Bill would ban gang membership in ranks

By Leo Shane III, Stars and StripesMideast edition, Saturday, December 15, 2007

WASHINGTON — Gang membership among military personnel for the first time would be specifically forbidden under language outlined in the 2008 Defense authorization bill.
Current department regulations prohibit membership in any organizations that “espouse supremacist causes; attempt to create illegal discrimination … advocate the use of force or violence; or otherwise engage in efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights.”
But they don’t explicitly list street gangs among those groups, an issue lawmakers and law enforcement officials have criticized as a way to overlook possible gang affiliation among troops in the ranks.
“I’ve heard from police officers across the country that there are problems with gangs on posts,” said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., who introduced the amendment.
“The FBI suggests there are problems not only in the states but on bases abroad. So somebody hasn’t been serious enough.”
Earlier this year, Army Criminal Investigation Command announced a jump in gang-related crimes, from 23 incidents worldwide in fiscal 2005 to 60 in fiscal 2006. An FBI report found links between gangs and at least seven military facilities in the U.S. and gang activity and graffiti in bases in Germany, Italy, Japan and Iraq.
Both agencies classified gangs as a small but growing problem within the ranks.
All four services have rules allowing commanders to discipline or dismiss servicemembers found working with gangs, but the new bill language would be the first departmentwide standard specifically banning those associations.
Department spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington said officials there do not expect any changes in policing of troops as a result of the amendment because the current regulation “is already broad enough to prohibit active participation in criminal gangs.”
But he added they did not oppose the language change, to explicitly state that troops must reject participation in gangs.
“Although the Department’s statistics do not support the conclusion that gang problems in the military are pervasive or significantly on the rise, anything that negatively affects readiness or undermines military values is of concern,” he said.
Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, said he hopes the new language also spurs more investigation into the problem by military officials. He said in many instances defense investigators don’t have the same resources of agencies such as the FBI to recognize or identify gang affiliation.
“We want to make sure they’re sharing the same list, identifying problems and minimizing the opportunity for gang members to get in (the military),” he said.
He added that he has discussed the issue with defense officials, and hopes to see more progress on weeding out gang members in coming months. Withington said officials are already working with FBI experts on accessing their gang databases.
House and Senate negotiators finalized their work on the 2008 Defense authorization bill earlier this month. The House gave final approval to the measure Wednesday, and the Senate passed it Friday. It now goes to President Bush to sign into law.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50993&source=rss

The fuss over alleged gang signs – on Page 1!

By Dave Mazzarella, Stars and Stripes ombudsman
Pacific edition, Friday, December 14, 2007
AP
This photo — which shows a soldier from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division dancing with a Washington Redskins cheerleader at Patrol Base Dragon, Iraq, during a Nov. 27 appearance by the squad — appeared on the front page of Stars and Stripes’ Nov. 29 Mideast edition and inspired several letters to the editor from readers.

Once again, folks are talking about gangs in the military. In February, Stars and Stripes published thousands of words over four days on the subject. I have a feeling people took note, judging from the way it has surfaced now.

Two front-page photographs provided by The Associated Press and published last month in Stars and Stripes started the more recent buzz about gangs, more specifically about the signs gang members make to identify their allegiances. One photo appeared Nov. 14 in the Italy edition and Nov. 15 in the Okinawa and Japan editions and showed a group of soldiers being sworn in as U.S. citizens in Iraq. The second appeared Nov. 29 in the Mideast edition and showed soldiers dancing with Redskins cheerleaders. The event also took place in Iraq.

There were quick objections to both photos, expressed in letters to the editor. It was alleged that two soldiers in the first photo — the one with a group becoming citizens — were flashing gang signs. (The two were pictured close to the center of the photograph.) Matthew Fritch, writing from Iraq, said he understood the Army was cracking down on gangs, and asked why Stripes would show such an image. The matter “should be forwarded to the Criminal Investigation Command for immediate investigation,” he wrote.

