Case Study #2: The Loyal Wife

The check was made out to a guy named Jody Shcumh. It was drawn on the account that Bradley recently closed out, for the amount of $300.
Bradley says that the forged signature looks a lot like his wife's handwriting. The bank says that Bradley will not be held liable for any charges associated with the forged check, and they notify local law enforcement.

You and Bradley separately get email responses back from Jody. Both are inflamatory and offensive. Jody once again implies he's SF, that he's senior to Bradley (making him at least a staff sergeant or higher), and that he's going to "take Bradley's rank" :rolleyes: . He disparages Bradley's MOS, and brags about his own combat experience.

In the email to you, he goes off about how he's not going to take orders from some support guy, and that if you know what's good for you you'll stop bothering him. He says that since he's not in your chain of command, you have no UCMJ authority over him in the first place, and he doesn't have to do what you say. He further makes accusations that Bradley previously engaged in spousal and child abuse, and that's why Mrs. Bradley is with Jody now. The emails are full of grammar, spelling and word usage errors that make them hard to read, and the "logic" of the emails makes them a little hard to follow. But the "fuck you" tone of the emails is pretty hard to misinterpret. It's clear he believes he is untouchable.

1) What course of action do you take now?
2) What do you do about the allegations of spousal/child abuse?
3) Is Bradley correct about the UCMJ authority?
 
1) Divorce proceedings. Pending concrete validation of all this: I think he should be sent back if possible. Parents to take the kids? It's a safe bet that she's not fit. That leads into #2. I think social services will have to be involved in any matter of determining a person unfit for custody. Soon as the kids get a safe roof over their heads, send the MPs over to his house, let her pack a bag & a toothbrush....and toss her ass out the main gate.

2) While the source is shit, it's not something to be ignored. Are the kids school aged? Have the counselor talk to them post haste. As for Ms. Bradley: fuck her and the broom she rode in on. I'm not buying it. Can't say I've ever heard of an abused spouse so terrified of her husband that she forged his checks and had a boyfriend drive his rig. Past experience with family members in an abuse relationship has taught me that if they don't want help, it doesn't matter what you say or do. We're not talking about BFE where it's a local cultural norm to beat your spouse. Big girl rules apply, she can report it her damn self.

3) Jody is smokin crack. I highly doubt he's ever gone so far as to see the front door of a MEPS station.....never mind the lofty claims of service he's making. If by some chance this tool is in the service....
:D he can be thrown to the UCMJ wolves. :D
 
The check was made out to a guy named Jody Shcumh. It was drawn on the account that Bradley recently closed out, for the amount of $300.
Bradley says that the forged signature looks a lot like his wife's handwriting. The bank says that Bradley will not be held liable for any charges associated with the forged check, and they notify local law enforcement.

You and Bradley separately get email responses back from Jody. Both are inflamatory and offensive. Jody once again implies he's SF, that he's senior to Bradley (making him at least a staff sergeant or higher), and that he's going to "take Bradley's rank" :rolleyes: . He disparages Bradley's MOS, and brags about his own combat experience.

In the email to you, he goes off about how he's not going to take orders from some support guy, and that if you know what's good for you you'll stop bothering him. He says that since he's not in your chain of command, you have no UCMJ authority over him in the first place, and he doesn't have to do what you say. He further makes accusations that Bradley previously engaged in spousal and child abuse, and that's why Mrs. Bradley is with Jody now. The emails are full of grammar, spelling and word usage errors that make them hard to read, and the "logic" of the emails makes them a little hard to follow. But the "fuck you" tone of the emails is pretty hard to misinterpret. It's clear he believes he is untouchable.

1) What course of action do you take now?
2) What do you do about the allegations of spousal/child abuse?
3) Is Bradley correct about the UCMJ authority?

1. Continue to build a paper/electronic trail. Keep the lines of communication open.

2. Nothing. There has been no complaint of any abuse, just unsubstantiated trash talk over the internet, by person(s) unknown, for what appears to be retaliatory purposes.

