Comments by "Joe Kelsoe II" (@nsahandler) on "Real Lawyer Reacts to A Few Good Men (with Real JAG!)" video.

  1. "So why is the Navy trying this case?" Marine Lawyer: "It happened on a Navy base so the Navy has jurisdiction." Real Answer: "The Marine Corps is a subset of the Navy and there's no way any Marine would ever bring that fact up, even if directly relevant."
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  2. A pen is part of your issued gear and you are required to have one on you at all times unless limited by operational requirements. In bootcamp they literally hang the pen on your dogtags so you always have it. That's not a joke. It's in the Blue Jacket's Manual (Navy's Core Instructing materials).
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  3.  @Nikotheleepic  We know the numbers because the German military was really really really good for keeping metrics. So good that all the paperwork discovered after the fact pointed directly to that number - with true estimates actually being much higher due to the fact that attempts were made to actively destroy records.
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  4.  @jackson4672  Dishonorable discharge is a guarantee of a life worse than death. There's no federal statute requiring someone to identify themselves as a convicted felon to anyone outside of regulated circumstances. There is a federal statute (from derivative case law) requiring Dishonorable Discharge to be made known to anyone who inquires. Misidentifying your form of discharge is considered fraudulent representation of military documentation for personal enrichment or gain on the federal level.
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  5. I think the crux of the story is that the Colonel's overzealous running of his guard platoon at GITMO was - through the case and investigation - TOO EXTREME for a simple infantry outpost. And Tom Cruise's character is being told to not insult, berate, or badger a high ranking official - even though that is what he knows will set the Colonel off. It's perfectly reasonable to expect an officer to take their job way too seriously. Hell, some of the dumbest shit in the military occurs when an officer or upper NCO feels the need to "make an impression" or to "shake things up" - ruining an otherwise "smooth going" operational pace. I can absolutely see a combat-hardened Colonel coming to another infantry base and bringing that mentality to an easy-going station. I kid you not, when the Marines asked their command for more parking structures at the mountaintop base PACOM in HAWAII, the official, on-record response was "We don't need parking. We need tougher Marines." For a damn administration outpost. The real cross examination you guys should have reviewed in public should have included the use of the Marine Corps handbooks and regulations regarding the question of terminology. Like "where in this book does it say what time chow is?" That's a much more realistic cross-examination piece and displays the character's jack for handling his witness examinations. Anyhow I'm not JAG. I just thought that viewing the entire movie I got a different impression of some of the points you guys brought up in regards to officers and NCO mentalities.
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  6. "It happened aboard a Naval Base so the Navy has jurisdiction" That's a lot of words to avoid saying "We're actually just a part of the Navy." That's the best way to identify a damn good Marine and a damned good lawyer: Never bringing up the signature at the bottom of the check.
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  7. Good Cookie medals are for 3 years of not getting caught.
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