Recruitment campaign cost $2.6 million...and the Guardsman in poster

Scots Guardsman quits army over controversial ‘snow flakes’ recruitment poster

News.com Australia
January 8, 2019

A guardsman says he is planning to quit the army after his picture was used in a controversial $2.6 million ad campaign.

A Scots Guardsman says he is planning to quit the army after his picture was used below the words “snow flake” in a controversial ad campaign.

Stephen McWhirter, 28, slammed the army advertisement posters and told colleagues he was not told his photo would be used in this way.

According to friends, the guardsman, based at Wellington Barracks in Westminster, has been inundated with mocking messages and left open to ridicule, the Daily Mail reported.

The soldier expressed his fury on Facebook while speaking to other troops about the £1.5 million ($A2.68 million) campaign.

One soldier wrote: “Imagine the army taking a photo of you and writing “snow flake” in massive letters above your head. I’d be signed straight off.”

Guardsman McWhirter responded: “Don’t f***ing worry mate, I am.” He added that he would formally submit his resignation as soon as he could.
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Why any of them would want to serve at all?

Military cannot meet recruitment goals, or keep promises

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 24, 2018

"Army struggles with soldier shortage as recruiters miss goals" is the headline on the Gazette by Tom Roeder that came out late last night.

The problem is, the rest of the story was not mentioned. So, let's take a look at what was not printed.

"Combined with other bonus programs, a new recruit could pocket more than $40,000 in addition to their pay with recruiting deals."

Considering the "deal" of additional money was promised, so were a lot of other things promised. 

For starters, the GI Bill, which left thousands with unpaid tuition, housing and funds to live off of putting many into the homeless veterans world of pain. 

"The Army had a goal for 2018 to add 76,500 soldiers to its ranks, and came up with just 69,972."

Well, sure it is easy to blame the economy for the shortage of those willing to serve, but when there were almost 70,000 willing to put their lives on the line, in a "hot economy" that proves to be false reasoning.

Troops are still being deployed into two nations over a decade after they were started. They are deployed into different parts of the world, taking them away from their families and friends. 

As for families, many are on food stamps, lack safe housing and face no accountability or even concern, so they are forced to sue the government. What makes it worse is when the same government pays landlords to provide housing with mold and mice. The reports came out about the Marines, Air Force and other military families, but when you look back, you see it happened in every branch.

"The Defense Department said this month that the National Guard saw a recruiting shortfall of more than 9,700 troops and the Army Reserve fell short of its recruiting goals by more than 4,200 troops."

See all of the above for them, but add in how they are taken away from their homes and jobs to be sent to the boarder without a clear mission or timeline.

Add in how many have had to come up with funds to pay the government back because the government messed up and over paid them.

These men and women are great at keeping their promises, but they are not kept from the government.

The question is, not why they cannot meet recruitment goals, but why any of them would want to serve at all?

Marine Recruit Missing--Marines Not Looking For Him?

Marine who recruited missing Winthrop man is in military custody
THE BOSTON GLOBE
By Danny McDonald GLOBE STAFF
FEBRUARY 09, 2018

Authorities searched woods near Turtle Pond in the Stony Brook Reservation in Hyde Park for Brancato last month. Family members continue to comb the reservation every weekend for Brancato, said Brancato Walke. “Why aren’t the Marines doing something, that’s what I’d like to know,” said Brancato Walke. “Why haven’t they stepped up?”

A Marine gunnery sergeant who recruited a 21-year-old Winthrop man who has been missing since mid-November is in military custody, according to a Navy official.

Frank Lipka was the sole recruiter at the Roslindale office where Marine recruit Joseph Brancato was processed, said Ed Buice, a spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, in an e-mail.

Brancato was last seen on Nov. 18 in Roslindale’s Mendelssohn Street area, where he was living and training with Lipka in the hopes of passing the physical tests necessary to become a Marine, said Brancato’s aunt, Andrea Brancato Walke.
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FBI Investigating Pipe Bomb Explosion at Air Force Recruiting Center

UPDATE

Man charged in explosion at Air Force recruiting office in Oklahoma

"He had served as a senior airman in the military but was disciplined and resigned, she said. He tried to enlist in the Marines but was turned down, she said.

