A decorated Green Beret says he’s being kicked out of the Army for losing his cool in 2011 and striking an Afghan local police officer — one who had allegedly confessed to raping a boy and then beating the child's mother for telling authorities.
Sgt. First Class Charles Martland wrote that he and his detachment commander, Capt. Daniel Quinn, received a “relief for cause” from that 2011 deployment to Konduz province, Afghanistan, for the assault, according to documentation provided to Army Times by the office of Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. Martland, 32, said in a memorandum to the Army in his defense that he understood they were “absolutely wrong in striking one of our (ALP) commanders."
Martland had fallen under the Army's Qualitative Management Program, a process that can be triggered by derogatory information on their record. Though technically not a draw-down tool, it is aiding in force reduction efforts by weeding out less desirable soldiers; a black mark on their record, such as a relief for cause, can trigger a formal QMP review and result in involuntary separation.
Hunter, in an Aug. 18 letter to Ash Carter, has asked the defense secretary to intervene on Martland's behalf. The congressman took on Mortland's case after receiving a plea from help from the soldier.
The Army could not comment on the administrative decision to separate Martland after 11 years of service, according to spokesman Wayne Hall. He cited privacy concerns. The soldier is to be involuntarily discharged no later than Nov. 1 according to an April 13 notification sent to Martland.
In 2011, Martland's Special Forces unit was conducting village stability operations in Konduz province, requiring frequent coordination with police.
Martland, in his letter to Hunter, said he had encountered corrupt police officials who were conducting beatings, honor killings and rapes — and going unpunished. When a police officer was accused of raping a boy and then beating the boy's mother, Martland said it was too much. In a memo to the Army Enlisted Records and Evaluation Center, Martland admitted to striking the Afghan.
"My detachment commander and I felt that morally we could no longer stand by and allow our ALP to commit atrocities," he said in the memo.
Hunter’s office shared the documents with Army Times. Hunter's spokesman Joe Kasper said he understood that the Afghan police officer confessed and laughed in the soldiers' faces when confronted.
“It's sad to think that a child rapist is put above one of our elite military operators,” Hunter said in a statement on the Army's decision to discharge Martland. “The Army should stand up for what's right and should not side with a corrupt Afghan police officer."
Hunter stressed in his letter to Carter the quality of the character references he had collected regarding Martland, who has served for 11 years and earned a Bronze Star with "V" Device. His evaluations provided by Hunter's office were largely positive. One evaluation did mark him down to "needs some improvement" for "responsibility and accountability," citing the "physical altercation with a corrupt ALP member.".....
Green Beret: Striking corrupt Afghan got me kicked out
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