In the second photo the soldier dancing with the cheerleader supposedly was flashing a gang sign with his hands in the air. Or so thought several letter writers. "This is unacceptable and your editors must do a better job of quality control," wrote Sgt. Brian Sladky from Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Capt. Joe Smith, writing from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, said: “This (showing gang signs) is a punishable offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, if I am not mistaken. Are you telling me that this is the best picture your staff could find, out of the many I am sure were taken there, to put on the front page?” (Smith also berated Stripes for depicting soldiers getting “up close and personal” with the scantily clad cheerleaders. And another writer, Sgt. Marsha J. Vega from Iraq, complained about what she called the authorities’ propensity to repeatedly bring in “hot females dressed in tiny outfits.” She didn’t mention Stripes. This is a debate, in any case, for another day.)

Yet another writer, Sgt. Matthew Merchant, from Camp Speicher, Iraq, questioned whether Stripes intentionally displayed the ostensible gang signs: “[I]f the intent is to point out that the [gang] problem still exists, I applaud you.”

As to the two photographs of soldiers allegedly making gang signs, it turns out that Stripes editors, when examining both photos prior to publication, raised the possibility that the soldiers were in fact doing so.

Regarding the first photo, showing the citizenship ceremony, Leo Shane III, one of the reporters for the February gangs series, and copy editor Kate Moloney, scrutinized the image. They decided it was not possible to determine if the gestures were gang-related. The photo then was published.

Shane and Moloney apparently were correct. Chris Grey, chief of public affairs for the Criminal Investigation Command (CID) at Fort Belvoir, Va., told me: “It’s hard to say with any certainty that these allegations have merit. The hand sign displayed by the soldier in the rear of the picture is very similar to the hand gesture commonly found in the Hawaiian Islands and is not associated with gang activity, and the hand gesture made by the soldier in the front is not readily recognized as a common gang sign.”

The photo of the soldier dancing with the cheerleader was also studied by the editors. Executive Editor Robb Grindstaff said: “None of us recognized it from the chart [of gang signs] we had previously published with the gang package.” My check of law enforcement sources revealed a slightly more confident yet not definitive judgment. The hand gestures “closely resembled” those of a Harlem gang, said one source, who asked that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the subject. Another expert, Richard Valdemar, a gang expert formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, said one hand looked to him as if it were giving a sign, but not the equally contorted other hand.

Still, as Grey of the CID noted, “displaying hand gestures is not a criminal act” and showing signs is not proof that the person belongs to a gang. Signals could be considered criminal if they threatened violence or menace — certainly not evident in the two photos Stripes published. And both Grindstaff and Grey pointed out that in modern times, rap artists and ordinary “cool” individuals often display gang signs even if they have nothing whatsoever to do with gangs.

As to the two soldiers pictured, only they know what they were doing. The captions on the photos did not include their names. For the record, I tried to identify them in order to make contact and ask, but I failed.

A picture is said to be worth a thousand words. Here are four: Let’s just cool it.

Airman to face Article 32 in gang beating

By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes European edition, Thursday, December 13, 2007

