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Originally Posted by Ancestor
I've also seen the term used for someone who is physically nondeployable due to a permanent profile or disability. Which, by regulation and in theory should lead to a separation board or medical retirement.
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Which I agree with. However, those people are retained for their competence and skill sets. I too, have seen some people linger on active duty, because someone felt sorry for them. All the same those guys and gals were farmed to S3 and S4. Incompetence doesn't last on active duty or AGR because the incompetents make their boss look bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ancestor
However, my experience during the heavy mobilizations of the Guard from 2004-2010 was that if these were senior officers or NCO's nearing 20 years active service and who were politically connected they would find themselves set up in support billets to ride out their time until retirement (sometimes several years).
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I think the most glaring and disgusting case of this I can think of; have direct experience also is the HQ platoon sgt my company deployed with in 2003.
Yep, opening phases of Iraqi Freedom. So a First Sergeant gets a DUI at 19 years and 2 months..... So the Battalion Commander strips him of 1SG but, not grade or pay. Transfers him to my Company (E5(p) myself) to deploy as the HQ plt sgt, and E7 job. The E7 is made the "Assistant" and rightfully angry. So he was allowed to finish 20 with a combat deployment (TOC making coffee) to erase the stain of his DUI. Now, I can say he was competent, and HQ plt certainly ran straight and true or else he would have been on the street with a general discharge and no retirement.
Bottom line, incompetence festers in peace when everyone is forging papers. Once things go hot nothing keeps an incompetent out of the spotlight for any serious length of time.
Now, criminals on the other hand last, and last, and last. So for your story, just make this light colonel a guy who grew up greasing the wheels with money, unaccounted for leave, awards and promotions, money from the discretionary allowances, etc. Those exist all the time, especially in support MOS units. Logistics, JAG, contracting get their hands caught in the cookie jars for hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
Just see that he is the civil to military liason for the transfer of surplus DoD equipment to other State and Federal agencies. With a few NCOs and his JAG friends there is plenty of room for things to fall off the property books.