Brothers In (her) Arms Ch. 02

This person was an Afghanistan military liaison who acted as a guide and interpreter. His name was Achmed. PFC Carpenter leaned over and managed to unbuckle Achmed's seatbelt. He then lifted him up and began to drag him into the rear of the vehicle then out the tailgate onto the ground where he lifted him to a standing position then helped him walk to one of the houses on the left side of the road. When they were approximately half way to the house, PFC Carpenter was hit in the shoulder but continued to help Achmed to reach shelter. It took about twenty minutes for the unit to subdue the enemy fire, killing three combatants in the process. Our medic began to treat the men that needed assistance and determined that PFC Carpenter was bleeding internally. The medic had two units of blood in the second vehicle and as soon as he began to administer the blood Sergeant Pettit ordered three of the men to take the second vehicle with PFC Carpenter and Achmed back to the base and he would radio in for another vehicle to come to the scene to retrieve the remaining men.

"Thank you Sergeant, I want a list of all the men in this operation with details about which vehicle they were in, where they were sitting in the vehicle and what weapons they were carrying. I need this ASAP."

"Yes Sir, Captain. I'll have it for you as quickly as I can."

"Thank you Sergeant, you can call Lieutenant Hughes on her cell phone when it's ready and we will come and pick it up. Were there any photographs taken of this mission?"

"Not that I ordered or am aware of. We were a little busy to make videos."

"I thought you might have taken some after the firefight to document the scene."

"No Sir, as far as I know that didn't happen."

"Have you submitted your mission report yet?"

"Yes Sir. I did that as soon as I returned to the base."

Erica and I left the barracks and returned to the lab where the bullet was undergoing forensic examination. The bullet and the results were waiting for us. That was a little surprising to me but apparently everybody had been told to cooperate with the investigation as thoroughly and quickly as possible. Ballistics had determined that a marine M110 Semi Automatic rifle had fired the bullet that hit PFC Carpenter. He was shot by one of his own men. I wasn't expecting that. Suddenly the urgency and the importance of this investigation took on a more sinister and complicated character. I showed the report to Erica.

"Oh My God! Now I see why they sent you and didn't let us handle this here."

"I think it's time I met Doris Chapel. I need to talk to her before going back to get the list I asked Sergeant Pettit to prepare. I also want to get a copy of his mission report."

We headed over to company HQ where Doris Chapel worked as a company clerk. As it turned out she was the person we needed to see to get the mission report. What she didn't know is that I was aware she had called Mrs. Carpenter soon after Grant had been shot. An act that was not SOP. As soon as I informed her of who I was and what I wanted she immediately pulled the report up on her computer and printed a paper copy for me. I then asked her if there were somewhere we could talk privately. She got a look of surprise and apprehension on her face and led us to an office where we sat at a table.

"You do know why I'm here don't you?"

"Not exactly but I'd bet it has something to do with Grant's shooting."

"You would win that bet Private. Do you have any information you would like to share with me concerning this incident?"

She didn't answer but looked scared. "Private Chapel if you know something that I should be aware of you need to tell me now. I can promise you if I find out later that you are withholding material relevant to this investigation it will not be in your best interest. I will get to the bottom of what happened on that mission and if it turns out you obstructed this investigation then you will be in a lot of trouble."

"Captain Goldberg I'm scared. I do know something but I could be in worse trouble by telling you about it." She had tears in her eyes as she looked at me and I felt bad for her.

"Private, Doris, whatever you know needs to be brought to light. I'll do everything in my power to see that you are not placed in jeopardy by telling me anything you believe is pertinent to this case."

"Alright. It involves another marine in Grant's unit. His name is PFC Dan Lane. Danny has been putting things on an internet site that he has no right to."

"What sort of things?"

"Naked photos of female marines. Most of them taken by hidden cameras but once he gets a picture of a woman he tries to blackmail her to have sex with him and to take pictures of others to post on the site."

