LEAVE NO COMRADE BEHIND!

Long before the Band of Brothers hit the screen, it was unwritten law for the U S military to leave no man behind. In this day and age, we can expand that to say "Leave no man or woman behind".
A third-class female cadet, a sophomore, USCGA Class of 2010, and a male enlisted man claimed two Mexican policemen assaulted them after they came ashore from skinny-dipping at the beach during the pre-dawn hours in Veracruz, Mexico.
It appears that female 3/c Cadet Jane Doe and the enlisted man may have been swimming or cavorting on the beach while the two policemen hid behind some rocks and surprised them when they came out of the ocean. Chances are that the female cadet was Mexican or Hispanic and that she spoke Spanish. Otherwise, a teenage female would not have felt secure enough to go romping around a foreign country after midnight and hanging out in remote areas. Clearly she was at home in the Spanish environment. However, the enlisted man may have spoken Spanish also. One or both would have been able to converse with the Mexican police officers.
Cadet Jane Doe said the police officers attempted to handcuff them, and forced her to perform oral sex on one of them. This probably was not communicated by sign language, unless the policeman indicated by signing that he wanted her to do the same thing to him that she was doing to the enlisted man.
The Eagle docked Friday, 13 July, in Veracruz and left on Monday. Cadet Jane Doe and the enlisted man are still in Mexico working with authorities. The ship, CGC EAGLE, is continuing on its summer training program. It is due to arrive in Miami on July 27 as its next port call. Cadets in the Classes of 2008 and 2010 and a few trainees on this 5 week summer cruise boarded the Eagle in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in mid-June and from there sailed to Cartagena, Colombia and then to Veracruz, Mexico.


The Coast Guard Academy can look forward to some rude awakenings in this case. I dare say they have little or no experience in dealing with Mexico and corrupt Mexican officials. They made a big mistake in leaving a teenage female cadet and an enlisted man in Mexican custody. Someone had better fly to Mexico quickly and carry plenty of CASH. This is not the Cadet Webster Smith case and the Rule of Law. In Mexico, money talks and justice walks.
Captain Chris Sinnett, the Commanding Officer of the Eagle had to be out of his mind. If I had been Captain Sinnett, that ship would never have sailed without every cadet and crewman on board.
There would be no reason to leave cadets or crewmen behind if they were only witnesses to an investigation. That is an easy call. Take their statements and let them leave on the ship. They could even fly back whenever and if ever there was a trial. This case will never see a trial.
These two kids are going to be charged with something. That is why they were not allowed to leave Mexico. Mom and Dad and the Coast Guard Academy are going to have to come up with some CASH, and a lot of it.
Silvina Morales, the prosecutor's office agent in charge of the case, indicated that a Complaint had been drafted; and according to the complaint, the female cadet and the enlisted man decided to swim at a local beach. She said the two policemen apparently hid behind some rocks and surprised the swimmers when they came out of the ocean. All reports from the Coast Guard are ambiguos concerning who is the subject of the complaint. It could be the female cadet and the enlisted man, or it could be the police officers.
My bet is that it is the female cadet and the enlisted man. They could be charged with almost anything; such as, public drunkenness, lewdness, swimming nude on a public beach, public indecency, drunk and disorderly, having sex in public, assaulting a police officer, refusal to cooperate with a police officer, being on the beach after dark or sundown. They may have entered a closed or secured area.




Nevertheless, we will not rest until these two brave young Americans are returned to American soil.


