Army SF Officer busted down to Captain for bringing his wife to Afghanistan and "going native"?

SSG Robert Burns — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 19:10:37 -0400

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/jim-gant-top-green-beret-officer-forced-resign/story?id=24266710

Green Beret Officer Forced to Resign Over Affair With Reporter

A legendary Special Forces commander was quietly forced to leave the U.S. Army after he admitted to a love affair with a Washington Post war correspondent, who quit her job to secretly live with him for almost a year in one of the most dangerous combat outposts in Afghanistan.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 25 at 2014 7:16 PM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 19:16:40 -0400

News?

There were rumors about this on the Navy side for over 8 months....I thought it was a legend.....guess I gotta buy a bunch of beer!

Response by LTC Yinon Weiss made Jun 25 at 2014 9:58 PM

LTC Yinon Weiss — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 21:58:22 -0400

Hmm... what kind of assignment was that for an Army SF Major? 22 months? I've never heard of anything like that. There are likely a lot more interesting angles to this story than just what was covered.

What SF Group was he in? What was his background? It would be a lot easier if he just had a RallyPoint profile.

Response by SSG Matt Murphy made Jun 26 at 2014 1:58 AM

SSG Matt Murphy — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 01:58:28 -0400

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/06/gen-david-petraeus-on-disgraced-special-forces-legend-people-make-mistakes/

Petraeus on Disgraced Green Beret: People 'Make Mistakes'

Former CIA Director gives rare interview to defend controversial Maj. Jim Gant.

Response by CW2 Joseph Evans made Jun 26 at 2014 3:35 AM

CW2 Joseph Evans — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 03:35:38 -0400

The man did more for America in Afghanistan than 18th ABC and a division plus did in 12 years.
No wonder they tanked his career.

Response by Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2014 4:24 AM

Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 04:24:08 -0400

He's a great commander and they do this--for what?

Response by LTC Jason Strickland made Jun 26 at 2014 8:22 AM

LTC Jason Strickland — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 08:22:06 -0400

Heard about this a while ago, but didn't know all of the details.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 26 at 2014 8:22 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 08:22:53 -0400

What a shame, but need to really see the whole story

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2014 8:24 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 08:24:47 -0400

You can't deny his results. I admire the fact that he admitted his faults and dealt with the consequences. I plan to read both of the books he wrote. I am now officially intrigued.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Jun 26 at 2014 8:26 AM

MSG Wade Huffman — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 08:26:59 -0400

What a shame. the Army lost a huge asset there.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2014 8:27 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 08:27:13 -0400

I watched the video, and I am slightly surprised that this story didn't have more publicity. I can really appreciate the candor that he speaks with in regard to his own rule breaking. His Integrity may have suffered, but clearly his honesty is still in tact.

I agree with the "punishment" he received, but the "sweeping under the rug" was not right.

Response by SFC Stephen Carden made Jun 26 at 2014 9:36 AM

SFC Stephen Carden — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 09:36:32 -0400

While I agree with his methodology as far as conducting irregular warfare goes, I feel like this guy did a COL Kurtz on us. I can't help but wonder what he was thinking when he brought his girlfriend to a combat zone to live in a primitive village with him. The flagrant violation of regulations and the adultery seem to be judged insignificant when compared to his successful results. Top commanders seem to grudgingly admire him, his exploits are being romanticized with the comparison to T.E. Lawrence, and he is rapidly gaining hero status with the books coming out. I'm not sure how I feel about that. He was ultimately punished for his violations, but did anybody notice during the 22 months he was in country that he was doing all this? A self-created fantasy world full of booze, pain pills and sex? Really?

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Jun 26 at 2014 11:59 AM

SGT Ben Keen — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 11:59:08 -0400

A very interesting story to say the least. While you can't argue that he got the results needed as far as gaining the trust of the locals, having a civilian join him took him a little too far.

The war fought in Afghanistan is an unconventional war. Sometimes you do have to push the limits. Sometimes you need to look at things differently. Instead of trying to win the trust of the county, win the trust of a tribe, then the next, then the next and so on. Soon you will see that your trust expands and covers a large amount of the country.

Personally, I agree with almost all of his command decisions. The one I can't agree with was having a civilian put in place with him as his lover. Having embedded media is one thing but to have her there as your lover is another.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2014 12:52 PM

Cpl Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 12:52:31 -0400

Hmmm

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2014 3:12 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 15:12:20 -0400

I can see the name of the movie: Apocalypse Now The Reboot

Response by 1SG Mike Case made Jun 26 at 2014 3:49 PM

1SG Mike Case — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 15:49:40 -0400

It was a good book. You could feel the bias in her words. His girlfreind/now wife is the on who wrote the book. He was selected for this assignment for a paper who wrote. He did outstanding things but of course some of the things he did, the way he did it, ruffled some feathers. It was a good book and definitely worth the read.

Response by Capt Jeff S. made Jul 24 at 2014 5:14 AM

Capt Jeff S. — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:14:43 -0400

Interesting read.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Sep 26 at 2015 12:12 AM

SN Greg Wright — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 00:12:29 -0400

SSG Robert Burns Sounds like REMF's doing what REMF's do, while the forward guys do what they do. It's one reason why I was glad to be in the navy: the guy making the decision about whether I lived or died was damned well making the same one about himself.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 26 at 2015 1:52 AM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 01:52:10 -0400

I'm predicting breach of duty, embezzlement, or conversion charges. Conversion is when you use an organizations goods for personal use. Embezzlement is something that people of trust do to steal resources. He was using government quarters for his "wife". And his wife who is not his wife could cause him for fraud charges if he got paid anything extra on his marital status.

My only concern is how to assess damages. You could say he risked assets by the operation by bringing a quasi wife.

The defense needs to bring witnesses who have worked undercover to testify that his methods were convential by special forces standards. Of course, UCMJ is its own beast and I'm sure the prosecution will quote some random things .

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 31 at 2020 2:30 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sun, 31 May 2020 14:30:12 -0400

There are so many advantages of going native that it would be too numerous to enumerate.