"He believed it was the Air Force that was keeping him from being a member of the Marines," she said.

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Person of interest identified in connection with explosion at Bixby USAF recruiting center
KRJH NBC News
Jul 11, 2017

BIXBY, Okla. (AP) -- The FBI says a pipe bomb explosion that damaged an Air Force recruiting station in northeast Oklahoma is not being called an act of domestic terrorism.

An FBI spokesperson said a man has been taken into custody at the Sand Dollar Apartments near 61st and Riverside in Tulsa in connection with the explosion. That man was identified as Benjamin Roden, 28.

Roden was arrested at 3 p.m. by officers with the Tulsa Police Department.

Special Agent Jessi Rice said Tuesday that the blast in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby is not being called terrorism because investigators have not determined a motive.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had said earlier that agents were treating the late Monday explosion as a possible act of domestic terrorism out of "an abundance of caution," because of its proximity to the recruiting office.
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Chattanooga Families Still Wait For Terrorism Decision

Tenn. attack still not called terrorism; indecision affects benefits to families 
The Washington Post
By Dan Lamothe
Published: December 5, 2015

Military officials have proactively prepared Purple Heart nomination packages for the troops involved, said Maj. Rob Dolan, a Marine Corps spokesman in Quantico, Virginia. But the awards are still in limbo while the investigation remains open.

A memorial stands outside of the Armed Forces Recruiting Center Chattanooga on Aug. 13, 2015.
JUSTIN WOLPERT/U.S. NAVY

WASHINGTON — More than five months after attacks on two military facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn., left four Marines and a sailor dead, federal investigators still have not determined whether the attack was terrorism - and it's financially costing the families of those who died, as Purple Heart awards hang in the balance.

The July 16 attack killed Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, 40; Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, 35; Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist; Lance Cpl. Squire D. "Skip" Wells, 21; and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, 26. Other service members and a Chattanooga police officer also were wounded by Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, a naturalized U.S. citizen, who was born in Kuwait.

The attack was carried out at the Chattanooga Naval Reserve Center and a recruiting station a few miles away. read more here

Marine Recruiting Center Not Part of Shooting

Officials identify gunman in Davenport, Bettendorf active shooter incident, offer motive
KWQC Staff
UPDATE: 10/27/15

A witness tells TV-6 that he was in the Marine recruiting center when he heard shots fired at a nearby law office. He says he heard screaming and then heard the gunman try to reload his gun. A Marine recruiter told everyone to run. As the witness was running, he said he heard more gunfire. Kimberly Rd. was closed, but has since reopened to traffic.

Officials in Bettendorf have released the identity of the suspect involved in the active shooting incidents in Davenport and Bettendorf on Monday, as 40-year-old Robert L. Mayes II, of Coal Valley, Ill. Mayes died at the scene as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Officials go on to say that the locations where the shootings happened were related to an ongoing domestic issue with Mayes and his estranged wife. The motive for going to both locations was that he was looking for his wife at the Davenport location where she is employed and another male at the Bettendorf location where he is employed.
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Puerto Rico National Guards Scandal Probe 7 Years of Kickbacks

Army recruiting scandal nets new indictments as long probe of kickbacks continues
Washington Post
By Lisa Rein
October 23, 2015

These fraudulent bounties were collected for seven years by recruiters and “recruiters assistants” for the Puerto Rico National Guard.

The scheme was as simple as the system was porous.

Army National Guard soldiers signed up as assistants to help recruiters, getting paid a referral fee each time someone enlisted and another bonus if they went to basic training. If someone joined as an officer, the payment jumped as high as $8,500.

