

According to text communications uncovered by investigators, Ji was in contact with three different Chinese intelligence officers who worked for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). Ji had been in contact with one of these MSS officers as far back as November of 2013, just months after arriving in the U.S. and years before joining the Army Reserves.

While in the U.S., Ji was tasked with gathering and passing along information to his intelligence contacts about individuals who could potentially be recruited to work for the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security (JSSD). The target individuals Ji focused on included Chinese nationals who were working as engineers and scientists in the United States, including some who were U.S. defense contractors.

As part of his application to join the Army Reserves through the MAVNI program, Ji falsely state he had not had contact with a foreign government within the preceding seven years. He again failed to disclose his ties to these Chinese intelligence officers in a subsequent interview with a U.S. Army officer.

Ji’s potential involvement in this Chinese intelligence service recruiting mission was discovered after federal investigators searched another Chinese intelligence official working in the U.S., Xu Yunjan. Last year, Xu was convicted on charges of conspiracy and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets.

Upon searching Xu’s communications, investigators uncovered communications with Ji.
After Xu was arrested, Ji met with an undercover FBI agent who presented himself as someone directed to meet with Ji in light of Xu’s arrest.

During two separate meetings, Ji made statements that implicated his involvement in the intelligence operation. For example, when he was first introduced to various Chinese intelligence officers, Ji said he believed three different Chinese agents were part of the same “confidential unit.”

Ji reportedly told the undercover agent:

Initially when I met [Intelligence Officer C], it was during a recruitment
fair in the IM [phonetic] school. There was not much advertising. They
were asking if anyone was interested in joining the organization. They
said it was a confidential unit but they did not elaborate. Therefore, I
went there and met Intelligence Officer C]. Afterwards, [Intelligence
Officer C] asked [Intelligence Officer B] to contact me in Beijing because
[Intelligence Officer B] was in Beijing during that period of time. It was
during my Nanjing trip that I met Intelligence Officer A] for the first
time when he was together with [Intelligence Officer C]. . . It was when
I was in Beijing I contacted [Intelligence Officer B] for a few times. I
often dined with him. He told me stories such as Long-Tan-San-Jie the
three covert CCP agents inside KMT. Afterwards, I went to Nanjing to
look for and meet [Intelligence Officer A]. Afterwards, when I first left
China, it was [Intelligence Officer B] who contacted me using my
undergraduate name and my newly registered email address.

Ji was initially charged in September of 2018.
The jury ultimately found Ji guilty of acting as an illegal Chinese agent and lying to the Army about his Chinese government connections. The jury acquitted Ji on two separate counts of wire fraud.

Ji faces up to 10 years in prison for working in the U.S. as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China. He also faces up to five years for the conspiracy and false statement offenses. His sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

US Army Reserves let in Chinese gov't agent, now convicted in spying operation

The Army Reserves let in a Chinese national who was convicted on Monday of acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.

americanmilitarynews.com

 

[downtheline]

US Army Reserves let in Chinese gov't agent, now convicted in spying operation​

The U.S. Army Reserves let into their ranks a Chinese national who was convicted on Monday of acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.

Following a two-week trial, a jury found Ji Chaoqun, 31, of Chicago, guilty of conspiring to act as an agent of China, acting as an agent of China without registering his activities, and making a materially false statement to the U.S. Army. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the jury decision in a Tuesday statement.

Ji is a Chinese national and, according to a criminal complaint, arrived in the U.S. in August of 2013. Ji went on to join the Army Reserves in 2016 under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program, which allows the U.S. Armed Forces to recruit certain legal aliens whose skills are considered vital to the national interest.

According to text communications uncovered by investigators, Ji was in contact with three different Chinese intelligence officers who worked for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). Ji had been in contact with one of these MSS officers as far back as November of 2013, just months after arriving in the U.S. and years before joining the Army Reserves.

While in the U.S., Ji was tasked with gathering and passing along information to his intelligence contacts about individuals who could potentially be recruited to work for the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security (JSSD). The target individuals Ji focused on included Chinese nationals who were working as engineers and scientists in the United States, including some who were U.S. defense contractors.