Even if the female cadet and the enlisted man are eventually released from Mexican custody, this case will be far from over.
What standard will be used to dispose of this case? The Webster Smith Standard, where the female cadet receives no discipline and she gets to testify against the enlisted man? Shelly Raudenbush had a torrid fling with a Navy enlisted man in Norfolk, Virginia and went on to be the Star Witness against Webster Smith. She received complete immunity for fraternizing with a Navy enlisted man, and Webster Smith was convicted, essentially, for keeping her secret. The 3/cCadet Jane Doe was a freshman 4/c cadet during the Webster Smith Court-martial; so, she would be quite familiar with the facts of the case. Also, the female cadet grapevine would have given her all the facts concerning Shelly Raudenbush and her sexual escapades with Navy enlisted men.She observed that Shelly was not called to task for her violations of the Cadet Regulations or the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It would appear that that is how the Coast Guard Academy will handle all similar incidents involving female cadets. They are sacred cows.
Or, will this case be judged by be the Shelly Raudenbush Standard where the female cadet gets immunity from prosecution, no charges for fraternizing with an enlisted man? Although Shelly's infractions occurrred in Virginia and New London, not in a foreign country, the facts are similar. Also, Shelly knew how to keep a secret. She only told Webster Smith and her female friends. She did not create an international incident. This 3/c Jane Doe may have sparked an international incident with our Southern Neighbor whose relationship with the US is tense at the moment because of the immigration issue, border security, and drug smuggling across the border. Also, she may have ruined the career of the commanding officer of the CGC Eagle.
Or will they used the the Cadet John Miller Standard where the local authorities take care of resolving the case and the cadet is returned to duty with a warning to be more discrete next time? I am reasonably sure this case will eventually be solved by the local authorities; and, it will be resolved without a trial. It will only take a large infusion of CASH. As soon as the parties agree on a figure, the case will be over. That is, it will be over in Mexico. There will still be the matter of determining whether 3/c Cadet Jane Doe has violated any regulations.

Either way, the female cadet corps has the Wisniewski Curse? Or, perhaps it is the Shelly Raudenbush Curse? Either way, the Coast Guard albatross is still there around the neck of the Coast Guard Academy. Until the Webster Smith travesty is resolved fairly, and Webster Smith is given his Commission and his degree, and his record is wiped clean, the cadets will continue to suffer these terribly embarrassing incidents.




See http://lawandorderroybean.blogspot.com/ for more analysis and comments.

LATE BREAKING NEWS: On or about Tuesday, 24 July, 3/c Cadet Jane Doe was repatriated to Miami, Florida to her family. Not as big as Elian Gonzales, but just as emotional. She is awaiting the arrival of the CGC Eagle with the rest of her classmates. The skids were greased and she was released. She will have the best sea story to tell from this cadet summer training cruise.
What deal was struck with the Devil to secure her release?
Was she an unfortunate victim of circumstances, or a victim of her own bad judgment?

Natalie Granger, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said U.S. officials are working with the Mexican government on the investigation. She said the details of the investigation could not be released until the work is complete, and she could not say how long that would take.

The two policemen were charged with robbery, abuse of authority and sexual misconduct.

The torch has been passed to a new Gender, and the females continue to get a free ride with no ethical accountability. With each Academy entering class containing more and more females, the Coast Guard Academy can look forward to more of the same, underway as before and steady as she goes.

The albatross around the neck of the Coast Guard continues to work in other areas of Coast Guard responsibilities. The Coast Guard is being stripped of authority in areas where it has proven that it cannot be relied upon to perform honorably. It is not that the Coast Guard lacks the manpower; it appears that she lacks the integrity to do it fairly and impartially. “This is truly a sad day for the Coast Guard”.