But the assistants didn’t wait that long. According to federal court documents, they simply entered the potential recruit’s name, date of birth and Social Security number into an online account, then told the company under contract with the National Guard that they had signed up another soldier when they had not. When the bonuses was wired to their bank account, they gave half the money to the recruiters, who were barred from getting payments themselves.
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Marine Recruiter's Home Hit By Bullets in Drive-by

Police: Someone shot at Marine’s home in Lancaster County
ABC 27 News
By Ed Albert and Mark Hall
Published: August 12, 201

MOUNTVILLE, Pa. (WHTM) – Police in Lancaster County say someone targeted a Marine recruiter’s home in a drive-by shooting Wednesday morning.

Shell casings were found in the driveway and bullets were found in the living room.

It happened on West Main Street in Mountville.

“My husband and I were already in bed and I thought we heard fireworks,” neighbor Denise Peters said. “We got up and saw the bullet holes.”
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Florida Late on "Armed Citizens" at Recruitment Centers, Opps!

Last week we read this

Marine recruiters told to call the cops if armed citizens show up
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck, Staff writer
July 23, 2015

Marines were also instructed to call the relevant Army Corps of Engineers representative to notify the lessor of the recruiting office property of the presence of the armed individuals.

After four Marines and a sailor were killed by a lone gunman last week, armed civilians have volunteered to stand guard at military recruiting stations around the country — but troops are being warned to keep their distance and alert law enforcement of their presence.

In a memo published Tuesday that was obtained by Marine Corps Times, Lt. Gen. Mark Brilakis, the head of Marine Corps Recruiting Command, advised troops not to support the "armed citizen" volunteers in any way.

"These citizens' presence, while well intentioned, will be counterproductive to our recruiting operations," Brilakis wrote.
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It seems that my state of Florida didn't get the memo!

Florida to speed concealed weapons licenses to veterans
FLORIDA TODAY
R. Norman Moody
July 27, 2015

The Florida move to expedite the process for military and veterans comes amid debates about how best to protect recruiting stations, many of them in shopping center storefronts, and reports of armed citizens showing up at recruiting stations.

Amid reports of armed citizens standing guard at military recruiting stations and recommendations on how best to protect military personnel, Florida officials announced today that they will expedite concealed weapons permits for active duty military and veterans.

The move comes on the heels of the murder of five military members in Chattanooga, Tennessee earlier this month.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs said its goal is to issue licenses to qualified active military and veterans within 30 days, a third of the time allotted by law.

“The men and women who serve and have served our country deserve all of the support we can provide,” Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam said. “We are pleased to expedite active military members and veterans’ applications for a concealed weapon license, and our partnership with tax collectors throughout the state will make this process even more convenient.”
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Opps!

Vietnam Veteran Arrested at Recruiting Office

Vietnam Veteran arrested for showing weapon at recruitment office
My FOX Atlanta
By George Franco, FOX 5 Reporter
Posted: Jul 24, 2015

CONYERS, Ga. - Police said 72-year-old Vietnam Veteran Harry Tracey was arrested after they said recruiters allowed him entry into a Conyers army recruiting office Thursday morning.

The police report said Tracey showed a weapon under his waistband and asked a recruiter if "he felt safe, if he was armed and if he could protect himself against an attack like the one that happened in Chattanooga."

No one was at the recruitment office when FOX 5’s George Franco paid a visit, but retired Army Major Thomas Brown said recruiters have a specific purpose.

"Their main reason is to recruit soldiers, airmen or whatever. They're not in a defensive mode. When somebody challenges that, they got to pay the consequences," said Brown

Police said Tracey was arrested outside the Dollar Tree store nearby after he left the recruitment office unhappy with the soldier’s response.

The police report states Tracey admitted bringing his handgun to "keep the guys on their toes" and "keep them aware of their surroundings.” He was jailed on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon into a government building.
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Marines: Thanks But No Thanks to Armed Civilians

Marine recruiters told to call the cops if armed citizens show up
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck, Staff writer
July 23, 2015

Marines were also instructed to call the relevant Army Corps of Engineers representative to notify the lessor of the recruiting office property of the presence of the armed individuals.

