Army Major Gets Prison Time For Taking Secret Material Home

[Boondocksaint375]

Army Major Gets Prison Time For Taking Secret Material Home


POSTED: 3:13 pm HST July 31, 2007
UPDATED: 3:17 pm HST July 31, 2007

HONOLULU -- An Army major on Oahu has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after he illegally removed from the workplace classified material related to national security.

The Honolulu Advertiser reported Major Kendall Amazaki Jr. reached a plea agreement that will have him dismissed from the Army. Amazaki was assigned to the Pacific region headquarters for the U.S. Special Operations Command at Camp Smith.

U.S. Special Operations Command-Pacific spokeswoman Major Stacy Bathrick said Amazaki removed national security material from his Fort Campbell, Kentucky, workplace and took it home without proper authorization.
She said he also failed to report the activity to his superior officer.

The Advertiser reported an Army report said Amazaki took the materials with him when he was transferred to Camp Smith in 2002 and kept them at his home in Hawaii.

 

[Marauder06]

12months? Seems pretty steep for just "taking some materials home." I wonder what he did with them that landed him in the clink.

 

[Typhoon]

Meanwhile Sandy Burglar is walking around on the streets without penalty...

 

[Looon]

12months? Seems pretty steep for just "taking some materials home." I wonder what he did with them that landed him in the clink.

The right up sounds like it was an accident.:uhh: Nothing malicious is mentioned.

 

[Marauder06]

Curiouser and curiouser. So he lifted the stuff when he was at Campbell (home of the 101st, 5th Group and the 160th), then kept them... for five years... after he PCS'd?? I wonder how he got busted, what the material was, why he kept it, and what was so bad about the situation that he ended up getting drummed out of the Army over it. Interesting.

 

[Typhoon]

So he lifted the stuff when he was at Campbell...then kept them... for five years... after he PCS'd?? I wonder how he got busted, what the material was, why he kept it, and what was so bad about the situation that he ended up getting drummed out of the Army over it. Interesting.

That is indeed a story that makes you go "huh?". Unfortunately the details will probably never come out so we won't get to hear the answer to that one, I'd guess...

 

[phridum]

I got busted coming back from Iraq with a pocket in my backpack full of maps. Everyone gave me the easy out and asked if I knew they were there, but I have qualms about bold faced lies. So I told them I wanted to keep them because I thought they would look cool on the wall of my office. Any government map, even GoogleEarth print-outs with road overlays, are technically marked classified.

It was probably something silly like that. He had maps or some photos or whatever in his study or den and someone ratted him out. Essentially harmless, but I didn't get hammered that bad. Busted down, fined, and grounded for 45 days. I EAS'ed about two weeks after that.

Just throwing this out there...brass and staff would often tsk tsk me in passing and ask if it was worth it, like they're my third grade teacher. They were usually pissed when I said "yes". If I had pulled it off, what would my answer be when asked the same question? No one would ask. I'd be in Duluth, MN with a grainy map on the wall and some pins stuck in it. I knew the risks, weighed the chances, and missed. I knew exactly what I was doing, AND fessed up to it.

I didn't, however, contemplate the residual effects on my platoon. Everything a sniper does in high vis in the Marines, and blowing it looks bad on everyone. When I realized that, I almost threw up. THAT is my only regret.

Oh, and busted smuggling classified material doesn't look good on resumes...

 

[car]

I carried a notebook all through Iraq. You all know the kind - little, green, hardbound notebook that most NCOs carry. Anyway, it was my lifeline. Everyhting that I needed to remember or follow up on as an MI Bde Ops SGM was written in that book. I didn't care whether it was classified or not - nearly all the shit we did was classified anyway.

So, I'm down at Camp Echo, in the Star Wars chow hall (previous thread), and as I dump my leftovers in the trash can, away goes the notebook with the paper tray. Didn't even notice it until my boss and I were out on the street. "Holy shit!"

I ran back in, and Hajii had just emptied the trash. So I grabbed Chief Trash Haj, and we went dumpster diving (another MI tradition ;)). I eventually found it, all soaked and stained with ketchup and French dressing.

I still carry it around - and it still smells like trash from Iraq.

 

[Swill]

This is the worst part about being the 2. Sharepoint, Outlook distros, and thumb drives alone make keeping control on classified material impossible. I like to say that security is paramount (I leave safety to the safety guys) but there just is no way to be 100%. If you bear down too hard, you hamstring your people.

 

[pardus]

...brass and staff would often tsk tsk me in passing and ask if it was worth it, like they're my third grade teacher. They were usually pissed when I said "yes". ...

After I got busted whenever SNCOs & Os would ask me about it I would say "Easy come, easy go!" pissed them off no end! lmao

 

[Scotth]

I would suspect it was more then just a cool aerial photo or some other memento. I would guess he took some work home with him and forgot to return some of the files.

I would bet they had evidence that he knew he had the documents and knowingly packed them up with his other belonging when he changed post and failed to return them when he had the chance.

There was probably no damage done with the materials but he probably also failed to take corrective action for his mistakes when he had the chance. That why he is gonna do a little jail time.

 

[Rabid Badger]

That, and he probably lied about it. We all know that 'O's' are truthful and never lie. ..:uhh:

My guess is they asked him and he denied it. Had he've said yes and returned what he had, redfaced, they probably would've slapped his wrists....