Airman Nicholas Sims has become the first airman charged for allegedly participating in the 2005 gang beating of Army Sgt. Juwan Johnson.
An Article 32 hearing for Sims of Ramstein Air Base’s 86th Maintenance Squadron is scheduled to begin on the base Monday, said Darlene Cowsert, a spokeswoman with the 435th Air Base Wing.
Sims, 28, faces charges of grievous bodily harm, aggravated assault and failure to obey a lawful order, Cowsert said.
The charges were preferred against Sims on Nov. 28.
The charges against Sims are much less severe than those faced by soldiers implicated in Johnson’s death.
Johnson, a soldier in Kaiserslautern’s 66th Transportation Company, was found dead in his barracks room July 4, 2005.
Johnson was beaten by nine current or former servicemembers — including Sims — for six minutes on the evening of July 3, 2005, during an initiation ceremony into the Gangster Disciples, according to previous testimony from Army Pfc. Latisha Ellis.
As a gang recruit, Ellis was an eyewitness to the alleged beating and now serves as a key prosecution witness.
If the matter proceeds to a court-martial and Sims is convicted on all charges, his potential maximum punishment would likely include confinement, dishonorable discharge, reduction to the lowest pay grade and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.
Sims served as the right-hand man of the local gang’s leader, former Ramstein airman Rico Williams, Ellis has testified.
During the July 3, 2005, beating, Sims punched Johnson 40 or more times, according to Ellis’ prior testimony.
Three soldiers, who stood court-martial this summer in the Johnson case, all faced the more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter.
The first two soldiers who were tried this summer — Pvt. Terrence Norman and Sgt. Rodney Howell — were convicted and sentenced to confinement for their roles in Johnson’s death.
In October, a jury found Army Staff Sgt. Alre Hudson not guilty in the matter.
An airman who previously worked at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and allegedly served as the timekeeper at Johnson’s beating remains under investigation.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Themitrios Saroglou is currently assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and no charges have been filed against him, according to Lois Walsh with the 96th Air Base Wing public affairs office.
Sims’ Article 32 hearing will determine whether enough evidence exists against the accused airman to proceed to a court-martial.
The hearing is similar to the convening of a grand jury.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50948&source=rss

Soldier held in city shooting could be freed

Case in which 5 were shot is 'legally insufficient,' says city prosecutor's office

By Gus G. Sentementes |Sun reporter

11:41 AM EDT, October 18, 2007

A Baltimore soldier charged with shooting five people in a gang-related dispute last month could be freed from an Oklahoma jail today after city prosecutors drop the case, the state's attorney's office said this morning.

Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the city prosecutor's office, said the case against Jerrell Hill is "legally insufficient." Hill is being held in a county detention center near Fort Sill.

Burns also said that authorities are withdrawing an extradition request for Hill, 18, who was charged this week with attempted murder in a warrant.
The attack occurred Sept. 20 in East Baltimore's Barclay neighborhood when police said two men approached a group on the street and one fired at least twice with a shotgun loaded with birdshot -- tiny metal pellets that, when discharged from a shotgun, can spray a wide area.

Police said at least three of the five victims who were shot have ties to a rival gang known as the Young Gorilla Family, which claims the Barclay neighborhood. Law enforcement officials believe the Young Gorilla Family and Bloods gang members have been responsible for a string of shootings and homicides in Barclay during the past year.

A police spokesman said investigators believe that the shooting suspect is a member of a local Bloods group known as the Pasadena Denver Lane gang. Hill's parents have said their son was not responsible for the attack and said they had no knowledge of his involvement in any violent gangs.

Hill's parents said they took their son to BWI Marshall Airport for an 11 a.m. American Airlines flight Sept. 11 and watched him pass through the security checkpoint, "and he was supposed to report back to base," Robert Hill said.

But earlier this week, Army officials said they could not publicly disclose when Hill reported to the base. Police also said they had witnesses who identified Hill as the suspected shooter.

Sterling Clifford, a city police spokesman, said this morning that new questions have come up about the case and where Hill was at the time of the shooting. Clifford said evidence does support that Hill flew to Oklahoma on Sept. 11 but that he did not report to Fort Sill until Sept. 21, a day after the shootings in East Baltimore.

Sterling said that Hill remains a "person of interest" and that the investigation is open and continuing.

Robert Hill said his son dropped out of one of the small schools at the former Northern High School in 10th grade but completed a security trades program at Woodstock Job Corps Center. Jerrell Hill, the younger of two children, earned his GED in March and enlisted in April because "he decided he wanted to get off the streets and do something with his life," his father said.

He joined the Army on April 25 and was a private assigned to 1st Battalion, 22nd Field Artillery at Fort Sill, according to military officials. He had been assigned to the artillery unit last month, officials said.

gus.sentementes@baltsun.com

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-hill1018,0,1360428.story?coll=bal-artslife-neighborhood

UPDATE:

Oct 19, 2007 9:20 am US/Eastern

Evidence Clears Md. Soldier Of Shooting

by Dennis Edwards BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― Charges are dropped against soldier Jerrell Hill after indisputable evidence showed he left town before a Baltimore shooting.Charges are dropped against soldier Jerrell Hill after indisputable evidence showed he left town before a Baltimore shooting.