After four Marines and a sailor were killed by a lone gunman last week, armed civilians have volunteered to stand guard at military recruiting stations around the country — but troops are being warned to keep their distance and alert law enforcement of their presence.

In a memo published Tuesday that was obtained by Marine Corps Times, Lt. Gen. Mark Brilakis, the head of Marine Corps Recruiting Command, advised troops not to support the "armed citizen" volunteers in any way.

"These citizens' presence, while well intentioned, will be counterproductive to our recruiting operations," Brilakis wrote.

Maj. Garron Garn, a spokesman for MCRC, confirmed the authenticity of the memo.
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Marine recruiter shot in Chattanooga is back at work
Marine Corps Times
By James K. Sanborn, Staff writer
July 23, 2015

At first, Marine recruiter Sgt. DeMonte Cheeley thought a firecracker had gone off. But after a short pause, multiple bullets fragmented the front windows of his recruiting office in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and it became apparent that his office was under deadly attack.

The motor transport operator who had been on recruiting duty for just a month and a half when Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez opened fire at about 10:45 a.m. on July 16. Cheeley, one of six troops shot that day, was sitting on a couch near the front of his office.

“From the position I was in, I could see him, but I didn’t look directly out the door,” he said. “The immediate response was to get up and head towards the back office. After the first initial shot there the rounds were continuous.”
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"One of the largest criminal investigations in the history of the Army"

Recruiting fraud, kickback scandal rocks Army
Soldiers received bonuses for persuading friends to sign up during Iraq, Afghanistan wars.
USA Today
Tom Vanden Brook
February 3, 2014

WASHINGTON — More than 800 soldiers are under criminal investigation for gaming a National Guard program that paid hundreds of millions in bonuses to soldiers who persuaded friends to sign up during the darkest years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, USA TODAY has learned.

Fraudulent payments total in the "tens of millions"; one soldier allegedly pocketed $275,000 in illegal kickbacks, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY. At least four others made more than $100,000 each.

"This is discouraging and depressing," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said in an interview. "Clearly, we're talking about one of the largest criminal investigations in the history of the Army."

McCaskill has scheduled a hearing Tuesday on the scandal before a panel she chairs on financial and contractor oversight. She has called top Army officials to testify. The Army declined to comment on the hearing or the investigations, said George Wright, an Army spokesman.

The Army National Guard launched the Recruiting Assistance Program in 2005 to bolster its ranks, which had thinned during the wars. It was later expanded to the the Army Reserve and active-duty Army. In essence, it paid soldiers for referrals of recruits. After audits turned up evidence of potential fraud, the program was canceled in 2012.
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Marine dropped 147 pounds to do "something bigger"

Pascagoula man goes from 338 pounds to 191 to become a Marine
Sun Herald
BY PATRICK OCHS
January 11, 2014

OCEAN SPRINGS -- E.J. Nunez wasn't always among the few, but the Pascagoula resident is now on the verge of becoming one of the proud -- the Marines.

Almost two years ago, Nunez decided he wanted to "be one of the best," so he picked up the phone and called his local U.S. Marine Corps recruitment office. After checking off various requirements, the recruiter asked Nunez about his weight.

The 18-year-old gulped. Always a heavy kid, Nunez crushed the scales at 338 pounds.

The recruiter told him he should probably consider a different career path.

Nunez took the conversation as a challenge, and Monday he is scheduled to ship out to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, S.C., as an athletic 191-pound 20-year-old well on his way to achieving his goal.

"I just wanted to do something bigger than myself," he said. "I wanted to prove that I could do it. When I called the recruiter, he told me I was disqualified and it just kind of … I don't really know. I just knew I had to do this."
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Linked from Military.com

Soldier's future held hostage over $1,000 bill on home

Short sale puts Iraq veteran in credit bind
With a buyer found, a company is demanding $1,000 to release the title to his house.
Tulsa World News
Cary Aspinwall
Staff Writer
January 13, 2014

Sgt. Eduardo Marquez wants to complete the short sale of his former home in Kiefer and move on with his life, preserving what he can of his finances and credit score.

