The Ghost of Military Service past

[razorjak]

For the record, while I was in the military I spent six months under courts martial investigation. It took six months to be cleared of the charges which stemmed from a false identification due to circumstancial evidence. In fact, the only reason I was cleared was because the woman I was supposed to have raped didn't understand why I was in the courtroom when the trial date finaly came around. When she was told I was the defendant she told the court that they were all crazy. Six months of hell ended in less than ten minutes.

Yes, that's right. I spent six months in hell because the MPs and CID refused to hold a line-up. For six months I was looked at by my chain of command as a criminal. I was told by the company CO that he could not speak to me without "reading me my rights" each and every time. I was unable to attend any service school and watched those who were below me go to PLDC, BNOC and in one case ANOC. I was in formation while I saw others promoted. My nerves couldn't take it. I snapped and spent a bit of time under psych treatment.

This treatment, which was really little more than how to deal after my nervous breakdown, has come back to haunt me. Any job that requires a thorough background check sees this and decides that I'm not right for the job.

Be all you can be ... which in my case seems to be nothing more than a bouncer.

Comments

[flameswithin.livejournal.com]

damn, man. that's fucked up. i'm very sorry to hear that. i know it's infuriating when people won't listen to reason/the truth, but i'm talking mostly from arguments with closed minded people (and sometimes girlfriends). having to deal with that from an entire group of people for six months would be more than i could fucking take.

-P.`

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

I wasn't able to take it. Hence the time dealing with military headshrinkers.

Be [Beaten] All That You Can Be [Beaten]

[raindrops.livejournal.com]

Try being charged with assaulting an officer... who was in civvies, in a dive bar, on the wrong side of town... you know, the side where the enlisted folk go.

Was it really my fault that War College didn't prepare the knucklehead for single combat? I have a simple rule... don't walk about with more 'tude than you can carry.

People ask me why I don't work for the guv'mint on account of I'm so smart and all. The guv'mint, and all those who've bought and paid for its largesse, don't like to be shown in a bad light. When you are right, you must be crazy... and guess who gets the shaft right up in the gloryhole?

Um, yea. I feel ya, man.

Re: Be [Beaten] All That You Can Be [Beaten]

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

We've both been fucked up the ass with the big green weenie. It's probably why we see things in a similar light in most cases.

Re: Be [Beaten] All That You Can Be [Beaten]

[raindrops.livejournal.com]

Word.

Taking it in through the out hole is inevitable in this day and age... but at least we still get to decide if there will be a broken coke bottle up there first, just waiting.

Re: Be [Beaten] All That You Can Be [Beaten]

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

This was in the Pacific theater, involving a "foreign national" ... If the courts martial had found me guilty on the charges I would have been handed over to the civilian authories.

Re: Be [Beaten] All That You Can Be [Beaten]

[raindrops.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, good ol' UCMJ Article 14... it's a good bet that if you aren't Art 14'd to civil justice, the charges have no standing.

But, who out there in the real world knows that?

[zentariana.livejournal.com]

wait. they see that you were suspected or that you lost it?

and how long ago was that? it seems to me that situations like that wouldn't be anyone's business after a bit. certainly not the trial part, anyway. ever.

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

The fact that I was in a psych ward for any length of time. This period was well over a decade ago.

[raindrops.livejournal.com]

In military law, there is no presumption of innocence - the burden of proof falls upon the accused, not the accuser. Standing for charges is essentially a verdict of guilty, as the general population understands guilt.

That tired old joke about your permanent record actually applies if you've ever served... right or wrong, it follows you.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

That's -- unconscionable.

Another advantage to immigrating, my dear. Unless you are trying to get a job that requires security clearance they aren't likely to ask or care.

Companies here also don't make you pee in a jar. It boggles my brain when I read about friends having to take a drug test to get a tech-support job.

[realtimemike.livejournal.com]

Having done my time, I know exactly where you are coming from. That shit works both ways. My parents got divorced and the court said the kids had to go to counseling. That shit got brought up when I enlisted. Fortunately, after three 6 hour sessions of "questioning" they passed me, but fuck that was nasty. I can only imagine how bad it is coming from the military to the civvie world. It sounds a whole lot worse.

I have a little bit of Bathroom stall wisdom that I think applies here:

"I've fucked in England
I've fucked in Maine
I've fucked up and down the coast of Spain
But I'll never be happy
and I'll never be free
until I've fucked the Army
Like they fucked me."

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

I think I may actually get that done in cross stitch and hang it in my den.

[realtimemike.livejournal.com]

Make sure to give credit to "Army latrine in Geissen Germany"