Posted on Jun 30, 2015
Panel urges ex-Green Beret hero out of Army with VA benefits. Your Thoughts And Why?
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In this Jan. 4, 2011 file photo, U.S Army Capt. Mathew Golsteyn, right, is congratulated by fellow soldiers following the Valor Awards ceremony for 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Golsteyn, who was accused of tracking down and killing an unarmed bomb-making suspect in Afghanistan, is being recommended for an honorable discharge even though the military panel that looked into the case determined his conduct was unbecoming an officer. The Fort Bragg panel reached the finding late Sunday, June 28, 2015. (James Robinson/The Fayetteville Observer via AP)
The Associated Press reports that Major Mathew Golsteyn was told by a panel of senior officers after a six-day hearing at Fort Bragg, NC that he should accept their offer of a honorable discharge for “conduct unbecoming an officer”.
Army Special Forces Command spokeswoman Maj. Allison Aguilar said Monday that if the decision is upheld by a review board Golsteyn would be discharged under honorable conditions allowing him to keep nearly all veteran’s benefits.
Golsteyn’s Colorado-based defense lawyer, Phillip Stackhouse, said the panel didn’t describe which conduct it found unbecoming an officer.
“Therefore, I can’t tell you what they found,” Stackhouse said in an email.
https://news.yahoo.com/panel-urges-ex-green-beret-hero-army-va-180040045.html
Golsteyn, who was accused of tracking down and killing an unarmed bomb-making suspect in Afghanistan, is being recommended for an honorable discharge even though the military panel that looked into the case determined his conduct was unbecoming an officer. The Fort Bragg panel reached the finding late Sunday, June 28, 2015. (James Robinson/The Fayetteville Observer via AP)
The Associated Press reports that Major Mathew Golsteyn was told by a panel of senior officers after a six-day hearing at Fort Bragg, NC that he should accept their offer of a honorable discharge for “conduct unbecoming an officer”.
Army Special Forces Command spokeswoman Maj. Allison Aguilar said Monday that if the decision is upheld by a review board Golsteyn would be discharged under honorable conditions allowing him to keep nearly all veteran’s benefits.
Golsteyn’s Colorado-based defense lawyer, Phillip Stackhouse, said the panel didn’t describe which conduct it found unbecoming an officer.
“Therefore, I can’t tell you what they found,” Stackhouse said in an email.
https://news.yahoo.com/panel-urges-ex-green-beret-hero-army-va-180040045.html
Court Martial
Army
Posted >1 y ago
This is a duplicate discussion and the contents have been merged with the original discussion. Click below to see more on this topic...
An Army board of inquiry has recommended a general discharge for a decorated former Green Beret, finding no clear evidence the soldier violated the rules of engagement while deployed to Afghanistan in 2010.
Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, accused by the Army of illegally killing an unarmed, suspected bomb-maker, would retain most of his retirement benefit under a recommended general discharge under honorable conditions. While cleared of a law of armed conflict violation, the board did determine his conduct was unbecoming.
The government had sought an other-than-honorable discharge.
Golsteyn's lawyer Phillip Stackhouse called the Army's ruling "deficient" and said Golsteyn would appeal. The government, he said, did not specify or work to substantiate any unbecoming behavior separate from the alleged law of armed conflict violation. In other words, the board made two different decisions for the same alleged conduct.
"It makes no sense. It's a defective finding." Stackhouse told Army Times. "They nicked him for conduct unbecoming with no specific findings."
Army Secretary John McHugh, who already stripped Golsteyn of a Silver Star and his Special Forces Tab, will decide whether to accept the board of inquiry's recommendation. Regulations dictate he can only act more favorably to Golsteyn than the general discharge prescribed by the panel, Stackhouse said.
Stackhouse said the appeal will be filed after the full transcript of the hearing is assembled, which could take over a month. In the meantime, he said, Golsteyn's discharge will proceed in parallel to the medical board process in determining the specifics of retirement benefits.
Stackhouse said Golsteyn remains unavailable for interviews, but did say that his client felt betrayed by the Army over the past few years.
"It's very fair to say he feels betrayed. We talked about that today. I also think that he feels vindicated by the testimony that has been presented: that there was witness after witness after witness after witness that testified to his moral courage, his decision-making and his character," Stackhouse said.
All along, Stackhouse and other Golsteyn supporters have maintained the Army investigation failed to find any corroboration of the allegation, which stemmed from Golsteyn's video-taped polygraph during a 2011 job interview with the CIA.
No physical evidence was found in the Army investigation (of which the Army Times acquired a redacted version). Golsteyn allegedly admitted in the videotaped interview with the CIA that he shot, buried, dug up and burned the body of the victim after the victim identified and threatened an Afghan informant.
However, tests of multiple burn pits came up negative for human remains, according to the investigation. Witnesses also provided no corroboration to the allegation, and most also effused praise for Golsteyn's character and capabilities.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/crime/2015/06/29/board-ex-green-beret-mathew-golsteyn-should-receive-general-discharge/29477523/
Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, accused by the Army of illegally killing an unarmed, suspected bomb-maker, would retain most of his retirement benefit under a recommended general discharge under honorable conditions. While cleared of a law of armed conflict violation, the board did determine his conduct was unbecoming.
The government had sought an other-than-honorable discharge.
Golsteyn's lawyer Phillip Stackhouse called the Army's ruling "deficient" and said Golsteyn would appeal. The government, he said, did not specify or work to substantiate any unbecoming behavior separate from the alleged law of armed conflict violation. In other words, the board made two different decisions for the same alleged conduct.
"It makes no sense. It's a defective finding." Stackhouse told Army Times. "They nicked him for conduct unbecoming with no specific findings."
Army Secretary John McHugh, who already stripped Golsteyn of a Silver Star and his Special Forces Tab, will decide whether to accept the board of inquiry's recommendation. Regulations dictate he can only act more favorably to Golsteyn than the general discharge prescribed by the panel, Stackhouse said.
Stackhouse said the appeal will be filed after the full transcript of the hearing is assembled, which could take over a month. In the meantime, he said, Golsteyn's discharge will proceed in parallel to the medical board process in determining the specifics of retirement benefits.
Stackhouse said Golsteyn remains unavailable for interviews, but did say that his client felt betrayed by the Army over the past few years.
"It's very fair to say he feels betrayed. We talked about that today. I also think that he feels vindicated by the testimony that has been presented: that there was witness after witness after witness after witness that testified to his moral courage, his decision-making and his character," Stackhouse said.
All along, Stackhouse and other Golsteyn supporters have maintained the Army investigation failed to find any corroboration of the allegation, which stemmed from Golsteyn's video-taped polygraph during a 2011 job interview with the CIA.
No physical evidence was found in the Army investigation (of which the Army Times acquired a redacted version). Golsteyn allegedly admitted in the videotaped interview with the CIA that he shot, buried, dug up and burned the body of the victim after the victim identified and threatened an Afghan informant.
However, tests of multiple burn pits came up negative for human remains, according to the investigation. Witnesses also provided no corroboration to the allegation, and most also effused praise for Golsteyn's character and capabilities.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/crime/2015/06/29/board-ex-green-beret-mathew-golsteyn-should-receive-general-discharge/29477523/
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