3. It depends on Jody's status. If he's in the military, it doesn't matter whose chain of command he's in. If he's really in the military, regardless of his rank or MOS, he's in some trouble.
 
1. Keep on keepin on with the original post.
2. Create a paper/electronic file of all correspondence. Multiple reasons - to start UCMJ proceedings, to build a file of abusive communication, conduct unbecoming an NCO, threat by wire, and adultery (jody and wifey)
3. Run a name check on AKO for "Jody Shcumh".
4. Have the bank go after the casher and maker of the check, as it is obviously not Bradley in either case. There are multiple charges that can be filed.
5. Investigate the alleged child/spousal abuse statements - military hospitals keep excellent records. This is to protect Bradley if he is innocent, or to protect his family if he isn't.

This is turning into a huge pile of excrement, and everybody involved is going to start smelling like the sewer in which this was created.
 
You've got a pretty nice file on Jody now, and every day or so he sends another email that adds to it. By now you've stopped responding, which only seems to feed his ego and encourage him to send more messages.

Surprisingly, an AKO check reveals that there are four Soldiers on active duty with the same name as Jody.

But only one of them is stationed at the same post as you. The listing gives Jody's rank as PFC, and his unit as an aviation headquarters unit on your installation. Now that you know his name and unit, what do you do?
 
You've got a pretty nice file on Jody now, and every day or so he sends another email that adds to it. By now you've stopped responding, which only seems to feed his ego and encourage him to send more messages.

Surprisingly, an AKO check reveals that there are four Soldiers on active duty with the same name as Jody.

But only one of them is stationed at the same post as you. The listing gives Jody's rank as PFC, and his unit as an aviation headquarters unit on your installation. Now that you know his name and unit, what do you do?

FRY his ass!
 
Do you do it long distance, or wait until you get home (a couple more weeks to go)?

Depends on what he's actually saying in those emails... Bluster and bluff, or full on threats...

If you're reasonably certain the kids won't come to harm in any way, and Bradley's got his $$ secure, I'd wait till you get home. Better for the kids to have Dad take them from the house and not strangers.

If on the other hand, the kids welfare is suspect, I'd be making absolutely sure they were yanked from the locale and taken to safety. Their safety and welfare are foremost.

Make sure your CYA file is growing with hardcopies; Bradley is getting psychological/legal/social services help - as much as possible over there; lay out a course of action for all party's involved upon arrival home; make sure all i's are dotted and t's crossed as this could hinge on a he said, she said situation.

LL
 
Continue mission, continue with all previous planning.

Get in touch with his commander to have Jody innocuosly kept from any deployment until your imminent return.

Alert CID (due to the fraud issues) to the plan.

Prepare for a huge shitstorm upon your RTB, emotional, UCMJ, and civilian legal.

Keep Bradley informed but out of the loop. Sequester him if needed so that he does not endanger himself, his kids, his ex, and Jody. Get him in touch with JAG to keep him informed of the issues he could create with his career.

The real fun is going to be starting upon RTB.
 
Popcorn ready
popcorn.gif
 
I'm still curious how the brain tumor factors into all of this.


The suspense is killing me.
 
...

The suspense is killing me.

Yeah, I think this thread has dragged on long enough. I'm going to try to wrap it up in the next day or so.

On a side note, there are some pretty insightful people on this board, I've been pretty impressed with some of the suggestions.
 
I see the old age and treachery in Maurader and his cohorts.....?


Remember that much of this thread is based on fiction that I invent on the fly based on responses to this thread and things that pop into my head that make the story better. :D Much of what is written up to this point is accurate, but things are about to get a whole lot more interesting which means that there's going to be more made up stuff coming up.

That said, there really was a guy in my unit whose wife had a brain tumor. We did deploy him, he did find out she was cheating based on the answering machine, the dude did talk shit over email, and we did find out who he was through the forged check and an AKO scrub.

I'll leave it up to you to decide what really did and did not happen in what gets posted in the future.
 
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