"How did you find out about this?"

She paused before answering, "Because I'm one of the women."

"Is he blackmailing you?"

"Yes."

"Why haven't you reported him?"

"Captain Goldberg you may not be aware of this but sexual harassment and abuse of women is not uncommon in the Corps and in other services. The reason most women put up with it and don't report it is that when they do, they are branded as troublemakers and most of the reports are never looked into much less prosecuted."

I turned to Erica and asked her, "Lieutenant, are you aware of this problem?"

"Yes Sir I am, but only in general. I've never experienced it myself but I have heard of other women officers who have."

"I want to personally apologize to both of you for being ignorant of this kind of activity. I realize now how few cases of this I've seen before and that supports your statement that it goes unreported and unprosecuted."

"So Doris, what does this have to do with Grant?"

"There are computers available to all personnel for talking face to face with spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends and family back in the states. These computers are supposed to be secure and only the person using them can see and hear the person they are talking to. Danny knows a lot about computers and he figured out how to tap into the data stream and eavesdrop on private conversations. Many of these sessions involve very personal details including nudity and even sexual acts. Grant's wife performed some explicit sexual acts while communicating with Grant and Danny made a copy of them. I knew he intended to put these videos on the website."

"Did he? And how did you discover he was doing this?"

"I'm not sure he's had time to post them yet but he showed me one of them because he thought I'd keep my mouth shut about it. I couldn't do that. Naked pictures of women are one thing, some women put those on the Internet themselves, but stealing private exchanges from a member of his unit and embarrassing his wife was just too much for me. I told Grant about it the night before the mission. He was enraged. I don't know what he did but I'm pretty sure he confronted Danny about it the morning of the mission."

"So when Grant turns up wounded did you think it could be a little more than a coincidence."

"The thought crossed my mind Sir."

"Is that why you felt that you should call Grant's wife and tell her he had been shot?"

She looked surprised that I knew about that. "Yes Sir. I felt really bad that this may have happened because I didn't do something as soon as Danny started this with me."

Things were becoming clearer about the way this investigation became such a high priority so quickly. The Colonel had said something about a shadow network of officers in all services that communicated when a situation warranted closer scrutiny. Grant's wife must know somebody who can pull some strings.

"I can understand your reluctance to report this situation but let me assure you I have no reservations about doing so. This kind of behavior is not tolerated or condoned in any way by the Marine Corps and any marine who commits this type of criminal behavior will be dealt with in accordance with regulations and the law. Pictures and videos are one thing but if he had anything to do with Grant's shooting then this is going to be a major shit storm in Danny's life. Can you identify all of the women who have been subjected to his coercion?"

"I think I can identify most of them."

Erica spoke up and said, "Doris I will assist you in every way possible to compile a list of every woman involved. If any of them are unwilling to cooperate tell them they will either talk to you or they will be talking with a JAG officer. Whatever you need, just ask me."

"Yes Mam. Thank you Mam."

"Tell each woman that this is part of a sensitive investigation and they are not to discuss this with anybody else unless they are contacted by me or Captain Goldberg."

"Yes Mam."

"Private Chapel, thank you for disclosing this information. I'm sorry you have been treated like this by a fellow marine and I will not stop until he is dealt with."

"Thank you Captain. I'm sorry I didn't act sooner and Grant ended up being hurt."

"You are not responsible for that. You are as much a victim as he is."

Erica and I returned to the barracks where the unit was stationed to retrieve the list I had asked Sergeant Pettit to compile. He was just finishing it up when we arrived. I scanned the list and found what I suspected would be there. PFC Dan Lane was the only member of this mission with an M110 rifle.

"Sergeant Pettit, who is the commander of this unit?"

"Second Lieutenant Riley Sir."

"Where is he?"

"In the officer's barracks."

"Thank you Sergeant. You've been a big help to us."

