COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: Gays/Lesbians
Paratroopers Charged With Having Web Sex
Associated Press
February 25, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. - The Army has recommended that seven 82nd Airborne
Division paratroopers be discharged following allegations they engaged in
sex acts shown on a gay pornographic Web site.
Three soldiers face courts-martial on charges of sodomy, pandering and
engaging in sex acts for money. Four others received nonjudicial
punishments, according to a statement released by the military Friday.
The charges do not mention the name of the site, but the division had
previously been investigating allegations that soldiers appeared on a
gay pornography Web site. A spokesman for the division said the charges
were a result of that investigation.
The military-themed Web site did not make any direct reference to the
division or Fort Bragg, a sprawling post about 70 miles south of
Raleigh.
"As far as we're concerned, it's isolated to the unit, and our
investigation determined that these seven individuals were the only ones"
involved, said 82nd Airborne spokesman Maj. Thomas Earnhardt.
The charges indicate the soldiers' behavior is "a much more serious
matter than just their sexual orientation," said Steve Ralls, a spokesman
for Servicemembers Legal Defense Netowrk, a legal group that helps gays
and lesbians in the military.
"I'm not going to make excuses for service members who are taking part
in sexual conduct for money," said Ralls. "It would be absolutely
criminal regardless of whether they were heterosexual or gay."
Earnhardt said the three soldiers charged under military law had been
appointed military attorneys, but he said the lawyers would be
unavailable for comment on Friday.
The three soldiers who face courts-martial are: Spc. Richard T. Ashley,
Pfc. Wesley K. Mitten and Pvt. Kagen B. Mullen. The Army did not
release their ages or hometowns, but said all seven paratroopers were members
of the 2nd Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
An arraignment was scheduled for March 7.
The other four soldiers who received nonjudicial penalties were not
identified. Their punishments included reduction to the rank of private,
45 days of restriction to the unit area, 45 days of extra duty and
forfeiture of a month's pay.
The registered owner of the Web site's domain name lists an address in
Fayetteville, the city that adjoins Fort Bragg. A phone number listed
for the registered owner was not in service Friday, and e-mails to the
owner have been regularly returned as undeliverable.
The 15,000 paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne are among the Army's most
elite soldiers, having volunteered to serve in a unit that trains to
deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours.
The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy states that "homosexual
orientation alone is not a bar to service, but homosexual conduct is
incompatible with military service." Service members who violate the
policy are removed from the military.
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