This past April, was discussing the story about the US Army doctor who refused to respond to deployment orders because he was of the opinion that Obama was not a citizen and therefore his presidential orders were not legal.
He questioned President Barack Obama's eligibility to be commander in chief
NBC News and news services
updated 1 hour 1 minute ago 2010-12-16T21:37:49
FORT MEADE, Maryland — An Army doctor who disobeyed orders to deploy to Afghanistan because he questioned President Barack Obama's eligibility to be commander in chief has been sentenced to six months in a military prison and will be dismissed from the Army.
A military jury sentenced Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin on Thursday after three days of court-martial proceedings.
Before sentencing, Lakin had been found guilty of missing a flight that would have gotten him to his eventual deployment.
He also pleaded guilty to disobeying orders to meet with a superior and to report to deploy to Afghanistan.
Besides his sentence, Lakin will pay a potentially heavy financial price.
At 18 years in the Army he was two years short of retirement, which over the course of a lifetime could have added up to an estimated $2 million in retirement pay and benefits, according to NBC News.
In videos posted on YouTube earlier this year, Lakin aligned himself with the so-called "birther" movement, which questions whether Obama is a natural-born citizen as the U.S. Constitution requires for presidents.
Good for him. With a golf clap, I applaud his commitment to his insane opinion and trust that the price he pays sets an example to others of his ilk.
No, insubordination and disobeying orders sinks careers. I doubt he would have been shit-canned if all he did was "identify" with the birther movement. But disobeying an order (because you think the president is a secret kenyan muslim no less) is illegal.
Shrooms: It's interesting that the taste of blood is kind of irony.
spartasman wrote:Geeze, after eighteen years too, that's just a damn shame. But I guess loose lips sink careers.
Yeah, you may not have read the article... Unlike the situations where, say, single parents refuse to deploy because they cannot find someone dependable to care for a child, there is nothing about this particular situation which is remotely worthy of sympathy. The guy is a nut and he now gets to stew in prison for half a year and lose out on service benefits because of his nuttery. I wonder if his attitude changes once it all sinks in. He'll find supporters, to be sure, but so be it.
EDIT:
And, ouch, my first post should have started with, "This past April, the board was discussing the story..."
The dumbest part about this is he would've never been in any real danger himself, he would be safe inside his little FOB 24/7 with the only real work he'd perform is emergency surgeries or administrative work in a hospital.
eion wrote:Shame we couldn't force him to pay for the free medical education we gave him, but glad to see he got more than just dismissal.
I agree its good he was given more than just a dismissal for refusing to follow orders, but I disagree with the thought of forcing him to pay for the medical education. He did serve for 18 years before this, after all.
I didn't say I was sympathizing with the man, just that it's a shame that after eighteen years of service, the dumb bastard up and decides to 'make a stand' and fuck up his whole life. It's his own damn fault, for sure, but I can't help but feel sorry for him.
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
- Samuel Clemens
eion wrote:Shame we couldn't force him to pay for the free medical education we gave him, but glad to see he got more than just dismissal.
I agree its good he was given more than just a dismissal for refusing to follow orders, but I disagree with the thought of forcing him to pay for the medical education. He did serve for 18 years before this, after all.
I'm sure we'd both agree that there are crimes which wipe out any previous good will earned by one's military service. The question then is whether the purposeful refusal of an order to deploy because you hold the Commander in Chief in contempt is one of those.
eion wrote:Shame we couldn't force him to pay for the free medical education we gave him, but glad to see he got more than just dismissal.
I agree its good he was given more than just a dismissal for refusing to follow orders, but I disagree with the thought of forcing him to pay for the medical education. He did serve for 18 years before this, after all.
I'm sure we'd both agree that there are crimes which wipe out any previous good will earned by one's military service. The question then is whether the purposeful refusal of an order to deploy because you hold the Commander in Chief in contempt is one of those.
If we're polling opinions about that, then I really don't think that being a credulous jerk ought to wipe out his eighteen years of (giving him the benefit of the doubt here) devoted service to his country. That he ignored an order to deploy is what has cost him his career, his liberty, and his pension, and I think that that's about right. Clawing back the money Uncle Sam advanced him to become a doctor would, IMHO, be excessive, especially when you consider that they got eighteen years of service out of him.
73% of all statistics are made up, including this one.
I don't know about the states, but here an officer owes something between 7 and 13 years service, depending. So, yeah, I think the US Army got their money's worth.
Shrooms: It's interesting that the taste of blood is kind of irony.
Artemas wrote:I don't know about the states, but here an officer owes something between 7 and 13 years service, depending. So, yeah, I think the US Army got their money's worth.
When I was going through basic officer training -- way back in 1989 -- I would have owed five years of service after military college. (I didn't finish basic officer training, much less attend military college.) This much I'm absolutely clear on. Subsequent to this, I've heard that different careers require different lengths of commitment, most notably for pilots (due to the expense of training them). This last part is something I heard from a former reservist one time, so it doesn't rise to the level of reliability of my first statement.
73% of all statistics are made up, including this one.
It shouldn't. IIRC, military pensions are based on your rank at the time of retirement. Aside from allowing him to reach Lt Col faster, his starting rank really doesn't matter.
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Darth Yoshi wrote:It shouldn't. IIRC, military pensions are based on your rank at the time of retirement. Aside from allowing him to reach Lt Col faster, his starting rank really doesn't matter.
Yeah, all it really means is he's accrued slightly more pay over his career than someone who started out as a butterbar or an O-2.
