Wednesday, April 8, 2015

What's the proper sentence for this case?

A senior enlisted man has been tried by special court-martial and convicted of multiple specifications of wearing unearned decorations, tabs and uniform devices of various kinds, as reported here:
Command Sgt. Maj. Perry McNeill was found guilty by a military judge of eight specifications of wearing unauthorized insignia, decoration, badge, ribbon, device, or lapel button. The judge also found McNeill guilty of making a false official statement. . . . 
He was sentenced to receive a letter of reprimand, reduction in rank to E-7, and forfeitures of $500 a month for 10 months, according to a statement Wednesday from Fort Sill.
Army Times goes on to say:
McNeill is the second high-ranking soldier to be busted in recent months for wearing unearned badges and decorations. 
Lt. Col. Gerald Green, the former head of the Army National Guard Warrior Training Center at Fort Benning, Georgia, was relieved of command in October while the Army investigated if he was wearing an unearned Ranger tab. 
An investigation later found Green also wore an unearned Sapper tab and air assault wings, and he hadn't earned his Combat Action Badge or Army Commendation Medal with V device. He also wrongfully certified in his personnel record that he had earned the Expert Infantry Badge and a Presidential Unit Citation, the investigation found. 
Unlike McNeill, Green's case was handled through non-judicial and administrative action, officials said.
Military personnel takes these matters very seriously. (Older readers may recall the tragic death of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda in 1996.) Did CSM McNeill get the right sentence? Is there a "different spanks" problem as between his case and Lt. Col. Green's, as Army Times implies?

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