A new twist in the case of a Maryland soldier accused in a shooting. The judge asked that the charges be dismissed Thursday.

Dennis Edwards reports the charges are dropped after indisputable evidence showed Jerrell Hill left town before the shooting.

In spite of the evidence, investigators aren't convinced.

Baltimore Police got an attempted murder warrant for Jerrell Hill after a witness says he shot five people with a shot gun full of bird pellets in the 5600 block of Barclay St. But it turns out Hill had flown back to his base assignment at Fort Sill, Okla. 9 days earlier.

"This afternoon a prosecutor in the State's Attorney's office went to a judge and requested that the arrest warrant be quashed and the case be dismissed," said Margaret Burns of the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office.

Dropping the charges means Hill will be released from military custody to return to duty.

It's good, but not unexpected news for the 18-year-old's father, mother and girlfriend.

"I really wasn't worried. I knew where he was at all times. I was 100 percent sure that this was gonna break down," said Jerrell's father Robert Hill.

"The investigator who got the information that he wasn't there until Sept. 21. Where did you get that information from? Why did my son's name come from in the first place, and how did it go this far," said Jerrell's mother Quintina Hill.

But police tell Eyewitness News their investigation isn't over yet. They say Hill could still face charges.

They're still looking into what they call contradictory evidence about Hill's whereabouts between Sept. 11 and 21.

"If that's the case, if he's not responsible for it, obviously we don't want him to spend any more time in custody than he has already. And if he is the suspect, if it comes back to him, then we'll go get him again," said Sterling Clifford of the Baltimore City Police.

Hill's parents say there's no doubt he was at Fort Sill at the time of the shooting and before that. The Hill family says there is ample documentation because military personnel must sign in and out of work assignments.

Now the family is looking into legal options for totally clearing his name.

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

http://wjz.com/topstories/shooting.jerrell.hill.2.431409.html

Felons helped Army meet recruitment goal

Web Posted: 10/12/2007 11:29 PM CDT
Sig ChristensonExpress-News
WASHINGTON — The Army made its recruiting goal last year despite an increasingly unpopular war by turning to people convicted of serious crimes.

