Posted on 09/16/2010 9:28:46 AM PDT by Tea Party Reveler
AIR FORCE PAO STONEWALLS AND REFUSES COMMENT ON JILL METZGER COVER-UP - LATEST COMMUNICATION FROM AIR FORCE PRESS DESK SAYS "CANNOT COMMENT BECAUSE OF PRIVACY ISSUES" - FOUR YEARS LATER, AND STILL THE PENTAGON PROTECTS THE PAMPERED ONE - NO COMMENT ON FAKED ABDUCTION OR LUCRATIVE "DISABILITY" PENSION - RE-WRITE THE RULEBOOK: FOR SOME LUCKY PEOPLE, CRIME DOES PAY
© 2010 MilitaryCorruption.com
By MAJ GLENN MacDONALD, USAR (Ret.)
Four years ago this week, a female U.S. Air Force officer disappeared in far-off Kyrgyzstan, and many Americans feared for her life. Yellow ribbons were tied to trees, prayers were uttered for her safety, and family members made the rounds of the TV talk shows. The major's face appeared on newspaper front pages around the world.
Had Maj. Jill Metzger been kidnapped or killed? Was she the target of some terrorist group? What happened? We soon found out - sort of.
Three days later, after Metzger vanished from a Bishkek department store, she surfaced again with a strange tale that rivaled "THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK."
Turning up at a farmhouse in Kant, within sight of a Russian air base outside the Kyrgyz capitol, Metzger claimed she'd been "abducted" by strangers and escaped her captors after "over-powering" a guard and running barefoot, 30 miles, to freedom. She failed to elaborate on just how the 90-pound female subdued the alleged guard - whether he was armed - how she got loose - and why the nude American officer wasn't shot at or pursued by her so-called "kidnappers."
Local police almost immediately began to doubt Metzger's story and suspected, for whatever reason, the Air Force major had "orchestrated" her own disappearance.
AN UNBELIEVABLE TALE THAT FELL APART ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNNING
Kemilbek Kiyazov, chief of the Chuysic Region Police Dept., was quoted as saying Metzger's version of events "just doesn't add up." He said "many contradictions and bizarre claims" made by the female officer caused him to doubt her story from the start.
For example, Kiyazov said Metzger claimed she'd been "robbed" of a necklace by her "kidnappers," but failed to explain why they hadn't touched her expensive wedding ring she was still wearing on her finger.
The investigator said security cameras in the Tzum department store in Bishkek showed Metzger riding an escalator alone to the ground floor, then calmly walking from the building into a back parking lot. "There was no sign or indication she was in any trouble," Kiyazov said.
This was confirmed much later by an American military intelligence officer, disgusted with "the Metzger cover-up," who contacted me in my capacity as editor-in-chief of MilitaryCorruption.com. He said he had seen store security film that had not been previously disclosed in the media, which showed the major walking straight to a minibus or van parked outside and getting in the vehicle. "There was no sign of struggle or abduction," he said. The source guessed she "knew the occupants."
"BOMB" IN HER BACK POCKET
Metzger told U.S. Embassy officials in Kyrgyzstan that "someone" had put a "bomb" in her back pocket and she "felt as if I were in a trance." Yet the security camera films show no bulge in the rear pocket of Metzger's tight jeans. Also, not the slightest indication of duress in the major's demeanor as she casually made her way out of the store.
Kyrgyz Police were also concerned about black dye stains on Metzger's hands. The normally blonde-haired woman's locks were colored, as if to conceal her identity. She had claimed during initial questioning that her captors had done it, but a local television report in Bishkek quoted a taxi driver who said he saw Metzger in the back seat applying the dye herself. That would explain why, three days after her so-called "kidnapping," dye stains could still be seen on the palms of Metzger's hands.
Local media reports, if they can be believed, offer a possible explanation.
The taxi driver said he took Metzger to the Issyk Ata District Medical Clinic, which happens to be very close to the the farm house in Kant where Metzger emerged after her alleged 30-mile run and escape from her "captors." The clinic is located near the junction of Togolok-Moldo and Kievskaya Streets, Bishkek television reported.
