I started this blog in 2005 to document my deployment to Afghanistan. As a U.S. Navy Sailor deploying with a U.S. Army special operations unit I thought I might have some interesting tales to tell and experiences to share. I had a great time trying to keep the blog up-to-date and keep the military off my back about it. I had some good times and some bad, and even got in a bit of trouble for the blog, but over all it was well worth it, and the site has never been taken down, although it has severely dropped in popularity and readership.

The reason for the drop in readership was simple, once I came home in 2007, I had little to write about and little time to write it. So I left the blog neglected for long periods of time, not due to disinterest, but mostly due to limited time and limited subjects to discuss. But that all ends now.

You see, I once again have information to share. That is, after all, what this site is all about, shared experience. It seems, like all good things, it is time for my Naval career to come to an end. I have been on Limited Duty for over two years now receiving medical treatment for wounds I sustained while in Afghanistan. And I thought it may be useful and / or interesting for me to share my experiences with the Medical Retirement process. I can share a lot of insight on the Medical Evaluation Board (MEB), the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB), and the new Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) that the military has developed in conjunction with the Veteran’s Administration.

The process I have been going through is a long, rather daunting one. It can be confusing at times and it certainly requires a great deal of patience. I intend to share my experiences and my knowledge for those who may be curious or those who are currently going through this process themselves.

I do not intend to share personal details of my medical treatments, nor will I be able to say precisely what another person’s experience in the process may be, but I can share what my experience has been, and what I have learned.  So hopefully there is an audience who will find these new posts as interesting as an audience found my original posts from the war zone (which shall remain up). I will share my stories of not only working my way through this complex system, but also with my own transition from senior enlisted career military man, to civilian. It’s a terrifying prospect, but it should be an interesting new mission.

NORFOLK (Courtesy of HamptonRoads.com)

Pepper-spraying two subordinates while they showered. Handcuffing sailors and kneeing them in a technique learned to subdue suspects. Stapling junior sailors’ skin.

Those are among the accusations made against the former head of the security department of the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush during a preliminary hearing Friday. Senior Chief Petty Officer Kevin Curtis is charged with more than a dozen counts of abusing junior sailors and disobeying orders.

Curtis served as the senior law enforcement officer aboard the Bush from 2008 until a few months ago.

Now, his 18-year career may be in jeopardy. After the hearing concludes next week, the investigating officer overseeing the proceeding will recommend whether Curtis should be court-martialed.

Two witnesses testified Friday, one junior to Curtis and one senior. Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Edmonds, a master-at-arms and the lead investigator on the Bush, spent more than five hours describing Curtis’ treatment.

He said Curtis, his boss, routinely threw him into a set of metal lockers in the office, so much so that they curved and warped. He said Curtis used pepper spray on him and other sailors, and that Curtis regularly used an office stapler to staple into his skin, mostly on his back and upper thigh. Curtis stapled him that way more than 100 times, Edmonds testified.

“He would come into the investigations office, open it up longways, and staple me in the upper thigh,” Edmonds told the court.

The behavior lasted from mid-2009 through June, he said. The alleged mistreatment occurred aboard the ship, in the security department offices and occasionally in junior sailors’ berthing areas.

Edmonds said Curtis didn’t initially start out abusive and didn’t seem out to get him personally – in fact, he wrote two glowing recommendations for Edmonds, who won the Sailor of the Year award on the Bush in 2009.

The masters-at-arms, or internal security and law enforcement personnel, initially looked up to Curtis when he came aboard in September 2008, Edmonds testified.

“He was so squared away, he was right on,” Edmonds said, becoming emotional before regaining his composure. But as time went on, “this stuff happened. It spun out of control so fast.”

Sailors in the department recognized the problem, he said, but it appeared the ship’s top leaders had full trust in Curtis.

Asked why he didn’t report Curtis, Edmonds said he was afraid of reprisals. “I didn’t have any confidence in my chain of command, that it would be handled properly,” Edmonds said, noting that Curtis often talked about his tight relationship with the ship’s command master chief and commanding and executive officers.

“Senior Chief was the man, sir,” he said. “He was the sheriff of the ship.”

On cross-examination, Curtis’ civilian lawyer, Rick Morris, tried to get Edmonds to acknowledge that horseplay and roughhousing were standard in the department, and Curtis’ subordinates dished physical and verbal abuse right back at him.

Edmonds said yes, the sailor did sometimes play along with Curtis, and occasionally fight back. After Curtis had put him in handcuffs multiple times, Edmonds also began carrying a pair of cuffs in his waistband. One time, a group of about six sailors decided to play a trick on Curtis, holding shut an office door when he tried to enter. Curtis responded, he said, by spraying pepper spray into the room’s vents. When the group opened the door and Curtis rushed in, they tackled him. For about 10 seconds, Edmonds said, they had handcuffs on him.

