Saturday, April 09, 2016

Is US Special Operations Breaking?

I'm just asking the question so save your fire.  I'm the messenger but someone in leather clad chairs sitting in the Pentagon needs to be asking this too.  Check out these high profile incidents that we just got word of.....via Navy Times
A senior enlisted Navy SEAL is facing charges he raped, strangled and kidnapped a female sailor, Navy Times has learned.

Navy officials have refused to release the SEAL's name, although they provided a heavily redacted charge sheet indicating he is a chief special warfare operator assigned to Special Reconnaissance Team Two, Naval Special Warfare Group 10, at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia.

A preliminary court proceeding, known in the military as an Article 32 hearing, was scheduled for Friday and later postponed, said David Todd, a spokesman for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic.

The charges stem from an alleged incident in February 2015, according to the sailor's charge sheet. He is accused of confining the woman against her will at a hotel in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, where he allegedly raped her as many as 12 times, the document says.

He also is charged with aggravated assault, battery and sexual harassment, according to his charge sheet, which indicates the SEAL allegedly strangled the woman, pinned her against a wall in a submission hold and called her a "stupid whore and piece of sh--, or words to that effect." The woman also told authorities she feared being "subjected to grievous bodily harm and kidnapping."

The SEAL denied the rape allegations, according to his charge sheet.

The Navy has not indicated when it will reschedule the SEAL's court date and officials said they would only release the name and rank of the accused if the case is referred to court-martial.
Then this from the Air Force Times.
The Air Force has identified the two airmen killed in Friday's apparent murder-suicide shooting at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

Lt. Col. William A. Schroeder, the commander of the 342nd Training Squadron at the 37th Training Wing at Lackland, and Technical Sgt. Steven D. Bellino, a pararescue student at the 342nd, were found dead by first responders, the 502nd Air Base Wing at Lackland said in a Saturday release.

An Air Force official said that Bellino is believed to be the alleged gunman.

"The 37th Training Wing mourns the loss of our airmen and family members," wing commander Brig. Gen. Trent Edwards said in the release. "Our primary focus at this time is to take care of the family and the men and women who are grieving our losses. A tragedy of this type is felt by each and every member, but we will pull together to help our own."
I think the general public would be surprised and a little alarmed at what happens on the big bases.  They truly are cities unto themselves with a different culture but inhabited by people with the same weaknesses and vices that you see in the regular population.

So while I wouldn't bat an eye to see craziness at Camp Pendleton, Ft. Bragg, Camp Lejeune or Ft Hood, this strikes me as being different.

These are SOCOM troops.  They're touted as being the best of the best.  Yet for some reason these guys are going batshit stupid (I know your pushback...the trainee/student wasn't SOCOM....but he was selected so he passed screening).

Additionally the fact that they're taking so long to deal with the SEAL indicates that he's going to use the stress of back to back deployments as a defense and will probably point to certain missions that pushed him over the edge.

I don't know, its why I asked the question, but I believe that we're seeing the first cracks in SOCOM due to a brutal ops tempo.  I just hope leadership is paying attention.

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