Marquez, an Iraq war veteran who's currently working as a recruiter for the U.S. Army in Utah, fell behind on his mortgage in Oklahoma after an attempt at a loan modification did not work out.

He was dealing with a divorce and a job transfer, so he decided a short sale was his best option. A short sale means the property is sold for less than the total debt owed on it.

A company called Rescue Team Realty, with several offices in the Tulsa area, mailed him an advertisement once his mortgage servicer began foreclosure proceedings in Creek County court. They offered to help negotiate the short sale of Marquez's home in the summer of 2012, and had him sign documents transferring his title to their trustees as part of the agreement, records show.

Marquez was told he would not be charged anything by Rescue Team, and they would earn commission from the short sale of his home, he said. But Rescue Team's first attempt at a short sale was unsuccessful, Marquez said.
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Marine Recruiter Accused of Faking Attack and Starting Fires

Marine recruiter accused of starting fire at Bismarck recruiting station
Bismarck Tribune
By Jenny Michael
January 8, 2014

A U.S. Marine Corps recruiter has been accused of starting seven small fires in the recruiting station from which he works and of fabricating a story about the incident.

Anthony DeGroot, 29, was charged Wednesday with Class B felony arson and Class A misdemeanor false information to law enforcement.

South Central District Judge Bruce Haskell set bond for DeGroot at 10 percent of $5,000 cash, which means DeGroot must post $500 to be released but could be made to repay the entire amount if he is found to have violated conditions on his bond.

According to an affidavit from Bismarck Police detective Dean Clarkson, a man called 911 at 6:59 p.m. Dec. 26 to report seeing smoke at the Armed Services Recruiting Office, 240 W. Front Ave., and seeing a man, later identified as DeGroot, exit the building with duct tape around his face and wrist and lay down on the ground. The man said he had seen lights go out in what was the Marine side of the building before “DeGroot exited the building in a calm manner,” Clarkson wrote.

Responding officers took DeGroot to a safer location and cut off the duct tape. DeGroot was not responsive, so officers began CPR until DeGroot became responsive.

The affidavit said DeGroot is a Marine recruiter working from the office on Front Avenue. In court on Wednesday, DeGroot said he has been in the Marine Corps for 10 years and is a staff sergeant.
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National Guardsmen wounded by one of their own

UPDATE October 30, 2013

US soldier indicted in shooting at recruiting center Chicago — A US soldier who opened fire at a Tennessee recruiting center after being reprimanded for misconduct was indicted on attempted murder charges, court records showed Wednesday.

Guardsman shoots two soldiers at Tenn. Navy base
Gunman, also a member of the Guard, in custody after injuring two
The Associated Press
By Adrian Sains
Oct. 24, 2013

A member of the National Guard opened fire at an armory outside a U.S. Navy base in Tennessee, wounding two soldiers before being subdued and disarmed by others soldiers, officials said Thursday.

Millington Police Chief Rita Stanback said the shooter was apprehended Thursday by other National Guard members, and that he did not have the small handgun used in the shooting in his possession by the time officers arrived.

Stanback said two National Guard members were shot, one in the foot and one in the leg.

“I’m sure there could have been more injury if they hadn’t taken him into custody,” Stanback said.

Maj. Gen. Max Haston, Tennessee’s adjutant general, said at a news conference that the victims were being treated at a local hospital and he expected them to be released.

Authorities haven’t released the name of the shooter or the victims. But Haston said all three of the men were recruiters and that the shooter was a sergeant first class who had been in the Guard about six or seven years and that the victims — one a major and the other a sergeant major — were his superiors.
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Oregon National Guardsman, Iraq veteran, killed in plane crash

Iraq War veteran killed when experimental plane crashes in Oregon
Examiner.com
Susy Raybon
September 12, 2013

Longtime Oregon National Guard Recruiter, Murray Crowe, 47, died doing what he loved; flying his experimental Challenger II aircraft.

