Sgt. Kevin Benderman was acquitted on charges of desertion. It appears that after his first tour of duty in Iraq, he decided that war was wrong and that he wasn't going to play anymore.
Hey, I can understand that. Combat is not for everybody, and if he found he didn't have what it took, then more power to him for recognizing that and getting out of the way so he doesn't get his buddy killed. Hell, in 9 years of active duty, I never faced combat and I don't know how I would react. It's possible that I too might decide that war is wrong, and that no injustice is worth the terrible price paid by combatants and non combatants alike. Maybe I would decide that continuing to feed people into paper shredders and putting children into prison for their parents politics was preferable to armed conflict. I might decide that a little torture, rape, theft, murder and mayhem would be a small price to pay to keep soldiers from dying.
Yeah, I might decide that too. But I sure as hell doubt it. And more importantly, I wouldn't make that decision, then go silently through 11 months of training with my brothers-in-arms preparing to go back, only to announce my decision 10 freakin' days before the deployment!
What a crock of horse crap!
But I'm not angry about it.
The asshole left his unit a man short on the eve of their deployment. It just doesn't get any lower than that. Now his unit will be under strength or some other soldier will have to take his place, either by deploying early (ie rushed through training) or being extended. Sgt Benderman is a 40 year old man with years of military experience. He had to know what he was doing to his former comrades by leaving at the last minute, but he did it anyway. That's not conscientious at all; that's totally irresponsible and selfish.
But I'm not angry about that.
Since he had applied for CO status prior to deployment, the court martial cleared him of desertion, but found him guilty of missing movement, netting him a 15 month prison term and a dishonorable discharge. So while the members of his unit are working in Iraq for 12 months, he'll be sitting in a military prison, safe and comfortable for 15 months, after which he'll be able to live in shame for the rest of his life.
But I'm not angry about that. His company commander felt the sentence was fair, and that's good enough for me.
No, what I'm mad at is the &@!!*&^% lawyer who's complaining that the sentence was "overly harsh."
Look moron, this was a gift. He intentionally missed movement into a hazardous area with the intent of avoiding the hazard. That's the definition of desertion. He did so with the full knowledge of the burden and the increased risk that it would place on every man in his unit.
And he did it anyway.
Overly harsh my ass. If it had been me, this chump would be making little rocks out of big ones for every minute of the next 5 years.