Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee spoke by phone today with Army Secretary John McHugh. The two discussed the case of Sergeant First Class Charles Martland, who is scheduled to be discharged from the Army for assaulting an Afghan Local Police Officer accused of sexually assaulting a young boy in 2011. The conversation follows several weeks of Committee review of SFC Martland’s service record and the Army investigation into the incident. Thornberry expressed his view that Martland’s discharge should be delayed until he can prepare an appeal with adequate military counsel. Following the phone call, Chairman Thornberry sent this alt="(NULL)" to McHugh elaborating on the Committee’s inquiry, his recommendation to the Army, and the Chairman’s larger concerns regarding policies in place for U.S. troops to report human rights abuses. In the letter, Thornberry said:
“Congress cannot substitute our judgement for that of the military chain of command. We are, however, responsible for ensuring that the process in place are fair and adequate to the demands of an Army at war. In my review of SFC Martland’s case, I noted potential procedural errors in due process. I believe the best recourse now would be to allow SFC Martland to remain in the Army long enough for him to prepare an appeal with adequate military counsel and for the Army to act on such an appeal.”
Thornberry went on to say of Martland’s discharge:
“….it is not lost on me that the Army saw fit to retain SFC Martland for 4 years after this incident. It was not until the Army was forced to shed tens of thousands of soldiers that it opened the QMP process to a population to which it would not otherwise have applied. This is the unfortunate by-product of indiscriminate cuts to our military. I hope those who raised few public objections to military cuts will not only take up the cause of an individual service member, but will also recognize that as these defense cuts persist, other dedicated personnel will be forced to separate from the military no matter how well they have served or what they have left to contribute- to our nation’s own detriment."
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