The Webster Smith case exposed a cancer that has festered for years in secret and in silence. Now the world is sitting up and taking notice. Not only the world, but also those in the corridors of power who have the authority to rein in those rogue elements in the Coast Guard who feel that they are above reproach.
It is usually the little things that trigger the avalanche. Webster Smith triggered an investigation of the Coast Guard Academy superintendent, a Study of the Culture and Climate at the Academy, a Congressional Deep Water Ports inquiry, and Congressional Hearings concerning the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) Corps appearance of bias and impropriety in enforcing the Boating Safety Regulations.
When Doug Wisniewski invited the news media to come in and look over how the Academy protects its defenseless female cadets against ”so-called” sexual predators, he was forcing the toothpaste out of the tube. He was ringing a bell that could not be unrung. Unfortunately, you cannot squeeze the toothpaste back into the tube, and you cannot unring that bell.
The Baltimore Sun revealed on 1 August 2007 (just 3 days before the Coast Guard will celebrate its 217th Birthday) that Congressman Elijah D. Cummings has proposed legislation that will strip the Coast Guard of all of its administrative law judges. On 31 July 2007 he called for the U.S. Coast Guard's administrative court system to be removed from Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard control and placed within an independent arm of government. He will submit legislation to strip the administrative law system from the Coast Guard, with hopes of having the change implemented by the end of 2008. Rep Cummings said. “Being treated fairly by a judge is a fundamental right of every American and we need to send a strong message to the mariner community that when they come before the Coast Guard that's how they're going to be treated.” Well, Happy Birthday US Coast Guard. What a birthday present!
Like the Prophet Elijah in the Old Testament, is this modern day congressman bringing a message of despair and retribution to a runagate group of power hungry demagogues? Also, in Moby Dick, it was Elijah who prophesied the destruction of all those who hunted to kill but secretly worshipped the great white whale. The Coast Guard by its own press releases implies that the only minority group worthy of its recruiting attention is the white female. It has staked its reputation on being the first Academy to admit women, to have the largest percentage population of women in the cadet corps, and the first to court-martial a Black male cadet for having sex with his white female classmate; and now, the first to leave a teenage female cadet alone in a foreign port because she was late returning to the ship from liberty. Sadly, all of the evidence in the Webster Smith case after the fact shows that the cadet was discriminated against and framed with perjured testimony. Is that shouting I hear from the bridges and engine rooms of merchant ships around the world? Are merchant seamen and shipping companies around the world celebrating the demise of the Coast Guard ALJ Corps?
One question begs attention. Will the diminution in authority, and control over the ALJ Corps and the enforcement of the Boating Safety and Marine Inspection laws translate into a reduction in staff and budget? Will the historically Humanitarian Service be stripped of more and more of its peace time humanitarian mission areas of responsibilities? At the same time, will the Coast Guard receive more and greater responsibility for Homeland Security? Will the Coast Guard become more hawkish and less of a dove?
The nation’s only maritime police force will be more military ready and less boating safety friendly. That would be a good time to increase the percentage of female cadets and enlisted women. The Cadet Culture Study postulated that females out perform their male counterparts the majority of the time. However, it did not mention that there has been an 80 percent jump in the homeless population in America fueled by female veterans. Many female veterans do not even consider themselves veterans. They have the hardest time adjusting back to civilian life after a tour in the military. But, that could be the subject of future Coast Guard studies. In the mean time, the torch has been passed to a new GENDER of Coast Guard officer trainees. Git ere done!

12 Jan 2008, Update: White Teenage Female Cadet Claims Sexual assault By Mexican Police on Veracruz Beach.
Two Mexican law enforcement officers accused of assaulting a white female Coast Guard Academy third class cadet and a Black enlisted crew member stationed onboard the Coast Guard Academy training ship USCGC Eagle are still in jail.
The incident occurred during a port call in Veracruz, Mexico, in mid-July 2007.

The case is under review by the First Criminal Court in Veracruz, and the judge has not issued a final decision, according to a Coast Guard Academy spokesman.

The U.S. Embassy has just received a verbal update from the Mexican court.

According to that update, the accused police officers filed an appeal against their imprisonment, and a federal court denied the appeal, but the criminal court is expecting a new appeal. Mexican courts are like German jokes, they are not funny and you never know where they are going or how they will come out.

The third-class female cadet and the male crew member said the police officers attempted to handcuff them, stole some of their possessions, threatened them and forced the female to perform oral sex on one of them, while they were on liberty after a late night swim at a beach in Veracruz, Mexico.

The two policemen have allegedly been charged with robbery, abuse of authority and sexual misconduct.




BRING ME MEN.