US Air Force officer found ‘astride topiary dog’
Moderator Note:
His career is pretty much shot.
Even without UCMJ action, he will have a black mark in his OER (or whatever the Air Force equivalent is) and that is a death sentence, especially in a shrinking, post-war military. He will serve the remainder of his obligation without promotion and then be shown the door.
What other punishments are involved, or if he can be dismissed immediately, depends on the exact wording of the afforementioned SOFA.
So he planned on drinking 13 pints and riding the subway all night and yet doesn’t believe he has an alcohol problem? At least he had the common sense to pass out in a decent neighborhood and not right outside of Paddington Station. 
Yeah, his career in the Air Force is over.
Moderator Note
I removed the original text of the OP, which seemed to have come from The Telegraph’s web site but was lacking an attribution.
In the future, please do not copy entire articles, as that goes well beyond “fair use”.
No warning issued.
Is this really that big a deal? Would it be as big a deal if he was an enlistee?
Yes, it is a big deal.
No, it wouldn’t be as big a deal if here was enlisted, that question provides its own answer.
Officers are held to higher standards.
Sorry
If he was in the RAF, he would probably find himself posted to a less attractive part of the world. As with the USAF, his career would just stall until his enlistment period came to an end.
Thread title edited to indicate subject. Please use descriptive thread titles.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Here’s the problem (it’s not much different than a lot of jobs) there is a difference between screwing up and screwing up in public/in the media.
I’m not suggesting that if this had happened quietly it would have been ignored, but there is bigger need for making an example out of someone when they have made a splash in the media.
I just want to say how much I enjoy the phrase “astride topiary dog.”
Exactly what caught my attention to the newspaper article.
If he was in the RAF he would probably have got a rollicking for drinking halves…
Military personnel are well known for letting off steam, but as Poysyn said, the media have got hold of it and that makes the difference.
It’s a shame that someone should lose a career over something so minor.
Given the pose the dog’s in, there are significantly more upsetting things he could have been doing…
Tell that to the topiary. Just what was he doing to that dog? At first I thought that he was on top of the thing passed out, but in further reading it appears that he has astride the dog, inferring that he wan’t passed out at all and was shaking the bush from behind (by the tail). And whats with that lifted up leg? :eek:
And I didn’t even know they sold half pints in London, I’d have been ashamed to ask for one. Not sure I want him defending my freedom. :rolleyes:
Maybe he was looking to get some bush…
in his condition maybe he thought it was a horse.
as long as his pants were on, then no problem.
I agree. A friend of a friend was kicked out of the army after a 10 year career because he was caught smoking a joint on leave. He was at home with some friends at a party and someone called about loud music and the cops showed up and found some pot. 10 years and several deployments flushed down the shitter because of a little pot when he was at home on 2 weeks leave. Dishonorable discharge and everything. Fucking silly if you ask me.
The rule is silly. The punishment is not. This wasn’t some obscure rule that caught him unaware. He knew exactly what would happen if he was caught. If you want to smoke pot, don’t be in the military.
Totally different from being an officer drunk in public and causing a disgraceful incident in a very posh area of London. But yeah, your friend got screwed over by a draconian zero level tolerance policy.