Board recommends separation for “Tea Party” Marine
The administrative separation board for Marine Sergeant Gary Stein, the host of the Armed Forces Tea Party Facebook page, who lost his collateral challenge to the board proceedings, concluded after a 13-hour hearing on Thursday. The board found the basis was met, and recommended separation with a characterization of other than honorable, according to news reports.
Other reports indicate that the Marine Corps is now seeking additional guidance from the DoD regarding appropriate use of social media:
Marine Corps officials are seeking additional guidance from the Pentagon regarding service members’ use of social media amid discharge proceedings against a Camp Pendleton sergeant who criticized President Barack Obama on Facebook.
Joe Kasper, spokesman for Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, said Friday that Hunter’s office was notified of the plans in a letter from a Marine Corps major general.
Stein’s civilian attorney of Birther fame Gary Kreep was on the Andrea King Blog Talk Radio program last night. Kreep made a lot of serious charges about the conduct of the separation board hearing that was held last week. I would be interested in comments from the military folks at CAAFLOG. Here is a link tot he program: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/askshow/2012/04/11/the-andrea-shea-king-show.mp3?localembed=download
Kreep’s interview runs from around 17:30 to 58:30.
If the DOD directive is sufficiently clear to justify this Marine’s separation, why should any further guidance from higher be necessary? If further guidance from higher IS necessary, isn’t that a pretty solid indication that the DOD directive was not sufficiently clear? Especially to an E-5?