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| Marine who went missing in Iraq now on full duty at Camp Lejeune | |
| 2004-09-15 | |
| A Marine who was reported abducted in Iraq and later turned up in his native Lebanon was restored Tuesday to full duty, the military said. Medical authorities at Camp Lejeune, where Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun has been since July, declared him fit for full duty late Monday, allowing him to return to the brigade motor pool where he worked before he deployed to Iraq in February. Hassoun, 24, failed to report for duty June 20, and videotape later surfaced showing him apparently kidnapped, blindfolded with a sword hanging over his head. He later turned up at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. It remains unclear how he traveled from Iraq to Lebanon. More from Roooters: "Medical authorities declared him to be fit for full duty late Monday, allowing Hassoun to return to duty in the brigade motor pool where he worked prior to his deployment to Iraq last February," the Marine Corps said in a statement from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. But Maj. Matt Morgan, a spokesman at Camp Lejeune, said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was still investigating the circumstances surrounding Hassoun's disappearance and subsequent release. Officials said earlier that the NCIS was looking into whether Hassoun was abducted by militants in Iraq as suggested by a videotape, whether the abduction was a hoax or whether he had deserted. "The NCIS investigation will determine what, if any, criminal action would be taken," Morgan said in a telephone interview. He said investigators were likely to question Hassoun within days.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 1. To walk my post until I faint, 2. Salute anything that I can't paint... |
| Posted by: Fred 2004-09-15 10:29:20 PM |
| #9 Yeah, I mentioned #12 by mistake one night during my second week in Boot Camp. Amazing how heavy an M-14 gets during a 'motivation session'.... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-09-15 7:19:53 PM |
| #8 Old Spook, as I remember 12 was: To walk my post from flank to flank and take no s@#t from any rank. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-15 4:52:32 PM |
| #7 Jawa,. Article 15 of the UCMJ covers non-judicial punishments. They can be imposed without Courts Martial, and are generally held for things at the compnay grade for minor discretions that somehow require a heavier hand - or at Command Grade for more serious offenses that result in confinement, loss of pay and rank, and discharge under other than honorable conditions (If my memory serves). Bascially , if they want him for Derelection fo Duty, the company commander can issue an Article 15 hearing, and impose punishment. After he leaves the unit the Article 15 stays in his records jacket, but has no further bearing on his service - if he busts ass hard enough, he can overcome it. A field grade article 15, at least in the Army, is a permanent black mark, and your career is likely over even if discharge is not one of the punishments adminstered. I know, becuase I got one of those company grade ones for Drunk and Disorderly, and Insubordination way back when I was a Corporal (Bar fight in the local ville, officer tired to break it up and I used some choice language on him in fron of witnesses). Needless to say, the punishment was effective but local: confinement to the barracks when off duty, extra duty (mopping floors in the chow hall plus morning shift CQ-runner duty EVERY DAY for a month), and loss of half a months pay taught me a lesson. But I managed to keep my stripes and got promoted when I moved on to my next unit months later and stood for the board. So if they were done withthis guy and it were just a screw up, nothing would happen or lese they'd use non-judicial company grade punishment. If he messed up by leaving his post but it was an "honest" screwup, then company-grade Article 15 (like the one I got) will be it, otherwise a Field Grade Article 15 if they have enough hard evidence, or Courts Martial if they have evidence of real malfeasance (which I doubt - if they had anything good they would have him in the brig by now). |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-09-15 3:29:10 PM |
| #6 Old Spook...thanks for the info...why has he not been subject to discipline for the Article 15? I too believe this is only 10% of the story. |
| Posted by: jawa 2004-09-15 11:33:46 AM |
| #5 Marine recruits in boot camp must memorize these General Orders. Woe be unto the unfortunate recruit who can not shout out, verbatim and without hesitation, all eleven of them. Such a recruit will incur a firestorm of wrath from his Drill Instructor. There is sound logic for this rigid training. The eleven General Orders will guide each Marine throughout his years in the Corps: 1. To take charge of this post and all government property in view. 2. To walk my post in a military manner, keeping always on then alert and observing everything that takes place within sight or hearing. 3. To report all violations of orders I am instructed to enforce. 4. To repeat all calls from posts more distant from the guardhouse than my own. 5. To quit my post only when properly relieved. 6. To receive, obey, and pass on the sentry who relieves me, all orders from the commanding officer, officer of the day, and officers and noncommissioned officers of the guard only. 7. To talk to no one except in line of duty. 8. To give the alarm in case of fire or disorder. 9. To call the corporal of the guard in any case not covered by instructions. 10. To salute all officers and all colors and standards not cased. 11. To be especially watchful at night and, during the time for challenging, to challenge all persons on or near my post and to allow no one to pass without proper authority. |
| Posted by: RN 2004-09-15 11:07:14 AM |
| #4 As a non-mil person, I'll bite: what are the eleven General Orders? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-09-15 11:04:06 AM |
| #3 I remember,OS.And if you couldn't spit the 11 GO's on demand you were in for a very rough time. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-09-15 10:00:32 AM |
| #2 Scuttlebutt Im hearing in the Marine Corps back channels (some old Gunnys there that still have taps into the Corps - Marines, most all of them they never leave the Corps)... They suspect it was initially a "kidnapping of the willing", that got unwilling after the Marine figured he was in over his head, and they let him go because he was "an Arab". Verdict on the email lists from those in the know right now say it will be "not enough evidence" for courts martial to charge him, but there may be enough for Article 15 non-judicial punishment at the company level (non-field grade) - enough to knock him down a notch and leave the Corps when his enlistement is up - or stay if he works really really hard and eats a lot fo sh*t he will have to take, but not enough to drum him out of the Corps. My personal opinion: Article 15 for derilection of Duty - leaving his guard post. For God's sake, they teach you the Eleven General Orders of Sentry Duty in boot camp (even in the Army in my day)! I had to spit those out upon demand from any drill instructor. I still remember #5: I will quit my post only when properly relieved. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-09-15 1:37:08 AM |
| #1 That much,huh? Thanks for the post, Steve. I almost asked yesterday if any RBer knew the status of Hassoun and his case. Still not much out there. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-09-15 1:17:33 AM |