April 17th, 2010
09:57 AM ET

Army discharges soldier who threatened comrades

A U.S. soldier who has pleaded guilty to threatening to attack fellow troops in Iraq has been discharged, allowing him to avoid court-martial proceedings, the military said Saturday.

Spc. Marc A. Hall, who had been based in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, has spent more than four months in confinement.

Hall has admitted that he told several people he would attack members of his unit if he were deployed under the Army's stop-loss policy, and that he mailed to the Pentagon a CD on which he threatened in rap lyrics to shoot members of the Army.

Under the stop-loss policy, the military can extend a service member's active duty service beyond the terms of the soldier's enlistment contract, and has affected tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Because he is not going through court-martial, the soldier received an "other-than-honorable discharge" from the Army. He will lose military and veterans benefits and be reduced to the lowest enlisted grade (E1) in the Army. A dishonorable discharge is based on the outcome of a court-martial.

 Post by: ,
Filed under: Iraq • Justice • Military • U.S. • World
soundoff (7 Responses)
  1. NZNZNZ

    Isn't this a quasi draft? "Under the stop-loss policy, the military can extend a service member's active duty service beyond the terms of the soldier's enlistment contract, and has affected tours in Iraq and Afghanistan."

    April 17, 2010 at 5:10 pm | Report abuse |
    • HarryZ

      No, this is not a back door draft, this is lazy reporting. EVERY enlistment contract with every branch of them military is for EIGHT years. Some of those years are specified active (full time), some are in reserve component (1 weekend/month and two weeks/year), and some are inactive (no action required).

      This is always clearly explained before any individual enlists - they are signing up for eight years - it may be four years active and four years inactive, but the military has the right to recall them at any time.

      If you are too stupid to understand this when you are at a MEPS station, you just might have what it takes to be a CNN journalist.

      October 13, 2010 at 1:08 am | Report abuse |
  2. Bob Realist

    What's the big deal? This kind of behavior is commonplace in today's Army. The ghetto and thug mentality is now seemingly condoned to allow for diversity. If you were to ask semi-educated soldiers who choose to get out of the Army, most will tell you it's not because of frequent deployments, it's because of the criminal element and ghetto lifestyle which is very threatening to a person raised will morals and human traits.

    April 18, 2010 at 8:58 am | Report abuse |
  3. troop

    troops are out of hand these days, nobody forced us to enlist. If you came into the Military thinking you would'nt deploy you are out of you mind. There are senior NCO's, Officers, Chiefs that have deployed several times. Ranging as high as six deployments. Stop complaining you didnt get drafted you swore into the Military to Defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. ATW

    April 18, 2010 at 11:03 am | Report abuse |
    • Sean

      How was this Soldier let out on a discharge?? He should have been locked up in the Brig. for a few years to let him think about how much nicer a Stop-Loss would have been, AND he would still have a job in this economy. I am very thankful for the job the Army has given me and for being fortunate enough to have the HONOR to serve my country. Now that I think about it I'm glad that piece of garbage is out of the Army although I am sure we will all be paying his unemployment check for months to come.

      June 16, 2010 at 11:04 pm | Report abuse |
  4. msn

    Boo Woo! The Army does not need big babies like this anyway. Good riddance, have fun back in the ghetto momma-boy!!!

    June 17, 2010 at 5:28 pm | Report abuse |
  5. escort exclusive

    It was rather interesting for me to read the article. Thanks for it. I like such themes and everything connected to them. I would like to read a bit more soon. By the way, pretty good design your blog has, but don’t you think it should be changed every few months?

    Sara Stone

    July 6, 2010 at 10:13 am | Report abuse |
« Back to main