CSM sentenced for wearing/claiming fake medals. What do you think of his penalty?

I waffled between just right and not enough. With the jail time for something like this it seems to be just right in my opinion, but the reduction only to SSG and being allowed to recieve his retirement. Give me a break. At some point we have to stop coddling senior leaders and they have to do their job right or get kicked to the curb.

Very poor conduct for a CSM. The demotion to SSG will hit him in the wallet on his retirement, as it should. The judge could have gone further with the imposition of the BCD as recommended by the prosecutor, but I think that the demotion and obvious moral censure was probably just in this case. The fact that he did it under the nose of a colonel who had earned the Medal of Honor demonstrates that he has no shame!

He should of not gotten prison time. That is just ridiculous. What he should of gotten was reduced to E-1 and a dishonorable discharge. Reduced to SSG? "leniency for my family"? How about eff you! How about you LIVING the Army values everyday, even when no one is looking. How about remembering the Creed of the NCO? Please correct me if I am wrong, but since he didn't get a bad conduct discharge, won't he still collect the E-9 pension if he held that rank for at least three years? I will bet you a Junior enlisted Soldier wouldn't have gotten a break! Not to mention, he had a great career, he rose through the ranks and became a CSM...the senior adviser at Walter Reed. This is crazy...

I wouldn't have gone for more prison time, but I would have busted him down to Pvt. Come on a CSM??? At what point is someone supposed to know better. These are the examples of NCO's to our young men and women serving, or at least they are supposed to be.

I will never understand this. At what point does someone start perusing the web for metals to spruce up their uniform? I mean come on! This isn't Walmart. I can't imagine even "shopping" for metals let alone ordering them...then wearing them! Especially when you are a CSM! You know he has a bunch of metals already. That isn't enough?

I would have dropped him one rank and forced him to retire.

Fraudulently wearing unearned military medals deserves severe punishment. This is not mere pride. A minted coin suspended by a bit of cloth is worth no more than a couple bucks unless there is real, legally protected, prestige attached to it. Medals, particularly for valor, represent the thanks of a grateful nation.

Those thanks lose their impact when medals purchased at the base exchange are just as rightfully worn as one properly cited and presented. Thieving honor is not free speech! Military medals are akin to US currency in this way. If I could purchase and use silver dollars at military clothing sales, how much value would they retain?

This CSM deserves the most severe punishment available. A civilian improperly claiming military awards might rightfully claim he/she did not grasp the full weight of their actions. A CSM does not have that privilege. Traditionally, E-9's are the ultimate vanguards of military honor and discipline--even beyond officers. Throw the book at that disgrace.

I followed this for a while. He was described by his Soldiers, past and present, as a great leader. He molded a lot of people into great leaders, as well. As much as I would like to commend him for what he did for those individuals, the lives he saved. His good intentions do not justify his actions. It's a double-edged sword. It's a mess that no one wants to deal with. However, he did break the rules, and he must pay the consequences. The careers of all those Soldiers who he influenced, not just personally, but also by virtue, command and the sound of his name and rank, have all been tarnished. It's a shame that it took this long to recognize that something wasn't right.

It baffles me how people feel the need to falsify or misrepresent themselves. How many Soldiers' careers did this individual take away from his influence throughout the years?

There was another story about a guy who falsified himself by utilizing his brothers identity his whole career. Somehow he was only reduced to SFC. There are Great Soldiers who have to retire as a SSG because that is just the way it works out for them.

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/bragg-soldier-demoted-ranks-after-being-convicted-of-using-his/article_12af94f2-aced-5f57-b357-63fcb9dc815f.html

These types of people need to lose it all because everything they did throughout their time was portraying themselves as a lie.

It really is frustrating to see cases like this because I think about Soldiers' who's careers were ended because of liars. Soldiers that may have been rehabilitated to perform without the need to LIE!

Individuals such as this destroy the CORE VALUES.

I voted that the punishment was "Just Right". I would like more information after reading many comments. It is difficult to attain the rank of E9 in any branch of the service and he has probably served our country well to get to where he was, that said I would want to know more about his potential retirement qualifications. Will he collect retirement at E9 or at the lower rank. Normally veterans can collect on the highest rank attained, or this was the model. That alone is worth tens of thousands of dollars over the course of his life, if he collects at the higher rank. Is there the normal procedure in place that allows for a type of reversal of record if he stays out of further problems. He deserves the punishment that was meted out, at a minimum. But he also deserves to retain the respect that his actual record merits. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Defrock in front of the whole post. Make an example of pretending to be something you are not.