Case Study: Sun Tzu, III/31

The first email was from his wife. “CALL ME!!!” the subject line shouted at him. The all-caps and exclamation points was uncharacteristic of her. But maybe she found a good deal on that crib she had been looking for. Or she’s ready for lunch. Faith picked up the receiver and was about to dial his wife’s number when another email caught his attention. The subject line read “READ THIS NOW” and was from the DCO. “What’s with everyone using the all-caps?” Faith mused to himself as he hung up the handset and used his mouse to place the cursor over the DCO’s message. Taking a deep breath, and not entirely sure what to expect, he double-clicked the message, opening the message. It read:
 
Dick johnson.. ...

Dick hymen..

Harry Baals..

Lou Zer...

Pat Hiscock...

Richard Cox..
 
Marauder06 said:
The first email was from his wife. “CALL ME!!!” the subject line shouted at him. The all-caps and exclamation points was uncharacteristic of her. But maybe she found a good deal on that crib she had been looking for. Or she’s ready for lunch. Faith picked up the receiver and was about to dial his wife’s number when another email caught his attention. The subject line read “READ THIS NOW” and was from the DCO. “What’s with everyone using the all-caps?” Faith mused to himself as he hung up the handset and used his mouse to place the cursor over the DCO’s message. Taking a deep breath, and not entirely sure what to expect, he double-clicked the message, opening the message. It read:
Click to expand...
m6 SUCKS, AND IS HEADED TO DIVISION.
 
...used his mouse to place the cursor over the DCO’s message. Taking a deep breath, and not entirely sure what to expect, he double-clicked the message, opening the message. It read:
Click to expand...

Mara is lazy and won't write more than a paragraph at a time, he needs to be shot in the foot by his NCOs, OH, yeah, he ain't got none....
 
CPT Faith-
I received your message about the investigation results. Chief Michaels came by earlier and filled me in on the details. I’m on my way over to talk to the Division G2 actual, we’ll talk more when I get back. In the meantime, I want you to make note of the following:

-You are commander of the MID, effective today at 1600 hours.

-Everyone in the SCIF now works for you, whether they were S2 or MID before.

-Orders reflecting the above are forthcoming, and will be available in the Group S1’s office at 1630 hours today. The Group Commander is meeting with MAJ Dudley tonight at 1700 to give him similar instructions.

-You are now responsible for everything that happens, or fails to happen, in the SCIF.

-For the good of the Group, you will find a way to work with MAJ Dudley, or I will get rid of both of you. This petty bullshit has got to come to an end.

-Come see me tomorrow morning after PT.

[signed] DCO
Click to expand...
 
Never, ever, ignore your wife's all-cap subject line e-mail. Always read them first. Convincing yourself that she wants to tell you about the sales that day is a death wish.

Confucius say, "Man who ignore wife during day get no piece at night."
 
CPT Mrs CPT Faith is an Intel Goddess and knower of things arcane in her own right.... and may have good raw data on things transpired at levels above or lateral to the young CPT Mr CPT Faith and might be germane to the dealings into which he is about to wander so semi blindly, or wholly blindly should he not heed the warnings of she who must be listened to...

(Wow, I should have been an Intel guy, that's as clear as most of the Intel briefings I've ever gotten, and mostly in the English subjunctive... SWEET! Mara, got a job for me?)
 
The 2 is being fired, moved to Division.

Cpt F needs to make shit happen or he will be in Division working for the dud.

S2/Mid needs to see a rash of PCS/PCA/ETS/Retirements.
 
digrar said:
So I've stopped myself from opening this thread for months now, thinking I'll get it all done in one hit and here we are and it looks like we're still in the first act... Bugger.
Click to expand...

Mara's writing it sans NCO 'help'... 'nuff said... except you is lucky that he done got through Act I in 3 months alone and intelligencenessed and non NCO'd n ossiferlike studentness an all....
 
Faith leaned back in his chair. This unexpected twist came at just the right time, and really strengthened his hand in terms of both doing what needed to be done down in the SCIF, and fending off The Dud. The question was how best to make use of it.
 
Faith had no sooner finished this thought than The Dud himself walked into the room. His arrival coincided with an email alert that Faith had received yet another message from his wife. That one would have to wait, too.

Still leaning back in his chair, Faith looked at The Dud. “What can I do for you, sir?” he inquired casually.

The Dud was all business. “First of all, you can get to your feet and stand at the position of attention when addressing a field grade officer,” he snapped. Faith signed inwardly and mentally rolled his eyes, but complied. He took his time doing so, however, which clearly irked The Dud.

“Sign this,” The Dud demanded, shoving a document towards Faith.

Faith looked at it. “What is this?” he asked, almost rhetorically. Faith knew what it was. He had seen dozens, scores probably, since his platoon leader days and more recently his time as a company commander. It was a DA Form 4856, more commonly known as a “counseling statement.” The statement had one short paragraph that had been handwritten, and another, longer paragraph that had been typed. There were places highlighted where Faith was expected to initial or sign.
 