Recruiters signed up people who had committed such felonies as arson, burglary, aggravated assault, breaking and entering and driving while intoxicated.
The Army Recruiting Command said "moral" waivers for 1,620 felons were approved in the 2007 federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. That was far above the 2006 mark of 1,002.
The Army called giving waivers "the right thing to do" for those who want to serve. But a former Vietnam-era combat commander warned the service has cut a Faustian bargain it has made in the past and came to regret.
"I don't think that they should reduce their standards at all because it's not going to pay off for them," said retired Marine Lt. Gen. Bernard Trainor, who had the job of improving the quality of recruits in the Northeast after standards fell in the wake of Vietnam.
"It will be a short-term fix in making numbers, but a long-term headache in terms of performance," he predicted, "and I don't know one Army officer — particularly those who went through the Vietnam and post-Vietnam period — who doesn't take that same view."
The Army Recruiting Command's chief, Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick, said a relatively small number of the service's 80,000-plus active-duty recruits are granted moral waivers.
Most moral waivers, he said, were for misdemeanors — "small-time things" like joyriding and teen drinking. He said he or his deputy approved waivers for all serious offenses.
The Army grants waivers for reasons ranging from medical conditions to aptitude scores.
The number of all waivers issued also rose significantly in 2007 over the previous year —18.5 percent of all recruits. The Recruiting Command said 22,186 waivers were granted, more than half of them for "moral character" issues.
Another 38.9 percent were medical waivers, with the remaining 6.7 percent for drug and alcohol problems.
In all, 8,330 moral waivers were issued in the 2006 fiscal year. Of those, 1,002 were for offenses the Army classified as felonies, Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith said. Recruits allowed into boot camp, he added, received a reduced charge in many cases but still were classified as felons.
Those convicted of sexually violent offenses and drug dealing aren't allowed into the Army. Federal gun control law forbids people convicted of certain domestic violence crimes from serving. Those involved in school violence were barred after the Columbine shootings, the Army said, as are people in jail, on parole or facing felony charges.
The Army conducts an extensive investigation into the background of each person only after a court renders judgment.
University of Maryland military sociologist David Segal called the numbers striking. The Army couldn't say if they were a record, but one Pentagon official, Dr. David Chu, told reporters this week that while waivers in 2007 were within historical norm, they were "at the high end" of the range.
The Army's increasing reliance on people with questionable backgrounds comes amid a war that Segal and the recruiting command's Bostick agree has hurt recruiting.
"When you have a war that's not supported by the American people, you're not going to get the right people to join the American Army," said Lawrence Korb, assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs during the Reagan administration, now a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress in Washington.
The Army, though, said the waiver program allows patriotic young people to serve their country. In a fact sheet on the subject, the Army notes just three in 10 Americans between 17 and 24 years old are fully qualified to serve. The Army, it adds, reflects American society and, as a result, is taking more overweight youths and people with asthma, along with those convicted of serious crimes.
Bostick conceded Iraq is the deal-breaker for people. Recruiters, he said, are struggling to win the hearts and minds of "influencers," parents and other authority figures who help guide young people.
The raw numbers underscore the Army's dilemma in the fifth year of the Iraq war. It signed up fewer high school graduates — just 79.07 percent in 2007, down slightly from the previous year. It's taking in more overweight recruits and a greater number of people who post the lowest scores on the military's aptitude test.
Those who have been members of gangs, though, aren't automatically excluded from service.
"It's the criminal behavior that would be cause for exclusion," said Smith of the recruiting command. Anyone seeking a moral waiver is closely scrutinized by both recruiters and their chain of command, he said.
He could not say how many on waivers make it through basic training or commit crimes — including felonies — once they are in uniform.
Some soldiers famed for their heroism in combat, however, had checkered pasts.
At 16, Louis Richard Rocco was about to be sentenced for grand theft auto and armed robbery when he visited an Army recruiter. After a heart-to-heart talk, the recruiter went with him to court, where a judge said he could join the Army at 17 if he stayed in school, obeyed a curfew and stopped hanging out with gang-member friends.
Rocco, who died at his San Antonio home in 2002 at 63, received the Medal of Honor after his helicopter was hit by enemy fire and crashed. He retired as a chief warrant officer in 1978, four years after receiving the medal from President Ford, and re-enlisted during the first Gulf War.
Rocco, an Albuquerque, N.M., native, recruited medical personnel at Fort Sam Houston and later became a motivational speaker in the Alamo City.
Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said the number of moral waivers for 2007 were "quite acceptable," and noted that rates for desertion and going AWOL "continue to be at historically low levels."
The Army could not say how many soldiers who came in on moral waivers last year were accused of committing offenses requiring court-martials or non-judicial punishment. It added that an examination of records in 2003 showed no "significant" problem.
But Trainor, co-author of "Cobra II," a critical look at the Iraq war, said it took seven years for the Marines to recover from their decision to lower recruiting standards. The corps fixed the problem, he said, by taking a "zero-tolerance" approach to those responsible for recruiting and training new Marines.
"Is there room for the renegade and the rogue in the enlisted ranks?" Trainor asked. "Yes, there is. You don't want to close it off because there's a guy there who is going to do a hell of a good job, but you have to be careful. I'm saying you have to be careful about the people you accept and invest in."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA101307.01A.ArmyRecruiting.36a6ac8.html

Attack from within

By George J. Bryjak

Posted on: Friday, August 17, 2007

Collectively, the armed forces of the United States comprise the finest military organization in the world. The overwhelming number of men and women in its ranks are highly trained, honorable individuals willing to fight and die for their country. Lately, however, the integrity of the nation’s military has been compromised from within.

