U.S. Officer jailed for joining French Foreign Legion

By Curt Hopkins on November 22, 2012

comments from this man man https://twitter.com/epelboin notice the nyan cat background. Is this man's opinion really news worthy and credible.

.......Realizing that this is getting out of hand. I'm shutting up for now and going back to my lurker cave.









*Three threads merged.
 
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France under Sarkozy was not much of an ally. However, the Hollande administration was one of the U.S.' only backers when proposing strikes against Syria, and even know they are conducting air strikes and ground raids against ISIS. This notion that France is not an ally is outdated.
 
We debated this ad nauseum on another site that a few of us are members on.

He went UA, you kind of have to capture deserters. If this is about deterrence there have been a few dudes that refused deployment because they thought the president was a foreign national, none of them went to jail for failing to uphold the oath they swore.

Bergdahl being my biggest beef, a deserter that we exchanged not only Taliban prisoners but a relatively significant amount of blood and treasure during the subsequent search.

We say what we want about Franks in that being at the top of his class he could have done whatever he wanted. Yep, that's true, but sometimes you still get screwed. However, that's not my point. He may have really wanted that job. No one has addressed the mental health aspect that he's brought up, and here at Bliss every Soldier that has gotten here in the last 36 months has gone through ASIST during in-processing. There have been three suicides in my brigade in the last 18 months that I know of. One was the previous SGM in by SQDN, I wasn't here at the time. But everyone who knew him said there were no signs. Not everyone shows signs, having been there.

Based on the fact that you cannot upgrade a standard once it has been degraded, because someone else isn't going to get theirs I tell you. While I was stationed at Knox we had a guy that Ft Hood sent to us who'd been AWOL for 7 years from 3/1 ID. In-processed him, and chaptered eventually after I'd left. But he drew a check for at least three months. I definitely think a dismissal from the service (read dishonorable/other than honorable discharge for officers) + a giant fine would have been the correct thing. Now we have to feed and cloth the dude for a possible four years.
 
My biggest problems with this guy or anybody that goes UA... 1. they place others in danger by their need for self protection 2. they are dishonorable individuals 3. they are ethically and morally crippled for breaking oaths to the guys who are directly depending on them and the citizens of their country.

My issue with this guy is that he was in the top 10% of his class at USMA and chose his branch, one of the toughest to get as a WP grad... with his class standing, if he wanted Infantry, he would have gotten it. I am not sure if he did BAC and Ranger in his 3rd year Summer, but if he did... Why the choices made after that?

and I call bullshit that officers are held to a higher moral and ethical standard then enlisted men... What gets an enlisted man generally sent to Leavenworth or Chaptered, might delay an Officer's promotion if he has a well placed rabbi in the ranks.. take a look at the plethora of shithead 05 and above whose true biographies come out after their protectors lose power.... Not that all Officers are morally/ethically bankrupt, nor are all enlisted men angels or devils... but there are built in protections for officers, especially for Academy grads (sorry Viper, Teufel, et. al.)....

This guy, as one of what is supposed to be the best of the best Officers, to desert his post in time of conflict to join another country's military is a blatant pissing on his oath as an officer in the US Army. If he were buried 30 ft below the deepest basement at the USMA for the rest of his life, it would be a fitting punishment for defrauding the taxpayers for an outstanding education, a guaranteed career, prestige, and all for his own selfish reasons.... Fuck him, the maximum effective range of an excuse is ZERO meters, he is supposed to be a leader and an example chosen by the leadership of this country to attend a Service Academy. Why apologize or excuse him in any way. Shun, ostracize, regale, shame and debase him for his actions, nothing he did fits the motto "Duty, Honor, Country". Again, Fuck him and those that would excuse him, he chose to accept a nomination to a service academy, chose to accept a commission as an officer, chose his branch, and then chose to turn his back on his obligations. dishonorably discharge him, bill him for all of the education, hassle, and expense of having to re-billet his position, and then deport him to France, broke and shamed, as a former member of the LEdF, he can get citizenship there.
 