As part of his application to join the Army Reserves through the MAVNI program, Ji falsely state he had not had contact with a foreign government within the preceding seven years. He again failed to disclose his ties to these Chinese intelligence officers in a subsequent interview with a U.S. Army officer.

Ji’s potential involvement in this Chinese intelligence service recruiting mission was discovered after federal investigators searched another Chinese intelligence official working in the U.S., Xu Yunjan. Last year, Xu was convicted on charges of conspiracy and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets.

Upon searching Xu’s communications, investigators uncovered communications with Ji.
After Xu was arrested, Ji met with an undercover FBI agent who presented himself as someone directed to meet with Ji in light of Xu’s arrest.

During two separate meetings, Ji made statements that implicated his involvement in the intelligence operation. For example, when he was first introduced to various Chinese intelligence officers, Ji said he believed three different Chinese agents were part of the same “confidential unit.”

Ji reportedly told the undercover agent:

Ji was initially charged in September of 2018.
The jury ultimately found Ji guilty of acting as an illegal Chinese agent and lying to the Army about his Chinese government connections. The jury acquitted Ji on two separate counts of wire fraud.

Ji faces up to 10 years in prison for working in the U.S. as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China. He also faces up to five years for the conspiracy and false statement offenses. His sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

US Army Reserves let in Chinese gov't agent, now convicted in spying operation

The Army Reserves let in a Chinese national who was convicted on Monday of acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.

americanmilitarynews.com

I thought everyone had to have a background check before joining?

This dude probably is not the first, he just got caught

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

Didn't hear about this​

​

Army veteran hero killed while trying to stop active shooter​

Police car lights. (Alexandru Cuznetov/Dreamstime/TNS)
August 30, 2022 Ryan Morgan

A U.S. Army veteran was one of two people killed by an active shooter at a grocery store in Oregon on Sunday after he charged the gunman and helped put an end to the attack.
66-year-old Donald Ray Surrett Jr. was among two people fatally shot when a gunman entered a Safeway grocery store in Bend, Oregon on Sunday. In a statement, the Bend Police Department said Surrett attempted to disarm the active shooter in “a heroic act for which we are so thankful for.”

Surrett was working at the time as a Safeway employee and, according to Oregon Live, had served in the Army for 26 years.

Surrett was killed alongside 84-year-old Glenn Edward Bennett. The active shooter suspect, identified as 20-year-old Ethan Blair Miller, took his own life after the struggle, NBC reported.
Miller reportedly had an AR-15 style rifle and a shotgun on his person. Police also found a second sawn-off shotgun and three Molotov cocktail firebombs in his vehicle, along with additional ammunition and what police called “digital devices.”

In a Monday Facebook post, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said, “While we are still gathering the facts about last night’s shooting, it’s clear that far more people could have been killed if not for the heroism of Donald Ray Surrett, Jr., who intervened to help stop the shooter, and the officers who entered while shots were still being fired. In the face of senseless violence, they acted with selfless bravery. Their courage saved lives. Please join me in keeping the families of Mr. Surrett and Glenn Edward Bennett in your hearts today. Know that all of Oregon grieves with you.”

Ex-wife Debora Jean Surrett told Oregon Live that Donald Surrett had been a combat engineer. The two had been married for 20 years before they divorced and she had raised three children with him as he took postings across the U.S. and Germany.

Though they had divorced, Debora Jean said she was heartened to hear her ex-husband had given his life in an act of heroism.

“He was trained to do that kind of thing, because that’s what a combat engineer does,” she told Oregon Live.


Steven Harder told Oregon Live that he knew Surrett through their local chapter of Disabled American Veterans. Surrett had been the adjutant treasurer for the organization.
“All he wanted to do was help those that needed help,” Harder said of Surrett.

Surrett had also helped out at a local Seventh Day Adventist Church. Jeff Coleman, the former pastor of the church, said Surrett had a reputation for being dependable.
“He was one of these people that’s always there,” Coleman said. “When he said he’d be there, he’d be there.”