We left and went to the officer's barracks to talk with Lieutenant Riley. He was sitting in his office with the door open. When we walked in he stood and saluted. "Lieutenant I'm Captain Goldberg of the JAG office. I'm here to get some experience with investigating incidents in the field. I need your assistance in the matter of the recent mission that resulted in a member of that team being wounded."

"What can I do to help you Sir?"

"You're going to help us make a movie."

"A movie Sir?"

"Yes. It will make an excellent training tool for other new JAG officers to see what is involved in an investigation of this nature. It will also document what this mission was designed to do and what actually ended up transpiring. You are going to play a role in this movie by taking PFC Carpenter's place since he is unable to participate."

"When is this to happen Sir?"

"Immediately! My orders are to do everything I can to thoroughly investigate and document this mission as expeditiously as possible and that is what I intend to do. Lieutenant Hughes from the base JAG office is going to round up a video crew and a vehicle for them to follow the vehicles and men that were in the original mission. I want you to contact Sergeant Pettit and tell him to get the men and equipment ready to move out ASAP. Lieutenant Hughes and I will ride with the video crew in the third vehicle. Shortly before we arrive at the location of the attack the crew will exit our vehicle and set up to record the arrival and the RPG explosion. We will obviously have to simulate that but everything else is to happen exactly as before with the exception of live gunfire, since hopefully we will not encounter hostile fire."

"Yes Sir. I'll get right on it."

"Lieutenant you may think this is a waste of time and that you and the men have more Important things to do but I have the authority to do what I believe to be necessary to fulfill my directive. This is important and I do not want to interfere with the functions of this base any more than necessary. Your cooperation is appreciated and I trust you will give this exercise the attention it deserves."

"Yes Sir. You will have my full cooperation Sir."

An hour later our convoy got under way to the scene of the attack. When we were close to the narrow overpass the two lead vehicles stopped short and waited until the video crew got out of the rear vehicle. Before we began recording I asked Achmed and one of the other marines to go knock on doors and tell any inhabitants that this was not a combat mission and not to be upset at what they might see taking place. There were four camera operators, two men and two women. When Achmed finished warning the people in the houses, I told one of the men to go through the opening and start taking pictures as the lead vehicle came to where the RPG had hit. I had a bullhorn and called out to the men in the vehicles to begin doing what they had done before. Lieutenant Riley stayed in the lead vehicle behind the fifty-caliber machine gun and Achmed sat in the front passenger seat as he had done before.

Everybody else huddled behind the second vehicle. Sergeant Pettit gave the order to move into the houses on the sides of the street to clear them and take up the firing positions they had assumed in the real attack. I told the camera operators to focus on where each man was and to follow him if necessary as they moved. I was particularly interested in where PFC Lane was going. He and another man moved into a two-story house on the left side of the street.

I walked over to that house and went inside to speak to the man with PFC Lane. "Is this where you were for the duration of the fight?"

"Yes Sir. After we made sure that it was not occupied I moved to this window." He indicated a window that looked out at the building about thirty yards away that hostile fire was coming from. "What about you PFC Lane?"

"I stayed here until it was clear then moved up to the roof so I could get a better position to use the sniper rifle."

"Let's go upstairs so I can see where you were." I told one of the camera operators to follow me and we climbed the stairs to the rooftop.

When we emerged on the top of the building, Danny got in to a kneeling position behind a low wall that faced the house where the hostiles were. It was a very good choice of positions to take. Danny knew what he was doing. I told him to stay there until I told him he could move and instructed the cameraman to follow me. We moved toward the stairway but instead of going down I walked the few steps toward the low wall on the other side of the rooftop. From here I could see clearly what was happening below with the two vehicles.

Lieutenant Riley was slowly walking toward the rear of the second vehicle with Achmed in tow. His right arm was around Achmed's back with his hand under his arm so he could hold him up and help him walk. Danny would have had an unobstructed view for a shot at Grant. The angle would have been right for the bullet to graze the flack jacket and be deflected to a downward trajectory. Danny would have had to act quickly because there wouldn't be a chance for a second shot. If the bullet had entered a half-inch to the left it would have hit Grant in the neck and probably severed an artery before exiting and hitting the street or a wall where it would have been unrecoverable. My stomach churned when I realized this had really happened.