EAL92 said:
I think the Lieutenant has some balls for doing what he did and he probably served with honor, however he still left his unit and country during a time of war and broke his oath as a serviceman.
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When you say he broke his oath as a serviceman, you're actually defining a dishonorable man. I submit to you that it is impossible serve honorably, as you suggest, with that betrayal as a foundation.

Oh yeah....Fuck France.

And Pakistan.
 
Deathy McDeath said:
France under Sarkozy was not much of an ally. However, the Hollande administration was one of the U.S.' only backers when proposing strikes against Syria, and even know they are conducting air strikes and ground raids against ISIS. This notion that France is not an ally is outdated.
Click to expand...
Legally, France isn't an ally. They may or may not be part of nATO, so that would make them a treaty partner.
France assists when it helps them, and gives minimal assistance when required (PR purposes).
They will actively undermine our military actions if they want (Bosnia and Kosovo come to mind).
I feel no sympathy for this officer, he can finish his commitment in KS; wonder what the punishment for desrtion from the FFL is?
 
SOWT said:
Legally, France isn't an ally. They may or may not be part of nATO, so that would make them a treaty partner.
France assists when it helps them, and gives minimal assistance when required (PR purposes).
They will actively undermine our military actions if they want (Bosnia and Kosovo come to mind).
I feel no sympathy for this officer, he can finish his commitment in KS; wonder what the punishment for desrtion from the FFL is?
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IIRC it's something like 30 days in jail then continue with your contract as normal. Desertion is not uncommon, that's one reason you have your identity stripped when you join them.
 
Deathy McDeath said:
France under Sarkozy was not much of an ally. However, the Hollande administration was one of the U.S.' only backers when proposing strikes against Syria, and even know they are conducting air strikes and ground raids against ISIS. This notion that France is not an ally is outdated.
Click to expand...

Maybe at higher levels, but I know of some instances where French pilots refused to provide CAS to our guys on the ground. By and large their ground forces have taken the fight to the TB here in Afghanistan, but other elements have acted like children. The wholesale "cheese eating surrender monkeys" thing isn't fair, but I also consider them to be like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates.

Still better than the Polish though.
 
Etype said:
First off, I appreciate your response, that being said-
Disrespectful to their dead? The 10,000 they lost in the Revolutionary War? That was the last time they helped us. Of the 416,000 we lost in WWII, a good portion of those were lost in France fighting an enemy they couldn't even begin to confront. Any involvement they had in Iraq or Afghanistan has been minimal/non-committal. In all seriousness, we probably would have been much better off without the French, Germans, Italians, and Emirates and their "combat tourism."
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The French lost 88 people in Afghanistan. Just because you don't read about them every day does not mean they are not actively fighting the GWOT. They are more heavily active in Mali, but were also active in Afghanistan until 2012. Yes, they did not support the war in Iraq but we're supportive of the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
 
Because Desertion and Treason tend to be what we call capital crimes, and if the the DoD wants either Justice or Deterrence or both then they should not degrade the standard. In my eyes they tend to float in the same realm.
 
ThunderHorse said:
Because Desertion and Treason tend to be what we call capital crimes, and if the the DoD wants either Justice or Deterrence or both then they should not degrade the standard. In my eyes they tend to float in the same realm.
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So the NSW guys are guilty of treason now? That seems like quite the stretch. An NDA violation does not equate to treason.
 
SOTGWarrior said:
The French lost 88 people in Afghanistan. Just because you don't read about them every day does not mean they are not actively fighting the GWOT. They are more heavily active in Mali, but were also active in Afghanistan until 2012. Yes, they did not support the war in Iraq but we're supportive of the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
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I am aware. Even Georgia, who has enough to worry about in their own country, has lost troops in Afghanistan.

The UK and Australia have made a splash in Afghanistan, I don't think anyone would disagree with that. Every other country's worth is a topic for argument.
 
The contribution of our allies is O/T, but the countries in NATO/OTAN that didn't pull their weight were not UK/AUS/NZ/FR/NED/DEN...look at the size of their forces versus others and then do the math.
 
pardus said:
IIRC it's something like 30 days in jail then continue with your contract as normal. Desertion is not uncommon, that's one reason you have your identity stripped when you join them.
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Right, they get almost no leave IIRC, so quite a few go over the hill.
 

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