Since 2003, the U.S. Army has issued a significant number of “moral waivers” to recruits with criminal records: 15 percent of total recruits in 2004, 12 percent in 2005 and 11.7 in 2006. Over the past three years, more than 125,000 men and women with criminal records have joined the military. According to Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky., some of these individuals have “serious criminal misconduct” in their backgrounds. The most egregious offenses include receiving stolen property, aggravated assault, robbery, making terrorist threats and vehicular manslaughter.

Most experts are of the opinion that the unpopularity of the Iraq war is primarily responsible for the increase in “moral waiver” recruits. Individuals who oppose the war are not likely to enlist, while the majority of its “talk the talk,” hard-nosed supporters are unwilling to “walk the walk” to the recruiting office. As Alan Gropman of the Pentagon’s National Defense University argues, “There is terrific pressure put on recruiters ... They have to meet their mission so they request more waivers. In order to make the numbers they have to lower their standards.”

John D. Hutson, president of the Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire and former judge advocate general of the Navy, believes there is a very good reason why the military has traditionally shunned potential recruits with criminal histories: “If you are recruiting somebody who has demonstrated some sort of antisocial behavior and then you are putting a gun in their hands, you have to be awful careful about what you are doing ... You are not putting a hammer in their hands, or asking them to sell cars. You are potentially asking them to kill people.”

David Isenberg, Navy veteran and senior analyst at the British American Security Information Council, notes that studies from past decades indicate soldiers with criminal records are more likely to disobey military regulations: “The worse ... moral background you came from, the lousier job you did, not only in terms of your personal performance but in dragging down unit cohesion.”

Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University, states that lowering standards via moral waivers “increases the likelihood of problems in the unit, discipline problems.” As discipline is the bedrock of any military organization, anything that undermines the chain of command can only reduce a unit’s combat effectiveness.

No doubt some individuals with criminal histories (especially those who have committed less serious offenses) will be rehabilitated by the armed forces, becoming first-rate soldiers and respectable citizens. The question is, which ones with what offense history? This query may be impossible to answer as the military does not track criminal history of personnel.

While recruiters dispense moral waivers to clear the way for one problematic group of enlistees, another, arguably much more dangerous cohort of young men is entering the armed forces without waivers: neo-Nazis, racist skinheads and gang members. A 2006 investigation by the hate-group-monitoring Southern Poverty Law Center concluded that “large numbers of neo-Nazis and skinheads” are in the U.S. military. Department of Defense gang detective Scott Barfield told the SPLC that neo-Nazis “stretch across all branches of service, they are linking up across the branches once they’re inside, and they are hard core. We’ve got Aryan Nations graffiti in Baghdad ... That’s a problem.” (Although the Pentagon has long been aware of white supremacists in uniform, it dismissed the SPLC report).

Barfield stated that to meet enlistment quotas, “Recruiters are knowingly allowing neo-Nazis and white supremacists to join the armed forces and commanders won’t remove them,” even when these troops have been positively identified. Based at Fort Lewis, Wash., Barfield has identified and submitted evidence on 320 extremists at that Army installation. Only two had been discharged as of mid-year 2006. According to a 1998 Defense Department study, young extremists are encouraged by older leaders to join the military and gain access to weapons, combat training and potential new recruits to white power organizations.

The SPLC investigation identified a former Special Forces officer who wrote an article for the National Alliance (a neo-Nazi organization) publication Resistance.

“Light infantry is your branch of the service because the coming race war and the ethnic cleansing to follow will be very much an infantryman’s war,” he wrote. “It will be house-to-house, neighborhood-by-neighborhood until your town or city is cleared and the alien races are driven into the countryside where they can be hunted down and ‘cleansed.’”

While on active duty, T.J. Leyden, a former racist skinhead and Marine, recruited for the Hammerheads, a nationwide skinhead gang. He later renounced his neo-Nazi affiliation and now conducts anti-extremism training seminars for the military.

“Right now, any white supremacist in Iraq is getting live fire, guerilla warfare experience,” Leyden said. “And if he comes back and decides at some point down the road that it’s race war time, all that training and combat experience he’s received could easily turn around and bite this country in the a—.”