DID AN ABORTION GONE WRONG RESULT IN THREE DAYS AWOL?
What kind of "medical procedure" would involve going to such great lengths to hide one's identity? Rumors were rife at Manas air base, the U.S. run transfer facility just outside Bishkek, that Metzger had sought an abortion.
Her husband of five months, Capt. Josh Mayo of the USAF Office of Special Investigations (OSI), was back in the States, and Metzger's temporary tour of active duty overseas was due to end in just a matter of days.
Local police had noticed dried blood "on top" of the major's bare feet and little in the way of abrasions on the soles. If Metzger had run the 30 miles barefoot, wouldn't the majority of blood be located on the "bottom" of her feet?
Also, investigators found it hard to believe Metzger, 90 pounds at the time of her "escape," could possibly "overpower" what had to have been an armed guard and run away. Wouldn't it stand to reason her "abductors" would pursue their fleeing captive? Why let her get away so easily? It makes no sense. But by then, Kiyazov was sure of only one thing. He was not being told the truth.
WHISKED OUT OF THE COUNTRY ON AN AIR FORCE TRANSPORT PLANE
Why did the Air Force suddenly fly Metzger out of Kyrgyzstan without advance notice to the host government, when the brass knew local police had more questions to ask? They were well aware the Kyrgyz cops were highly suspicious of the major's fantastic claims.
According to an informed source at Landstuhl AFB Medical Center in Germany, where Metzger was flown for medical treatment, the petite major refused to submit to tests that could have confirmed or disproved a recent pregnancy.
An OSI agent who tried to question Metzger, was met with no cooperation at all.
In a copyrighted, exclusive interview with MilitaryCorruption.com, the agent said: "She just clammed up tight. Metzger would say one thing, and we'd easily eat holes in her story. Once we'd call her out on that, she'd mumble 'I don't know, I can't remember.' I think she realized our people weren't buying her story at all, so she just decided to shut up and say no more."
But back in the States, her retired colonel father, John Metzger, had plenty to say to Air Force TIMES in that paper's Oct. 16, 2006 edition.
The doting dad exclaimed, "They beat her up pretty bad," and said at one point, Jill's captors "put a rope around her neck." He raptured about his daughter's courage ("she's a tough little cookie") and repeated the incredible tale that tiny Jill "overpowered" a guard and ran barefoot 30 miles to freedom.
THE STONE WALL OF SILENCE DESCENDS
It seemed the Air Force knew they had a real mess on their hands. When feminist icon Jill Metzger, two-time winner of the Air Force Marathon, and object of worldwide news headlines just a few weeks before, landed at Moody Air Force base in Georgia, there were no brass bands or base commander to meet and greet the self-described heroine. Airmen on the base told us they were ordered not to speak or approach Metzger, on pain of court-martial.
A female captain was flown in from the Pentagon to be Metzger's "minder," and for the next nine months, the major could be seen jogging around the base, but her only confrontation with anyone was reportedly an irate Airman's wife who berated her in a local Wal-Mart for being "a disgrace to the Air Force." The story goes, Metzger, rattled by the verbal assault, was whisked away in a hurry.
E-mails from frustrated Air Force personnel started to flood in after we published our first articles, questioning what happened and asking if a cover-up was under-way. An OSI agent told us he was convinced she was a phony after she failed "not one, but two polygraph tests. It wasn't even close," he said.
The fact that the Air Force didn't - and has not to this day - awarded Metzger a high decoration - or ANY decoration, for that matter - for her self-described "escape and evasion" heroics, rankled many people at Moody.
"They can't justify or document at all that she's telling the truth," said one master sergeant. His guess was she was being "protected at a very high level." He was correct.
"LAY OFF HER. SHE'S GOT SOMEBODY BIG BY THE BALLS"
Two years after Metzger's great adventure, an OSI agent who worked the case said to us in a tape-recorded interview, "We were told to lay off her - that she had somebody big (a top general) by the balls."
