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Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland(Photo: Courtesy of Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.)
WASHINGTON — A<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Green Beret being kicked out of the Army for beating an alleged child rapist in Afghanistan has been given a 60-day reprieve, the Army said.
Army Secretary John McHugh agreed to postpone Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland's discharge from the Army for 60 days to allow him to file an appeal with the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Army said late Tuesday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a statement.
The decision was made after Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, spoke with and wrote a letter to McHugh. The decision was "out of respect for Chairman Thornberry's continued strong support for our military and his personal appeal," according to the Army statement.
Martland and his then-detachment commander admitted to attacking an Afghan local police commander in Kunduz province in 2011. Martland, a Bronze Star recipient, wants to remain in the Army.
He was flagged for involuntary separation through the Army's qualitative management program because of his role in the assault and was scheduled to leave service no later than Nov. 1 after 11 years in the Army.
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Martland gained many supporters, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Many consider Martland a hero for his actions, especially in light of reports that U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan were told to overlook the sexual abuse of young boys, especially at the hands of the local security forces.
Former Capt. Daniel Quinn told The (Tacoma, Wash.) News Tribune that an Afghan whom they beat admitted that he had raped a boy.
“I’d rather stand up and do what we felt was the right thing than be praised for restraint.”
Daniel Quinn, former U.S. Army captain
"He started laughing when we talked about what a big deal this was," Quinn, who has since left the Army for a civilian job in New York,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told the paper.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"I’d rather stand up and do what we felt was the right thing than be praised for restraint."
Thornberry spoke Tuesday by phone with McHugh, according to a press release on the House Armed Services Committee website. They discussed Martland's case, and the conversation followed "several weeks of committee review of SFC Martland's service record and the Army investigation into the incident."
During their conversation, Thornberry expressed his view that Martland's discharge should be delayed until he can prepare an appeal with adequate military counsel, the release said.
After the men spoke, Thornberry sent a letter to McHugh elaborating on the committee's inquiry, his recommendation to the Army, and his larger concerns regarding policies in place for U.S. troops to report human-rights abuses.
"Congress cannot substitute our judgment for that of the military chain of command," Thornberry wrote. "We are, however, responsible for ensuring that the process in place is fair and adequate to the demands of an Army at war."
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Thornberry went on to write that he thought Martland's case had potential procedural errors in due process.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>He also noted that the Army allowed Martland to stay in uniform for four years after the 2011 incident<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but selected him for involuntary separation when it was forced to shrink the force.
"This is the unfortunate by-product of indiscriminate cuts to our military," Thornberry wrote.
“It is our desire to ensure every soldier receives fairness and due process, and we continue to act accordingly.”
U.S. Army statement
The Army's Qualitative Management Program process is "vitally important to ensure that the Army retains only the best qualified soldiers," the Army said in its statement. "While the material in Sergeant<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Martland's file required that he be considered by the QMP board, it is our desire to ensure every soldier receives fairness and due process, and we continue to act accordingly."
Martland's case is "an ongoing investigation,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>McHugh said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Monday in an interview with the Army Times
"Martland has appeal rights still available to him," McHugh said, adding that the Army's board reviewed about 1,500 non-commissioned officers' files.
That board, made up of a brigadier general and a handful of Special Forces sergeants major, "selected Sergeant<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Martland for separation based on those files, which were, in turn, based on the information that the commanders in Afghanistan entered into those files," McHugh said.
In all, nearly two-thirds of the 1,500 non-commissioned officers that the board reviewed were recommended for separation, McHugh said.
"'We rely upon this process<span style="color: Red;">*</span>routinely<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to go through and determine which soldiers have met the very high standards of service in the United States Army," he said. "It certainly was not an action directed specifically at Sergeant<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Martland."
Despite "talk that this case has been brought to me, and I have had a hand in it, I have not,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>McHugh said. "This is a routine administrative process that does not, in any way, involve my office."
The Army must respect the process in cases like this, McHugh said.
"We respect the rights of the individual soldier in these kinds of cases," he said. "If we are going to make a mistake here, we are going to make it in favor of the rights of the soldier."
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