Doing the right thing, not what seems right at the moment

That is a photo of Army Sergeant First Class (SFC) Charles Martland.  He's 33 years of age and has spent 11 years serving in the Army, almost all of it as a "Green Beret."  He did two tours of duty in Afghanistan

During his second tour, while he was involved in training the local police, he became aware that one of the Afghani officers he was training, one Abdul Rahman, had raped a 12 year old boy.  When the mother of the boy reported the beating, Officer Rahman beat her up.  SFC Martland and his team commander confronted Officer Rahman with these allegations and he laughed about them.  At this point they shoved Rahman to the ground and allegedly told him that they wouldn't let that happen on their watch.

Officer Rahman complained about the alleged assault and SFC Martland and his team commander were relieved of duty for cause and transferred out of Afghanistan almost immediately.  The team leader, Daniel Quinn left the Army and now works on Wall Street.  SFC Martland continued to serve and has been selected for involuntary discharge under an Army program known as the Qualitative Management Program (QMP).  The details of what the QMP is and how it works are available here:  Qualitative Management Program

Being relieved for cause is a negative mark in a military record.  It is enough to cause someone to fall under the QMP review process and be selected for separation from the service.  That is almost certainly what is going on here with SFC Martland, although the Army won't discuss it, citing privacy issues.

CA Congressman Duncan Hunter is outraged about this and has written a letter to Ash Carter, the current Defense Secretary, calling on him to reverse the decision to send SFC Martland packing.  Hunter wrote "Sergeant Martland was left with no other choice but to intervene in a bad situation.  The Army should stand up for what's right and should not side with a corrupt Afghan police officer."  Rep Hunter also told Fox News, "It's sad to think that a child rapist is put above one of our elite military operators. Sergeant Martland was left with no other choice but to intervene in a bad situation."

Sorry Mr. Hunter but you're wrong on both counts.  This wasn't about siding with a corrupt Afghan officer over a decorated veteran.  Nor was it putting a child rapist above one of our elite Special Forces operators.  Our military personnel are not in foreign nations to enforce U. S. laws, nor are they there to enforce the local laws.  They are not there to damage our relations with foreign nations and personnel by engaging in unwarranted assaults.  As a man, as someone who cares, it seems all too easy to allow one's emotions to overcome their obligations as a soldier.  But the professional soldier should have the discipline to act according to regulations.  Had SFC Martland struck an American military officer or police officer, we wouldn't be having this discussion.  He would have been court-martialed, or at least subjected to non-judicial punishment under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  Soldiers aren't judges, juries and executioners in situations like this.  The proper action would have been to report this to higher authorities and let it be handled that way.  If Afghanistan is not going to prosecute its police officers for beating women and raping children, it isn't up to our soldiers to step in and fill that void.

If I'd been there and had to listen to that jackass Afghani laughing about what he'd done and how he'd get away with it, I'd have been tempted to "bitch-slap" the living daylights out of him.  Acting like this, without proper authority harms the reputation of our military forces in places like Afghanistan.  It promotes the so-called "green on blue" attacks, where Afghanis attack Americans deployed in their nation.

It is very sad that a man who is a decorated veteran with 11 years of service will find himself a civilian.  Perhaps his appeal will succeed and he will be given another chance.  I wouldn't object to that in any way.  But if the Army finds it appropriate to use this "black mark" to refuse to let his career continue, they are acting within our own laws and military regulations.  Conservatives are using this to attack the Obama administration as being incapable of overseeing the military.  Nothing could be further from the truth in this particular instance.  What they are doing is proper.