That would explain the many rumors that a certain three-star flag officer, now a four-star general and one of the most feared and despised officers in the Air Force, had taken an inordinate interest in Metzger's welfare. Air Force personnel at Manas e-mailed us that this general, who was there at the time of the "disappearance," was waiting for Metzger's return at the main security bunker and pressed his "coin" into the guard's hands, cautioning them: "You didn't see anything, OK. Don't talk to the media."
At Moody, the "little people," mostly enlisted members irritated by Metzger's special treatment, kept MCC appraised of what was happening. When the Air Force tried to quietly slip Metzger out the back door on a temporary medical disability status, we were first to break the news. But the outrage that erupted after it was learned that Metzger had been granted a 100% "disability" pension for PTSD (a condition mostly incurred in a combat zone) was the most anguished and vitriolic of any e-mail we have received in the ten years MilitaryCorruption.com has been online.
Most of it is unprintable, but the theme was, how come she gets special treatment and a 100% rating out of the box, when others, actually disabled, come back to the States from the war zone and are denied a fraction of Metzger's largesse?
However, the height of hatred among the ranks was reached when it was learned - again reported first here on the pages of MilitaryCorruption.com - that self-centered Jill had actually run in not only the (2008) Air Force Marathon, but the Marine Corps Marathon as well. And this, while drawing 100% "disability" pay. "She might as well of told us all to go to hell," said a disgusted female runner at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. "Obviously, she thinks she's above the law. She acts like a little queen."
AIR FORCE PRESS OFFICE WON'T COMMENT - CITE METZGER'S "PRIVACY"
It's that feeling - that Metzger got away with what could have been a court-martial offense and even profited from it, while others serving under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) are treated differently - that causes immense anger and frustration to this day.
All efforts by us to learn the truth by appealing to the Pentagon and Air Force Public Affairs Office have been met by a stone wall. We urge the "mainstream media" to show a little courage and risk being labeled "politically incorrect" by pressing the top brass for a real explanation.
As long as the Pentagon can operate with impunity, this odious cover-up will continue. We hope we're wrong, but this may be a case of where "crime DOES pay."
AN "OPEN LETTER" TO JILL METZGER
Have you no shame at all? On this fourth anniversary of your fantastic story that you've incredibly gotten away with so far, do you have even a sliver of conscience left that reminds you of what you really are?
If not for your "celebrity" and extraordinary connections, you might have faced court-martial back there in Kyrgyzstan. Try on AWOL for three days, making a false official statement, fraternization, adultery, disobeying a standing order (not to separate oneself from other Americans while in the Tzum department store in Bishkek) and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Oh, we weren't sure at the beginning that you were a phony, fake and fraud. MilitaryCorruption.com tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. But soon, it became all too clear, a high-level cover-up was taking place and you were the beneficiary.
None of our colleagues in the "mainstream media" bothered to ask why the Air Force didn't award you a medal. We know why. And so do you. If your "story" had been true, without a doubt, the Air Force would've decorated you and sent you on a nation-wide publicity tour, helping recruit other "super-achiever" females to come wear "Air Force Blue."
Why didn't you go on "Oprah" or "Larry King?" What? No book or TV movie?
Is it because your tall tale is so full of holes one could drive a tank right through it? We know you failed two polygraph tests.
Lucky you, you're married to an OSI agent and your "four-star friend," a bully and thug so powerful that some of our sources fear for their lives if their identity were to become known, can still run interference for you.
But the day is coming when justice will finally be done. I may not live to see it. I don't have much time left. But others ready to take my place will. MilitaryCorruption.com is not going to give up and "go away."
Not as long as genuinely disabled veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. These brave men and women have risked their lives and spilled their blood for our country. What have YOU done to justify your existence and that fat, tax-free "disability" pension you receive? We hope, for your sake, it wasn't obtained by fraud. There are federal laws that deal with that.
We don't want you to go to prison. No, a better penalty would be to make you pay back every cent you've racked up for your PTSD "disability" pay off - if it is proven you're a liar - and "sentence" you to five years of unpaid service emptying bed pans at Walter Reed.
Maybe you can help real heroes with legs shot off struggle into their wheelchairs. How about spoon-feeding soup to a trooper whose hands are gone because they were blown off by an IED in Afghanistan?
