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San Diego Union-Tribune
March 1, 2008 3 court-martialed in abuse of recruits
By Steve Liewer, Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO--A San Diego drill instructor who was acquitted of most charges during his recruit-abuse trial in December will receive no worse than an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps.
The Administrative Discharge Board at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego reached its finding this week for Cpl. Brian Wendel, 30. It rebuffed an attempt by Wendel's former commander to force him out of the service with an other-than-honorable discharge.
Such a status would have stripped most veterans benefits from Wendel, an Iraq war veteran who has served as a Marine for nine years.
In a story published Monday in The San Diego Union-Tribune, Wendel said it would be wrong for the Marines to give him an unfavorable discharge.
He left San Diego immediately after the panel's hearing Wednesday to move his wife and three children back to their hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
“I felt the (board) members got it right,” Wendel said yesterday, speaking on a cell phone as he drove a truck across the country. “They looked at the whole picture, my whole career, not just a couple of isolated incidents. ... I finally felt like I got treated as a Marine.”
The three-member Administrative Discharge Board said Wendel's offenses warranted discharging him, but with honorable status. It recommended suspending the discharge and letting Wendel re-enlist if there is no further misconduct.
The final word belongs to Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas, the recruit depot's commanding officer. But her decision cannot be more severe than the board's recommendation, said Maj. Kristen Lasica, a spokeswoman for the Marine boot camp.
Wendel was one of three drill instructors who were court-martialed in connection with the widespread abuse of recruits in Platoon 2167 from December 2006 to February 2007.
He was acquitted of 15 of the 17 charges against him, including accusations that he mistreated recruits or encouraged other drill instructors to do so. A military jury found him guilty of drinking beer in an unauthorized location while off duty and of not properly reporting an abuse case when he learned about it.
The recruits who testified at Wendel's trial blamed the abuse on then-Sgt. Jerrod Glass, the platoon's most junior drill instructor.
Glass was convicted of maltreatment for actions such as hitting recruits with a stick and a flashlight, throwing things at them and herding them into bathroom stalls.
All the recruits who testified in the case said Wendel was not present when Glass committed the abuse.
March 1, 2008 3 court-martialed in abuse of recruits
By Steve Liewer, Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO--A San Diego drill instructor who was acquitted of most charges during his recruit-abuse trial in December will receive no worse than an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps.
The Administrative Discharge Board at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego reached its finding this week for Cpl. Brian Wendel, 30. It rebuffed an attempt by Wendel's former commander to force him out of the service with an other-than-honorable discharge.
Such a status would have stripped most veterans benefits from Wendel, an Iraq war veteran who has served as a Marine for nine years.
In a story published Monday in The San Diego Union-Tribune, Wendel said it would be wrong for the Marines to give him an unfavorable discharge.
He left San Diego immediately after the panel's hearing Wednesday to move his wife and three children back to their hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
“I felt the (board) members got it right,” Wendel said yesterday, speaking on a cell phone as he drove a truck across the country. “They looked at the whole picture, my whole career, not just a couple of isolated incidents. ... I finally felt like I got treated as a Marine.”
The three-member Administrative Discharge Board said Wendel's offenses warranted discharging him, but with honorable status. It recommended suspending the discharge and letting Wendel re-enlist if there is no further misconduct.
The final word belongs to Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas, the recruit depot's commanding officer. But her decision cannot be more severe than the board's recommendation, said Maj. Kristen Lasica, a spokeswoman for the Marine boot camp.
Wendel was one of three drill instructors who were court-martialed in connection with the widespread abuse of recruits in Platoon 2167 from December 2006 to February 2007.
He was acquitted of 15 of the 17 charges against him, including accusations that he mistreated recruits or encouraged other drill instructors to do so. A military jury found him guilty of drinking beer in an unauthorized location while off duty and of not properly reporting an abuse case when he learned about it.
The recruits who testified at Wendel's trial blamed the abuse on then-Sgt. Jerrod Glass, the platoon's most junior drill instructor.
Glass was convicted of maltreatment for actions such as hitting recruits with a stick and a flashlight, throwing things at them and herding them into bathroom stalls.
All the recruits who testified in the case said Wendel was not present when Glass committed the abuse.