Posted on 04/30/2013 6:55:48 PM PDT by markomalley
An Army private believed to be the first female U.S. soldier to seek refuge in Canada rather than return to duty in Iraq was sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to desertion, military officials in Colorado said on Tuesday.
Kimberly Rivera, who said she grew opposed to the war during a three-month tour of duty in Iraq, pleaded guilty at a court-martial proceeding in Fort Carson, Colorado, on Monday and was sentenced immediately.
In addition to the prison time, the 30-year-old private was reduced in rank, ordered to forfeit pay and benefits and received a bad conduct discharge, base spokeswoman Meghan Williams said.
Rivera fled to Toronto in 2007 while on leave after serving in Iraq with Fort Carson's 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division in Baghdad, according to her lawyer, James Branum.
She surrendered to authorities at the U.S. border in upstate New York last September after a Canadian court ordered her deported to the United States, capping several years spent by Rivera unsuccessfully seeking asylum in Canada.
Branum said Rivera was the first and, as far as he knows, the only female U.S. military deserter to flee to Canada during the Iraq war. The advocacy group War Resisters Support Campaign has said Rivera was the first U.S. female soldier to seek asylum in Canada to avoid redeployment to Iraq.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“the 30-year-old private was reduced in rank”
To what?
Isn't a dishonorable discharge (DD) worse than a BCD? I understand that having a DD is probably worse than having a conviction for murder or forcible rape.
Right - after discussing it with my folks it’s a DD that is the absolute worse. A BCD is a close second. Thanks for pointing that out. R/Janey
True - most likely why she deserted.
To PV1 (no rank insignia). The minimum you get out of AIT is PV2, with a single chevron. Most bump you to PFC (chevron plus rocker). All three ranks are still validly referred to as “private”.
Not necessarily. A really motivated person can go in at 30 as a private, and within 3 years could be an E-4 corporal or even an E-5 Sergeant. Depending on the MOS (job), she could have made Staff Sgt or SFC by 40, and that’s only assuming she didn’t do a degree program and try for OCS.
I myself was really hurting in my late 30s job-wise, and really looked into going back into the service. I’d have gone back in at probably PFC because I wouldn’t have been able to rejoin in my original MOS which is one of only a few that still use the SPC-4 rank I held, but I’d have been Corporal or SGT within 6 months, assuming I didn’t do OCS right away (have a MS degree). Hard? Sure, but doable.
I’m just past all the cutoff ages now, unfortunately, or I’d still be looking at options.
A fat single mom on her fifth kid, that is so much better and efficient than using some warrior type male that we used to screen for.
Sounds like a bunch of big balled bullshitters on this thread. Who was the last person hanged for desertion?
Back in about 1976 desertion was fairly common. You could walk away from your command, stay gone over 30 days, and turn yourself in at another command for processing out. They might have given some brief brig time {30 days max} but the person was out of the service. Yes this was real common in the first two years of Carter's term But this stuff started in Ford's term under Rummy's Sec of Def tenure.
Very few things Carter did right. But his Sec of Def at some point wised up and stopped the nonsense. The deserter got Brig time, the deserter then got a big surprise afterward. The deserter was then placed back to duty to do full obligation Plus Bad Time.
A lot of persons may not believe this but there are a lot of mid to late 50's men out there who have BCD's. Unless they apply for a government job it doesn't get checked.
No one has ever asked to see my DD 214 except the Army NG and the VA. I came home and saw guys I went to high school with who had done this.
...if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or other such punishment as a court-martial may direct.
It’s been over 40 years since I got out of the Army and not once has my DD-214 been asked for and that includes 5 1/2 years with the Sheriffs Dept. Should I ever step through the doors of the local VA I’m sure they’ll ask for it, but so far I’ve not done that and have yet to see the need.
(shoulda been hung)
One of the kids in my neighborhood deserted from the USMC to avoid going overseas. They just ended up kicking him out.
yeah, I was just operating on the assumption that she’d gone thru all the initial training, perhaps an AIT, and had been overseas already for a few months. I’d have assumed in that time she’d have gotten some sort of increase beyond private. But I’ve never served.
Too bad you’ve reached that age issue. There should be jobs that one can do at maturity. Have you looked into the civilian end of DOD or any other related Dept or Agency? Good luck in whatever you do
The 10 months in prison plus BCD essentially makes her a felon. She'll be able to hold the kind of jobs where they don't care about criminal history, but that's it.
From a Judge Advocate:
Conviction by special or general court-martial creates a federal criminal record that will follow the Soldier into civilian life. A bad-conduct discharge or dishonorable discharge, if adjudged, eliminates virtually all veterans’ benefits, including educational benefits under the Montgomery G.I. Bill, and creates a record that will follow the Soldier into civilian life.Any Soldier convicted at court-martial or receiving a punitive discharge can expect to encounter substantial prejudice in civilian life when applying for jobs, college education and/or government benefits. Soldiers who are confined more than six months and/or who receive a punitive discharge automatically forfeit pay and allowances to the jurisdictional limit of the court for the duration of their confinement or (if a punitive discharge is adjudged) for the remainder of their time in service.
LLAD: Ranger School welcomes women, drops standards
UPDATE 2: There have been several new posts since this went up 15th May, click the Category link to “Rangers and Rangerettes” to see them all. Yes, they will go to Infantry Officer Basic.
UPDATE: the first of several follow-up posts, A Funny Thing Happened this Week, has been up since Thursday and it adds a few more details from teh cascade of information flowing from the unhappy implementers of this latest outburst from the Good Idea Fairy. In the light of the comment interest in this post, we’ll post links to other, forthcoming updates here as well. Now back to the original post:
It was clear that nobody’s opinion was being solicited. The message came from the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the order seems to have come from echelons above him: Ranger School will admit women within a few months. And the women will pass, whatever it takes.
Source:
http://weaponsman.com/?p=2814
LLAD: Ranger School welcomes women, drops standards
UPDATE 2: There have been several new posts since this went up 15th May, click the Category link to “Rangers and Rangerettes” to see them all. Yes, they will go to Infantry Officer Basic.
UPDATE: the first of several follow-up posts, A Funny Thing Happened this Week, has been up since Thursday and it adds a few more details from teh cascade of information flowing from the unhappy implementers of this latest outburst from the Good Idea Fairy. In the light of the comment interest in this post, we’ll post links to other, forthcoming updates here as well. Now back to the original post:
It was clear that nobody’s opinion was being solicited. The message came from the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the order seems to have come from echelons above him: Ranger School will admit women within a few months. And the women will pass, whatever it takes.
Source:
http://weaponsman.com/?p=2814
Ah yes, the prison time will do it. Good. Thanks!
It will be interesting to find out what comes of the peer evals. I'm guessing that practice will be entirely revamped or done away with altogether.
First thing to go will be those 120lb. back packs.
20 mile forced night marches.
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