I looked around this side of the rooftop and spotted a shell casing lying in a crease between the floor and the low wall. I told the camera operator to take pictures of this side of the roof and the shell casing where it was lying before using my pen to carefully pick it up and put it in the pocket of my pants. If this matched the bullet and came from the same type of weapon then Danny was in deep shit.

We proceeded down the stairs and back out to the vehicles where I told the unit to gather where they did when the fight ended. Everybody returned to the vehicles and we proceeded back to the base. Erica and I stopped at the commissary for lunch and reviewed the situation.

"I think we have enough documentation to make a case against PFC Lane for attempted murder. What do you think the next step should be?"

"Before we have him arrested, it would be a good idea to get the list of women that Doris is compiling and talk to them. One of them could have some information we haven't considered yet. In any case, they need to be deposed to make a case against him for tampering with a secure computer link and for sexually harassing the women. If there are as many as I think there are we should have a solid case against him that we can leverage to get him to admit to the shooting."

"We also need the name of the website where the pictures are posted. If the video of Grant's wife is there it will provide motive for the shooting since he knew that Grant was aware of what he had done."

We spent the rest of the day and evening starting the interview process with the women Doris had identified so far. There were fourteen of them and they all told similar stories of being surreptitiously recorded while they were naked. Usually in the shower but some were actually posed to keep Danny from causing them problems if they didn't agree to his demands.

One of the women was able to provide the name of the website where the videos were posted for viewing. Danny had shown this woman where he was going to put the compromising pictures if she didn't cooperate with him in recruiting other women to submit to his nefarious schemes. When Erica and I logged onto the website we were flabbergasted. This wasn't just some little home grown site with a few dozen pictures. There were hundreds of videos from all branches of the military. I couldn't believe how extensive this problem was. When we found the video of Grant's wife with another man I had mixed emotions. It would help our case but seeing something so intimate that should be private and for the exclusive use of PFC Grant was difficult to watch. I did not want to judge the morality of any of the participants but I knew others would when this was introduced into evidence at the court martial.

Before I turned in for the night I called my CO, Colonel Bradley and told him all about what I had discovered. I gave him the url of the website and he said he would have it checked out by our investigators. He told me he would get back to me as soon as he had time to consider everything I had told him. When Erica knocked on my door in the morning I barely had time to let her in when my fancy cell phone alerted me to an incoming call. It was Colonel Bradley. I told her to be quiet and put the phone on speaker so she could hear what was being said. She looked appreciatively at me to let me know she was worthy of my confidence.

"Well David, you've really broken open a huge hornets nest out there in Kabul. This situation is going to escalate into a major scandal for all branches of the armed forces, and I'll be the first to say it should. There's even talk about a Senate hearing before the military oversight commission to investigate the abuse of women in uniform. It's bad enough to have this happening to women but when it progresses to attempted murder of a Marine by one of his fellow squad members it makes me sick to contemplate. You're in the middle of a crime scene now so I want you to stay there until you get everything sorted out and have enough evidence to file charges and line up witnesses to appear at a court marshal. If you need anything just call me on this phone and I'll make it happen. Are you getting the help you need from your adjutant?"

"Lieutenant Hughes has been extremely helpful and knows how to get things done. I'm even considering a request to have her assigned to our office when her tour is up here. We could use another good legal mind that has experience with what goes on in a combat zone."

"Is your interest in the Lieutenant purely professional?"

"So far it is."

"Good, keep it that way. We don't want the slightest hint of impropriety touching this situation. Later on it might be good PR for us to show that the Marines can treat women in uniform with the respect and opportunities for advancement that they deserve by bringing her here and promoting her. Keep up the good work and stay in touch."