You could tell him how "easy" it was for you to score a 100% "disability" rating, while less privileged souls spend years fighting "the system" to get only a fraction of the money you receive.
Did you really think you could run in both the Air Force and Marine Corps Marathons without us finding out about it and publishing the news? What you did was an incredible example of arrogance. We've never heard of a 100% "disabled veteran" competing in such a grueling physical and mental ordeal. We're sure the DAV in Washington hasn't either.
MilitaryCorruption.com has always tried to be fair with you and we repeat our offer to publicly apologize for any error of fact you can prove we have made on these pages. We want you to know you have unlimited space on MCC to answer any of our charges you feel are false.
Why not come out and make a statement? You're retired now. What are you afraid of? Don't you think the men and women of the U.S. Air Force, who have been so disrespected by their so-called leaders whose silence has been deafening the past four years about your case, deserve to know the truth? It's about time.
MAJ Glenn MacDonald, USAR (Ret.) EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MilitaryCorruption.com (VIETNAM): 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
I’m usually so easy to get along with. Haha.
He won’t be around long. At least I got a couple of laughs out of him while he was here. I don’t think I’ve seen a quicker zero-to-irate since my wife’s last pregnancy (we laugh about it now, I swear).
SnakeDoc
I was a squid, my dad and three brothers were grunts, another brother was air farce and another two were coasties (you know, the smallest service whose white boats have wheels on the bottoms and two cute little racing stripes on the sides.)
God bless you and your son. And all of America’s military folks!
Perhaps we can drag out Kissinger to declare victory and be done with it.
If so, it calls into question his credibility.
BTW, truthers are not welcome on FR.
I know, I know—All the services look down on the Air Force (err Air Farce, as you say). Thanks to all of your family’s service!
It's all envy. My son was born on Langley AFB while I was stationed on a ship in Norfolk. You can guess which base was much, much nicer.
Good to know! It’s all jealousy.
such a pity... the case itself looks interesting enough to me.
My son is in AF ROTC. My father is a retired Major, CIA operations officer and attorney.
Yeah, I hate officers (snicker)-—bad ones need to be weeded out.
Again, changing the subject to “it’s all his fault for bringing the bad news”
Instead of addressing the facts, I am smeared. You search for anything you can find to smear me instead of addressing the facts about Major Metzger, her fishy smelly story and the stonewall of silence from the Air Force brass.
You then said I'm hysterical, threaten to ban me under false pretenses and say I hate the officer corps as I tell you my own father is a retired Navy/Army 0-4 and my son has entered ROTC. That's hardly an “anti-Military” family OK?
SHAME!
Remember how we complained when the media at first gave short shrift to the Clinton scandals and then they got so bad that they had no choice but to cover it? I stood with you then, and now you turn your back on me.
Remember when the USS Cole was attacked? It was me who revealed that Gen. Zinni and the brass screwed up by sending the Cole into a place (Aden Yemen) where Air Force and Navy troops had been attacked 8 years previously (google = “Bin Ladin’s first attack”) This made Clinton look bad a year before the election. I took a big risk being on active duty by calling the news media over to my home and was interviewed and it was on TV as I revealed what happened. You guys cheered and gave me an “attaboy” for making that slug Clinton look bad.
Now you turn your back on me. Well, they turned their backs on Miltiades, Themistocles, Churchill and Bush Sr. too!-—so I don't feel bad! We all fight battles and wars and sometimes we have to fight by ourselves. So be it! All I do is pray to the Almighty that the fog of the battlefield be lifted and that all be revealed. I thank God for the opportunity to fight.
See post 92.
Thanx, DallasDeb!
I love poking good-natured fun at ALL the services...including my very own NAVY!!!!
;)
We all now what's going on here.
You guys want to defend the brass and deflect attention from the fact the Air Force brass has been caught in a very wicked cover-up.
You can't address the facts showing Metzger lied and the brass covered for her.
Just keep attacking the messenger. That will convince others with similar motives but not the taxpayer!
DU BIST EINE GROSS ASCHLOFF!
Do you like kitties?
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Viking Kitty/ZOT ping list!. . . don't be shy.
Lamh Foistenach Abu!
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