Punishment uneven in combat-zone drug cases - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Punishment uneven in combat-zone drug cases

Army Staff Sgt. Mark Chartier was deployed at a combat outpost in Afghanistan in 2010 when he was caught stealing morphine from the aid station.

But he didn’t just leave behind empty vials of liquid morphine — he refilled the vials with a saline solution and returned them to their proper place to avoid detection, court records show.

Chartier also stole a slew of other prescription medications, including Valium, the sleep aid Ambien, the stimulant Adderall, the muscle relaxant Flexeril, and the antipsychotic drug Seroquel.

He was court-martialed at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan in April 2010 and sentenced to 10 months confinement, reduction to E-4 and a dishonorable discharge.

Random drug testing since the early 1980s has driven drug use in the ranks to minuscule levels today. But some still risk their careers to obtain and use drugs — even in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I know this is going to be a surprise to some people, but General Order Number One is not always followed,” said Lt. Col. Sheila Seitz, a project officer with the Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs, referring to the military’s 2003 order prohibiting troops from drinking alcohol or using drugs while deployed.

A review of the more than 100 courts-martial convened last year in U.S. Central Command reveals that more than a dozen involved drugs and alcohol, offering a window on the rarely discussed circumstances of substance abuse that persist even in the most far-flung units fighting today’s wars.

Punishment often is severe. But some commanders cut troops slack and reduce their sentences — what some military lawyers call the “deployment discount.”

“And depending on where you’re deploying, the discount gets better,” said Phil Cave, a Virginia-based lawyer who has defended troops in Afghanistan and Iraq in cases involving drugs, fraternization and sexual assault.

Unique circumstances

Each drug case downrange has unique circumstances, possibly none more so than that of Army Sgt. 1st Class Stacy Armstrong.

While in Afghanistan, she put marijuana in food and served it to a first lieutenant, who unknowingly ate it. Armstrong was court-martialed and given 16 months confinement.

Two cases in Afghanistan involved a Marine and an airman busted for smoking hashish, which is not hard to find in that country. The Marine got nine months confinement, the airman three.

Heroin, also ubiquitous in Afghanistan, figured in the case of Army Spc. Daniel Edenfield, who was busted for distributing brown-powder heroin. He also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 162 tablets of Xanax and 40 codeine pills. He was sentenced to 12 months confinement.

Army Pfc. Alexander Robinson didn’t get off so easy. He also was deployed to Afghanistan when he was busted with a big stash that included heroin, marijuana and steroids. He was also found drunk on post, records show. He was sentenced to nine months confinement, reduction to E-1 and given a bad-conduct discharge.

Army Pfc. Lisa Carpenter was given 10 months confinement after pleading guilty to smoking methamphetamine while on post at a forward operating base in Afghanistan. She was also reduced to E-1 and given a bad-conduct discharge.

Army Sgt. William Mosley, a military police officer, was deployed to Iraq when he was busted trying to sell Valium to junior soldiers. He was reduced to E-1 and given a bad-conduct discharge — but his commander chose not to give him the bad-conduct discharge.

U.S. Central Command officials keep no data on drug violations among troops in the Middle East, a command spokesman said.

Many violations are handled through nonjudicial punishment, partly because commanders don’t like to convene war-zone courts-martial, which can be a huge logistical task in the far-flung corners of Iraq and Afghanistan. It requires finding a judge, gathering lawyers and witnesses, and creating a U.S.-style courtroom in places where simply supplying food and water can be a challenge.

That’s why defense lawyers say deployed troops can catch a break on some violations. Commanders acknowledge that they must weigh the demands of a court-martial against the needs of the unit and its mission.

That may have been the case for an Army sergeant accused of selling 50 grams of Valium while deployed to Iraq. His commander ultimately withdrew the charges, court records show.

“Do the pressures of the environment influence decisions? It would be naive to think they don’t,” said Col. Charles Pede, head of the criminal division of the Army Judge Advocate General, who served as the chief JAG in Iraq in 2008 and 2009.

“The question is, are they reasonable, informed decisions, and does it serve the good order and discipline of that command?” Pede said. “I wouldn’t call it a deployment discount so much as the pragmatic practice of law.”