A January 2007 report, “Gang-Related Activity in the U.S. Armed Forces Increasing,” issued by the National Gang Intelligence Center, concluded that members of nearly every major street gang “have been identified on both domestic and international military installations.” Although occurring in all branches of the armed forces, military gang activity is most prevalent in the Army, the Army Reserve and the National Guard. Principal findings of this study include the following:

¯Some gang members enlist to receive weapons and combat training as well as obtain access to weapons and explosives.

¯Gang incidents involving active-duty personnel on or near U.S. military bases include drive-by shootings, assaults, robberies, drug distribution, weapons violations, extortion and money laundering.

¯Military training could result in more organized, sophisticated and violent gang activity as well as an increase in deadly assaults on law enforcement officers.

¯The military enlistment of gang members could ultimately lead to the worldwide expansion of U.S.-based gangs.

¯As most gang members maintain an allegiance to their gangs, these individuals could jeopardize the safety of other soldiers.

While military personnel with criminal records as well as gang and neo-Nazi affiliations existed prior to the Iraq War, their numbers have increased since the inception of this conflict. If U.S. involvement in the Iraq campaign drags on for another five to 10 years, this problem will only intensify, perhaps reaching a crisis level. A growing racist and criminal element within the armed forces is undermining the honor and possibly the effectiveness of the most distinguished institution in American society.



George J. Bryjak served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1964-67 and then was a sociology professor for 24 years at the University of San Diego. Now retired from teaching, he lives in Bloomingdale.



Sources:

Alvarez, L. (Feb. 14, 2007) “Army Giving More Waivers in Recruiting,” New York Times

Bender, B. (July 13, 2006) “More Entering Army with Criminal Records,” Boston Globe

Bowman, T. (Feb. 14, 2006) “Army Accepting More Recruits with Criminal, Drug Histories,” Baltimore Sun

“Gang-Related Activity in the U.S. Armed Forces Increasing” (2007) National Gang Intelligence Center, Stars and Stripes, http://stripes.com

Gerstein, J. (March 16, 2006) “Army Transfers Could Trigger a Gang War,” The New York Sun

Holthouse, D. (Summer 2006) “A Few Bad Men,” Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center

Kifner, J. (July 7, 2006) “Hate Groups Are Infiltrating the Military, Groups Asserts,” New York Times

Main, F. (March 16, 2006) “Gangs in the Ranks,” Chicago Sun-Times

Mitchell, B. (Feb. 11, 2007) “White Supremacists Presence Has Been a Concern for Years,” Stars and Stripes, http://stripes.com

Powers, R. (Feb. 12, 2007) “Gang Activity in the U.S. Military,” About.com, http://usmilitary.about.com

Turse, N. (Oct. 1, 2006) “U.S. Is Recruiting Misfits for Army,” SFGate.com, http://sfgate.com

http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/Columns/articles.asp?articleID=8251

After Tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marine Left Dying on Tampa Street

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS & MICHAEL A. MOHAMMED
St. Petersburg Times - Published Sunday, July 29, 2007
TAMPA - Just after the first bomb exploded in the Iraq war, Miguel Angel Suarez enlisted in the Marines.

His parents and five siblings warned him of the dangers abroad, but Suarez said he wanted to repay this country for the better life his family found after moving here from Mexico City when he was7 years old. It was March 2003, and this new war was his chance.

He survived tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. When his four-year enlistment was up this year, he signed up again. This time, he would work from a safer base in Tampa.

The insurgents never got him. But early July 21, Suarez was gunned down and left to die a mile and a half from his childhood home.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies say a 21-year-old gang member killed the Marine in a botched robbery attempt.

Jonathan Sanabria of 18425 Bittern Ave. saw Suarez, 25, walking home from a concert near the corner of North Himes and West Sligh avenues, deputies said.

In the ensuing scuffle, Sanabria pistol-whipped Suarez, shot him twice and left him lying in the street, deputies said.

They arrested Sanabria, described by deputies as a member of the Gangster Disciples gang of Chicago, Tuesday evening on a first-degree murder charge.

