All right, made some progress. There was no entry regarding the incident in the barracks Duty NCO Logbook, so that person chose to turn a blind eye. Noted.

I found out who the victim was, and snatched him up. He didn't want to talk, but a scary NCO yelling at him loosened his lips. From him and another witness, I discovered the perpetrator, whose identity made me even more wrathful, as it was one of my fellow Corporals. I'd been angry when I assumed it was just Lances messing with the new guy. To discover that it was someone specifially charged with enforcing the discipline and standards of the Corps, made me even less pleased.

So I went to the senior Flightline NCOs in the barracks, and got told to get bent. Specifically, "Stay in your shop and mind your own business." That's a direct quote. Naturally, they wanted to protect their fellow NCO. So I went right over their heads. Called the SDO (squadron duty officer, on Saturday it was a Staff Sergeant) and also left a message for the SNCOIC for Flighline. He's a former drill instructor and not likely to ignore this. The SNCOIC just took over the shop on Friday, which is good for me, as the old guy is about to retire and is a believer that the Corps has been going downhill ever since they let women in. That old guy would have been all about hushing things up, but the new one should take the matter seriously.

Once the SDO showed up, the Flightline NCOs changed their tune with me, but not to my satisfaction. It went from "There's no problem here" to "Nothing actually happened." I pointed out that I'd talked to the victim and he'd told the story, and then they switched to "This is a problem that should be handled unofficially at the NCO level, with extra duty and other unofficial punishment." The SDO seemed to be buying off on that, but I was not, as it was obvious they were lying. And I want paperwork on this guy. I want him burned bad. He's a disgrace as an NCO.

Incidentally, the Flightliners arguments as to why this wasn't a problem were along two lines. (1) It was concensual- the guy was drunk and didn't resist, and in fact was laughing about it afterwards. (2) Stuff that happens while you're drunk doesn't count.

As to (1), I pointed out that concenting to a crime does not make it somehow not a crime. If you ask me to hit me in the face, and you do, it is not somehow no longer assault. Regarding (2), this argument was so specious I was rendered momentarily unable to respond, as my brain bumped over it like a wheel over a pothole. From day two of boot camp, we get "You're a Marine twenty-four hours a day seven days a week three hundred and sixty-five days a year for the rest of your life" drilled into us. To suggest that crimes perpetrated in a state of drunkeness are somehow not crimes, that the UCMJ stops applying when inebriated, left me breathless. That's the sort of thinking that leads to beating your wife.

I think part of the reason I'm taking this all so seriously is that right now one of my Marines is facing the end of his career for a property crime that did a few hundred dollars of damage. And there's this NCO that (in my understanding, and under my interpretation of the UCMJ) committed indecent assault, assault, maltreatment of a junior, violation of a direct order, and conduct predjudicial to good order and discipline. And they want to hush it all up. Hell no. When the SDO started taking the Flighliners side, I said "Fine, I've got somewhere I wanted to be an hour ago, go ahead and take care of it." But come Monday morning, I'll be talking to the Flightline SNCOIC. And if he doesn't give me satisfaction, you'll see my bootprints in that gunny's high as I go over his head to the Sergeant Major.

So my investiation is essentially complete, and now we're in the realm of politics. And I don't think any of those Flightline meatheads can beat me on that field of battle.

Oh yeah, saved round, to quote someone I was talking to years ago- "Why is it that whenever Marines do something really stupid, they take video?" Because I heard that someone filmed the goings-on. I haven't talked to him yet, because if he knows I know, it'll get deleted. I hope to keep that footage in reserve.

Posted by: Boviate at 08:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 779 words, total size 4 kb.