The first paragraph was clumsily written in what Faith recognized immediately as The Dud’s chickenscratch handwriting. Faith could barely make out what it said, but it was clear that The Dud was trying to pin the whole safe debacle on Faith. It also characterized Faith’s time inside the SCIF as a “security breach” and took Faith to task for “playing fast and loose with security regulations,” “jeopardizing national security,” insubordination, and “acting in a manner inconsistent with his status as an officer and a gentleman.” Faith felt his face turn red, and that familiar rage creep through his body. He welcomed it. He felt a surge of adrenalin tingle its way down his arms and legs. His eyes glanced inadvertently at the “industrial-sized” scissors he had earlier used to destroy the classified CDs and disks.

Then the phone on Faith’s desk rang, startling both men. It rang again, and Faith noticed that it was his wife’s office number. “Not now,” he thought as he irritably jabbed a button that sent the call straight to his voicemail.
 
The interruption of the phone call shook Faith out of his rage. He felt immediately and completely calm, without knowing completely why. The situation was so absurd that he actually laughed out loud. I mean, what was he about to do, stab The Dud in the eye with those scissors? “Hm, they might actually give me a medal for that,” he mused. The thought made him laugh again. Without waiting for permission from The Dud, Faith sat down in his chair, leaned back and continued to read.

The second paragraph of the counseling statement was clearly “stock footage” for counseling statements issued in the Group S2 shop. Faith recognized it as what his first platoon sergeant called the “magic bullet” UCMJ statement. Basically, this paragraph was a catch-all, “screw up anything at all and you’re out of here” statement. Faith had used a similar, albeit much more concise, paragraph himself when giving his troops negative counseling statements. The “magic bullet” read thus:

I am counseling you for the conduct noted above. If this conduct continues, action up to and including trial by courts-martial may be initiated to separate you from the Army IAW AR 635-200. If you are involuntary separated, you could receive an Honorable Discharge, a General (Under Honorable Conditions) Discharge, or Under Other Than Honorable Conditions Discharge.

An Honorable Discharge is a separation with honor based on the quality of service, which meets the standards of acceptable conduct and performance of duty. A General Discharge is a separation under honorable conditions, based on a military record being satisfactory but not sufficiently meritorious to warrant an Honorable Discharge. A discharge Under Other Than Honorable Conditions is based upon a pattern of behavior of one or more acts or omissions that constitutes a significant departure from the conduct expected of a soldier.

An Honorable Discharge may be awarded under any provisions. A General Discharge may be awarded for separation under Chapter 5, Chapter 9, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14. An Under Other Than Honorable Conditions Discharge may be awarded for separation under Chapter 14 for misconduct. If you receive an Honorable Discharge, you will be qualified for most benefits resulting from military service. An involuntary honorable Discharge, however, will disqualify you from reenlistment for some period of time and may disqualify you from receiving transitional benefits (e.g., commissary, housing, health benefits) and the Montgomery GI Bill/ 9/11 GI Bill if you have not met other program requirements.

If you receive a General Discharge, you will be disqualified from reenlisting in the service for some period of time and you will be ineligible for some military and VA administered benefits, including the Montgomery GI Bill/ 9/11 GI Bill. If you receive a discharge Under Other Than Honorable Conditions, you will be ineligible for reenlistment and for most benefits, including payments of accrued leave, transitional benefits, the Montgomery GI Bill, 9/11 GI Bill, and possibly transportation of dependents and household goods to home.

You may also face difficulty in obtaining civilian employment as employers have a low regard for General and Under Other Than Honorable conditions discharges. Although there are agencies to which you may apply to have your characterization of service changed, it is unlikely that such application will be successful. _______ (Soldier's initials)
Click to expand...

/////

link to blank DA 4856 so you know what one looks like
 
Faith had to admit that he was impressed. The statement was well-done; for anyone who didn’t know the true facts of the case, this counseling statement was a slam-dunk. There was just enough truth in the allegations that they were not outright lies. But at the same time, they were not true enough that they would stand up to close scrutiny, either. Faith posited that The Dud probably just wanted to have enough on paper to keep Faith in line, and to use against him later if the opportunity arose. Faith looked at his watch. This whole counseling statement thing was going to be moot in about… 12 minutes anyway, because at 1600 Faith is going to be the MID commander, and out of The Dud’s organization chart. Faith knew he was going to have to make a decision about how to handle this situation.
 
Marauder06 said:
Faith had to admit that he was impressed. The statement was well-done; for anyone who didn’t know the true facts of the case, this counseling statement was a slam-dunk. There was just enough truth in the allegations that they were not outright lies. But at the same time, they were not true enough that they would stand up to close scrutiny, either. Faith posited that The Dud probably just wanted to have enough on paper to keep Faith in line, and to use against him later if the opportunity arose. Faith looked at his watch. This whole counseling statement thing was going to be moot in about… 12 minutes anyway, because at 1600 Faith is going to be the MID commander, and out of The Dud’s organization chart. Faith knew he was going to have to make a decision about how to handle this situation.
Click to expand...
Don't sign, he gets to see a Lawyer and also gets a chance to provide written rebuttal.
 

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