A retired Navy submarine Captain has
pled guilty to a conflict-of-interest violation for his dealings with a defense contractor before his retirement:
Patrick Seidel, 51, a veteran submariner, was negotiating with the defense firm about a job while also helping the firm potentially receive a contract with the Navy to provide technology enhancing the service's anti-submarine program, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
At the time, Seidel was major-program manager for maritime surveillance at Naval Sea Systems Command in San Diego, involved with contracts for ocean surveillance systems.
After negotiating with the unnamed firm for several months, Seidel retired in late 2005 and took a job with the firm, receiving a $25,000 "signing bonus," according to documents.
Seidel had invited the defense firm to send employees to inquire about Navy contracts, sent Navy personnel to the firm to discuss possible contracts, and talked with Navy officials about the firm, according to documents in the case.
Magistrate Judge Bernard Skomal on Friday sentenced Seidel to one year of probation and a $15,000 fine.
Also, an Ensign at Sub School who will never be a Submariner is
asking the ACLU for help getting a discharge:
(ENS Michael) Izbicki, 24 and based at the Naval Submarine School in Groton, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Hartford on Wednesday asking for an honorable discharge as a conscientious objector, a request the Navy has turned down twice in the past year.
According to the lawsuit, the Navy's investigations of the legitimacy of Izbicki's beliefs were deeply flawed and, in one case, "showed extreme religious bias" against his Christian beliefs, especially when it came to his increasing interest in Quakerism.
"My Christian convictions preclude the use of violence; I cannot take someone else's life, nor can I aid others in doing so," Izbicki wrote in his application. "Therefore, I cannot participate in war in any form."...
...He had to take a psychological exam when he started training to serve on a submarine. He was asked if he could launch a nuclear missile and he realized he could not.
I remember another case of some goober officer asking to get out back in the early 90s, but I think it was because he'd hooked up with some group of politically-oriented peace activists instead of Quakers. I
discussed the "psychological test" Submariners have to take back when I first started this blog, so I guess it's a good time to bring it up again to get people's thoughts on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of same.
