That Was Easy!

Navy releases McCain's military record

No surprises, apparently.  Meanwhile, we are still waiting for a public release of John Kerry's military records.  When last we checked he had signed a limited Form 180 so that a few friendly newspapers could assure the rest of us that it was all good.

With that in mind, I do query this from the AP story about McCain:

The Navy recently released McCain's military record - most of it citations for medals during his Navy career - after a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press.

I see three possibilities: Either McCain signed a Form 180 and agreed to the release, in which case he ought to get some acknowledgment for forthrightness, or the rules have changed quite a bit since 2004 (doubtful); or the AP is a bit confused and these aren't McCain's complete records (the AP, confused?).

A hint is in the excerpt - "most of it citations for medals during his Navy career".  As I recall the Kerry records that we did see included endless performance evaluations about nothing.  I am thinking this is the record of McCain's citations, which might very well be available under an FOIA request but which do not represent the complete file.

Comments

[Danube of Thought]

I'm quite sure it's not his complete file, and I'm also quite sure that the law still requires that a Form 180 be executed before records can be disclosed. So I don't know what to make of this...

[RFS]

Yes. One's complete file includes stultifyingly boring pages of transfer orders, schools attended, performance evaluations, promotion notices,etc. Commendations are also in there, but you'd have to be Audie Murphy before those outweighed the bureacratic stuff.

[Lesley]

Former Spook (over at "In From the Cold") wrote a piece on McCain where he mentioned some rumors that McCain had had an affair with an enlisted (possibly officer, wife of officer?) woman while he was stationed in Florida after his return from Vietnam.

IF this is true, and IF he encountered some disciplinary action because of it, would it be revealed in his service records were he to sign a Form 180?

[daddy]

Great point in this post TM. Hope it gets some play on the talk show circuit, the difference in McCain being able to put his military records out there in a heartbeat, compared to Vietnam hero John Kerry who still hasn't been able to do it in the last 4 years since he made his big stink entrance at the convention about "Reporting For Duty." A weasel he shall always be.

[Sara]

To answer your question, Lesley, he would never have gone on to be promoted to Captain in 1979 if there were any disciplinary actions in his record after his return. When you get to that level, promotions are not automatic and require satisfying very specific requirements by a selection board and approved by the Senate. Any hint of a problem would disqualify and if he'd been passed over, his only recourse would be retirement.

Information on Naval Officer Selection:

Selection boards are composed of officers who have shown outstanding quality of performance, maturity, judgment, naval background and experience.

...

The Chief of Naval Personnel (CNP), Judge Advocate General, Chief of Naval Operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management and Personnel review the list.

SECNAV reviews the list.

SECNAV publishes the list for chief warrant officer, lieutenant, lieutenant commander, commander, captain, rear admiral(L) and rear admiral(U) via an ALNAV message. The ALNAV lists the selectees in alphabetical order and shows the relative seniority among selectees within each competitive category.

Secretary of Defense approves selection of the active-duty list, lieutenant through rear admiral (U).

SECNAV publishes the active-duty list for rear admiral(L) and rear admiral(U) and approves chief warrant officer promotion boards via an ALNAV message.

Senate confirmation is required for lieutenant commander through rear admiral(U) active-duty boards. (Vice admirals and admirals must also be confirmed by the Senate, but these officers are not selected by statutory boards.).

[Lesley]

Thanks for the information Sara and a belated happy birthday!

[Sara]

Thanks Lesley, it was a great day. In fact, I think it turned out to be one of my best birthdays ever.

[Crank]

Someday, we won't have John Kerry to kick around anymore.

In the meantime, by all means, let's keep kicking.

[GnuCarSmell]

We'll never know the truth about McCain's military record until we have an investigative report from Dan Rather.

[BarbaraS]

Senate confirmation is required for lieutenant commander through rear admiral(U) active-duty boards. (Vice admirals and admirals must also be confirmed by the Senate, but these officers are not selected by statutory boards.).

Sara

Say it isn't so. The senate!!! God help us.