Sergeant First Class Crowe’s plane crashed late Sunday morning near the Prineville Airport in Oregon. His identity was released this morning in a local publication The Bulletin.

In 1984, Murray Crowe joined the Army and, among other assignments,went on to serve two back-to-back tours in Iraq, first in 2010 and then again in 2011.
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A murder-suicide and the dark side of military recruiting

A murder-suicide and the dark side of military recruiting
MSNBC News
Suzy Khimm
06/21/2013

To her parents, Michelle Miller was a devoted daughter, a fierce lacrosse player, and a driven high school senior who dreamed of becoming an Army psychologist.

To the Army recruiter who ended her life, she was just “Babyface.”

Staff Sgt. Adam Arndt, 31, had an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with Michelle Miller, 17, while he was supervising the young recruit’s preparations for basic training, according to a legal claim filed by Miller’s parents. On April 8, both were found dead in his Germantown, Md., home: Arndt told Miller that he was feeling suicidal, then shot her when she came to his home, before killing himself.

Miller’s family has now filed a $10 million claim against the Army, alleging that Arndt’s superiors failed to supervise him adequately and stop the predatory behavior of a married man who had wed one of his former recruits just a year earlier.

“It’s not going to bring back my daughter’s life, but maybe we can save other children,” said her mother Pacita Miller, wearing Michelle’s jewelry and dog tags over her office clothes. “Who was trying to supervise this man?”

In the months since Michelle’s death, Congress has becoming increasingly focused on fighting sexual assault in the military at large, with new protections passing the House this month and similar legislation currently before the Senate.

But some legislators and advocates believe that Michelle’s story reveals a problem that’s remained on the sidelines: the need to prevent sexual misconduct and assault not only against enlisted soldiers, but also young recruits before they even ship out for basic training.
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Navy in recruiting push after letting go of 3,000?

Military intelligence?

Some 'involuntarily separated' sailors feel slighted amid recruiting push
By Erik Slavin
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 3, 2013

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — One month after being cast out of the Navy because his career field was overmanned, the Recruit Training Command called Robert Van back with a plea — come back, we don’t have enough sailors like you.

But there was a catch — Van’s contract would only be guaranteed for two years, which would leave him looking for another job about three years short of his 20-year retirement eligibility.

Van was one of nearly 3,000 sailors laid off, or in Navy parlance, “involuntarily separated,” as a result of the former Enlisted Retention Board’s mandate to thin the ranks in 31 overmanned job fields by September 2012.

Yet, less than a year later, the Navy found itself thousands of sailors below its congressionally mandated strength, so it boosted recruiting by 6,000 sailors per year and shelled out incentive pay to make up in an attempt to make up for the shortage, especially in undermanned sea rates.

The seemingly contradictory actions left former sailors — and at least one congressman — to question whether the service made a mistake in cutting so many experienced sailors in the first place.
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Pentagon grapples with sex crimes by military recruiters

Rape is a crime and if guilty, the criminal needs to go to jail. So what's the problem?

Pentagon grapples with sex crimes by military recruiters
By Craig Whitlock
The Washington Post
Published: May 13, 2013

Military recruiters across the country have been caught in a string of sex-crime scandals over the past year, exposing another long-standing problem for the Defense Department as it grapples with a crisis of sexual assault in the ranks.

In Alaska, law enforcement officials are fuming after a military jury this month convicted a ­Marine Corps recruiter of ­first-degree sexual assault in the rape of a 23-year-old female civilian but did not sentence him to prison.

In Texas, an Air Force recruiter will face a military court next month on charges of rape, forcible sodomy and other crimes involving 18 young women he tried to enlist over a three-year period. Air Force officials have described the case as perhaps the worst involving one of its recruiters.

In Maryland, Army officials are puzzling over a murder-suicide last month, when a staff sergeant, Adam Arndt, killed himself after he fatally shot Michelle Miller, a 17-year-old Germantown girl whom he had been recruiting for the Army Reserve. Officials suspect the two were romantically involved, something expressly forbidden by military rules. read more here