Sanabria, in jail without bail, told detectives it all happened because he wanted Suarez's gold chain.

"El Toro"

Pedro Suarez sat outside his West Tampa home Wednesday afternoon, cloaked head to toe in his little brother's full camouflage uniform, still wondering how anyone could kill Miguel.

This was the man who traveled to Mexico twice a year to surprise his 81-year-old grandmother with mariachis and flowers.

The Marine who stayed quiet about the dangers in Afghanistan and Iraq to keep his mother from worrying.

Miguel Suarez had been the baby of the family.

But in the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, everyone knew him as "El Toro."

He spoke in double entendre, making jokes that slid by most. Sgt. Jimmy Ray Sumaya always laughed.

"Finally," Suarez told him when they met. "Someone who knows what I'm talking about."

They became quick friends, and Sumaya encouraged him to re-enlist this year.

Suarez did and told his brothers he wanted to make the Marines a lifelong career.

a strange mood

The night he died, Suarez went to a Colombian Independence Day concert with a childhood friend, Janeth Valderrama.

In their tight-knit group, Suarez played the role of "the Fonz," she said. He razzed his friends, hassled waiters and never let himself - or his pals - make excuses.

"You wouldn't get the comfort; you'd get the truth," Valderrama said. In situations where some might offer consolation, he made people face reality: "Yeah, it was your fault."

Still, Suarez's friends trusted him not to judge or lecture them, said Liliana Villavicencio. He played pranks on them but was there when they needed him.

And despite his irreverence, he knew when to focus. Before exams at Jefferson High School, his normal goofing off gave way to diligent studying, Villavicencio said.

Suarez started out his usual self Friday night. Valderrama picked him up at the house he had just bought in Riverview. They drove to the concert at the Hindu Temple of Florida on Lynn Road. Suarez had a few drinks and danced with his friends.

But by 2 a.m. his mood had changed.

"He was really drunk and seemed really bored," Valderrama said. "I don't know exactly why."

She left him for a moment to check on her sister. When she returned, Suarez was gone.

When the concert ended at 3 a.m., Valderrama waited outside to see if her friend would emerge.

She called him on her cell phone, and after a long wait he called her back.

He apologized for his behavior and told her how much her friendship meant to him. But he also said he wanted to be alone, and told her to go home.

She could tell he was in a strange mood because he didn't crack any jokes.

She told him she wasn't going home until she knew he was safe, but the line went dead. Figuring Suarez was walking to his parents' house, she drove up Himes Avenue.

About 4 a.m. she saw the lights.

"Oh, great, they picked him up and they're going to put him in jail because of public intoxication," she thought.

Then she saw him lying on the street. She recognized his white undershirt and shoes. She begged police to let her talk to him, so he would know she had kept her promise. But they held her back as the paramedics worked.

That tortures her, she said.

"Maybe if he had heard my voice he would have reacted and not gone."

"god forgives"

Every afternoon since July 21, his family has prayed the rosary. Each time, about 100 people come to the house to join them.

His cousins drove 42 hours from Mexico to Tampa to mourn his death. His ex-wife, Yvette Martinez, flew in from Air Force service in Afghanistan.

Suarez was buried Thursday after a morning mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

But the family's ordeal continues.

There's still the man with the pitchfork gang tattoo and more than 10 previous arrests awaiting trial.

Hating Sanabria won't bring her son back, said Hermelinda Suarez. The mother only had two words to say to him: "God forgives."

"I'd like to talk to him," said Sgt. Sumaya. "Ask him, 'Why?'<0x200A>"

Suarez was learning how to play the guitar. He had just gotten his motorcycle permit. He dreamed of one day starting a family.

What hits his friends the hardest is the way he died.

Suarez always said he hated gangs, thought they made people weak and robbed them of personality.

Suarez's friend Villavicencio is outraged by the senselessness of his death.

"He's a Marine," she said, "not some little hoodlum, to get shot in the street."

Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20070729/NEWS/707290438/1004