Last month, an Army veteran off duty cop was paralyzed after he was shot in the back while trying to stop a bar fight.

​

 

[42 Monks]

I thought everyone had to have a background check before joining?

This dude probably is not the first, he just got caught

ehhhhhh its a not the same at all levels

 

[downtheline]

I didn’t think of that. They made me get a Secret clearnce for my old job (medical). I just assumed it was like that across the board

Guess a cook doesn’t need one (no offense to any cooks on here)

 

[downtheline]

Nellis Air Force Base officer accused of raping, grooming minor victim, police say​

Nellis Air Force Base officer accused of raping, grooming minor victim, police say

A Nellis Air Force Base officer allegedly groomed a girl for sex, was accused of raping her and committed lewd acts in front of her, police

americanmilitarynews.com

Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS)

A Nellis Air Force Base officer allegedly groomed a girl for sex, was accused of raping her and committed lewd acts in front of her, police said.

Lt. Col. Kevin DiFalco, 40, faces a charge of child abuse and seven counts of lewdness in the presence of a minor.

The girl reported to a school counselor last week that she was raped and abused by DiFalco, a person she knew, between December and June. In an interview with police she said DiFalco began grooming her prior to December by sending her underwear and bikinis in the mail with notes saying he wanted to see her wear them, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

DiFalco and the girl started communicating on Snapchat in November. DiFalco allegedly asked the victim inappropriate questions and they used a code system to let the other know it was safe to talk freely. He also reminded the victim to delete her Snapchat history after each conversation, according to the report.

The girl described to police several occasions when she was raped by DiFalco. The victim also said she attempted to overdose in February because of the abuse and was hospitalized. She said she also developed a eating disorder because of the abuse, according to the report.
DiFalco was the 57th operations support squadron commander but was relieved of his position on Thursday due to his “alleged personal misconduct,” a Nellis spokesman said Saturday. The base confirmed that DiFalco was under investigation by Las Vegas police, in coordination with the Air Force.

DiFalco was arrested on Thursday and has since posted bail. He is due in court on Oct. 11.
___
© 2022 Las Vegas Review-Journal

Disgusting

Had a chaplain at my first duty station get busted for sexually assaulting his 4 yo daughter. Hope he’s still in prison

What is it with these redneck pedophiles? All the military does is kick them out into society

 

[42 Monks]

Disgusting

Had a chaplain at my first duty station get busted for sexually assaulting his 4 yo daughter. Hope he’s still in prison

What is it with these redneck pedophiles? All the military does is kick them out into society

true lol....

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

Arkansas Woman Sentenced to Prison for Misusing Disability Funds Meant for Her Husband​

10/6/2022

11:00 AM EDT​

In 2013, Brandi Goldman of Jonesboro, Arkansas, was married to a US Army reservist who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a service-connected accident. As a result of this injury, her husband had many serious physical challenges, and Goldman was appointed as his guardian and fiduciary. Between April 2015 and November 2017, Goldman received more than $258,600 in VA disability payments and $36,000 in Social Security payments. During that timeframe, she withdrew close to $200,000 in cash and accrued about $900 in ATM and overdraft fees. Goldman admitted to spending much of the cash to fund her methamphetamine habit, spending $150 on methamphetamine two to three times per week. She also admitted that five other people moved into the residence with her and her husband, none of whom paid rent or contributed to expenses, some of whom she regularly gave cash. She also admitted paying $68,000 in cash for another home, furnishings for the home, multiple vehicles, and a motor home. Goldman was sentenced to 20 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $143,000 in restitution after previously pleading guilty to misappropriation by a fiduciary. The VA OIG and Social Security Administration OIG conducted the investigation.

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

2023​

VA disability compensation rates are increasing in 2023 based on Social Security's cost of living adjustment. Official compensation tables will be provided by VA in December 2022.

 

[downtheline]

2023​

VA disability compensation rates are increasing in 2023 based on Social Security's cost of living adjustment. Official compensation tables will be provided by VA in December 2022.

Good shyt .