“I think it started as horseplay that got taken too far,” Edmonds said.

The charges against him include one count of hazing, but Edmonds said he didn’t consider Curtis’ actions to be hazing, or some sort of initiation.

One of the scariest incidents Edmonds said he experienced was being strangled by Curtis inside his office. When Edmonds entered the room, he said, Curtis grabbed a 4 -foot-long elastic exercise band, wrapped it around his neck and pulled it tight.

“The longer he held it, the more I couldn’t breathe,” Edmonds said. His vision began getting hazy, and he couldn’t speak. Curtis stopped only when another master-at-arms shoved the senior chief into a door, Edmonds testified.

The second witness Friday was one of Curtis’ bosses on the Bush, Master Chief Petty Officer Rick Beaber.

Beaber described Curtis as something of a rebel, mentioning three times Curtis conducted off-ship investigations against explicit instructions.

In one case, he went to the home of a sailor accused of stealing tools from the ship and brought them back, Beaber said. Another time, Curtis conducted surveillance at the home of a chief suspected of fraternizing with a junior sailor.

The third instance involved an allegation of domestic violence, with Curtis leaving the ship to confront someone. That prompted an angry e-mail from the ship’s chaplain, who thought Curtis was out of line. Beaber said he agreed, and told Curtis not to conduct off-ship investigations. The ship’s operations officer issued him a letter of instruction reiterating the point.

Beaber testified that Curtis borrowed more than $1,000 from a chief in his command, a violation of regulations governing “unduly familiar” relationships between sailors of different ranks.

Some of the charges against Curtis involve shoddy paperwork and dereliction of administrative duties.

Beaber, who has been in the Navy for 29 years, described Curtis as “a horrible administrator” who often was late with paperwork. At one point, after a sailor complained about not getting leave approved despite months of notice, Beaber said he went into Curtis’ office and discovered 60 to 70 pounds of unfinished paperwork, including leave chits, qualifications certificates and even awards for sailors who’d already left the ship.

“It just sickened me,” Beaber said.

Beaber said he knew Curtis’ administrative skills were subpar and consistently reminded him to work on them. But he said he knew nothing of the alleged physical abuse.

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com

The Secretary of Defense has made it clear that he believes a down-sizing of the Navy is part of the plan for being able to sustain our military efforts in the near future. Personally, I agree with him. Which may come as a surprise considering the fact that I am a U.S. Navy Chief, but the fact of the matter is the Navy is expensive, and much of it is antiquated. When is the last time the Marines made a real amphibious assault? Hell, when is the last time a Marine has even set foot on a ship? The face of combat is changing, and the military must change with it. The future of the U.S. Navy is not in blue water. The future of the U.S. Navy lies in brown water, rivers and the littorals.

Part of the new strategy for the Navy will involve increased reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). With that in mind, two San Diego County defense contractors are hustling to develop a new generation of comparatively inexpensive, UAVs in in response to Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ call for a less costly naval arsenal.

Secretary Gates said the military needs to re-examine whether it can afford so many aircraft carriers and submarines when more money is needed to underwrite the Army and Marine Corps.

It makes sense that we should divert greater resources to the Army and Marine Corps, which are leading the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while the Navy is playing a supporting role. The Navy already has long-term plans to slightly downsize its fleet, including the decommissioning of all of the remaining Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates.

“The secretary took the Navy to the woodshed, telling them that the future will look far different than the past, and that means more UAVs,” said John Pike, a defense analyst at GlobalSecurity.org in Alexandria, Va.

Northrop Grumman recently announced it will team up with Bell Helicopter to develop “Fire X“, a more robust version of the Fire Scout, a tactical UAV that’s designed to take off and land vertically.

“Fire X would be able to fly for 14-plus hours and carry about 3,000 pounds of sensors,” said Brooks McKinney, a Northrop spokesman. “Fire Scout can stay up five to seven hours and carry 600 pounds of sensors” for surveying and other reconnaissance activity.

“We’re going to put together a single demonstration vehicle with Bell, and hope to get business from the military,” McKinney said.

Northrop Grumman could face competition from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of Poway, which says it will develop the Sea Avenger, a derivative of its well-known Predator C drone.

A Predator C costs $12 million to $15 million, making it far less costly than the estimated $41 million F/A-18 Hornet jet fighter that is widely used by the Navy and Marines.

Both firms likely will have to contend with Boeing, which has long had a military-oriented UAV program.

“The military has to get costs down,” Pike said. He was referring in particular to the F-35 jet fighter, some of which will be stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. “The F-35 will cost $100 million to $150 million — 10 times the cost of the Predator. Operating a manned aircraft requires an enormous cast of people.”

The way ahead is not yet clear, but it is certain to be interesting.