XBradTC

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XBradTC

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A little more on 2LT Spenser Rapone.

Reportedly from a counseling statement circa 2015. So, two years ago, one of the instructors, or tactical officers (I don't know what LTC Heffington's duty was) clearly saw that Rapone was unsuited to commissioned service.  Who overrode his recommendation?  **EDIT** One sharp eyed reader notes that this appears to be a part of a sworn…

Reportedly from a counseling statement circa 2015.

Rapone

So, two years ago, one of the instructors, or tactical officers (I don't know what LTC Heffington's duty was) clearly saw that Rapone was unsuited to commissioned service. 

Who overrode his recommendation? 

**EDIT** One sharp eyed reader notes that this appears to be a part of a sworn statement, not a counseling statement. Question- what was the basis for taking a sworn statement- which is usually part of some sort of formal or informal investigation. 

**UPDATE**
Full sworn statement. 

Heffington Sworn Statement 18 Nov 2015 Signed (2) by Paul Conner on Scribd

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Responses to “A little more on 2LT Spenser Rapone.”

  1. Esli

    That is a great question that, sadly, will probably never be answered.

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  2. Joe F

    maybe he disclosed he was homosexual and the supervisors just tossed up their hands and did not want the hassle.

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  3. Draki

    It appears that LTC Heffington was a history professor at the time. The full sworn statement is here: http://dailycaller.com/2017/10/04/exclusive-communist-west-point-grad-was-reported-in-2015-for-anti-american-posts/
    He probably took it down with help from another officer to begin building evidence in a case against Rapone.

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  4. Mark Matis

    Who was the Commander in Chief at that time?
    Do you need ANY further reason why this was not pursued further???

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  5. Michael Sanders

    Why the administration at the academy ignored, forgot, or dismissed taking action to promptly remove this cadet from the academy is beyond comprehension. Was the academy administration being too partisan or practicing political correctness? What an insult to the troops in the field for the West Point administration to somehow let this type of person be considered as a leader/officer! I would hold the red tape bureaucracy at West Point accountable and demote or fire anyone that had the power to remove this kid from the academy but was derelict in their duties and failed to do so.

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  6. SFC Dunlap 173d RVN

    I’d like to see an EER for comparitive value though the case seems made by USMA. @Mark Matis – a great point!!!

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  7. Krag

    This is all very bizarre. What kind of environment are they creating at West Point where a cadet can even think of ignoring protocols (standing when addressing an officer), being out of uniform, and blatant disrespect to an officer’s face? How did this cadet not end up on his ass after ONE of these infractions, let alone all of them in one setting?
    What does it actually take to get thrown out of a service academy anymore? Drugs doesn’t do it (Annapolis), academic failure doesn’t do it (Annapolis), conduct obviously doesn’t do it (West Point) nor does actually getting a write-up from an instructor documenting full-on shit-headedness.
    WTF? Seriously.

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  8. Quartermaster

    Krag, I’m sure if you are white, male, hetero and Christian, they’d throw you out on your can forthwith.

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  9. Krag

    I’m guessing you’ve also seen that Rapone was kicked out of the Rangers while enlisted? Yet still managed to get an appointment to West Point with that on his record….

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  10. Quartermaster

    And, after that, he was allowed to go to Ranger School after commissioning.
    What this sailor wonders about, however, if he graduated Ranger School, and was kicked out of the Rangers, why did he go back to Ranger School? A college classmate had graduated Ranger School back in the early 70s, served in Company ‘O’ Arctic Rangers at Ft. Richardson, and then was later commissioned and wore his Ranger tab after he was commissioned. I’m forced to assume you mean he was kicked out of Ranger School while enlisted.
    The 2015 stuff, that should have gotten him kicked out, took place under the Obamanation as POTUS regime. We have a ton of damage to repair before we get hit with a serious war.

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  11. Krag

    @ QM – Ranger school is not the same as serving in the Ranger regiment. Rapone, while enlisted, was serving in the Regiment but probably never went to Ranger school. While enlisted, he was kicked out of the regiment and returned to regular infantry for cause.
    After graduation from West Point, he was/is attending the Ranger course. Unknown if he would actually serve in the Rangers after that or go on to other infantry duties.
    My query as to whether “you” had seen he was kicked out of the Rangers was actually directed at XBradTC, but I did not make that clear in my post.

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  12. George V

    Unless things have changed radically, somewhere at the USMA there was an assigned commanding officer for this twerp. I’m not an academy grad, just an Navy ROTC schulb, but in my experience there was a chain of command for Midshipmen in the battalion and an instructor (an officer) who was responsible for a group of Midshipmen. Behavior of Rapone’s nature would have been reported up the chain in a heartbeat.
    So my question is: Who broke the chain of command here?

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  13. ultimaratioregis

    Have to agree with Joe F. Likely CDT Rampone declared himself a homosexual. Which meant, of course, that he was guaranteed a commission, and Ranger school, and anything else he wanted. Being a special snowflake in the last administration was qualification enough for whatever you dreamt of being. See: Major Nidal Hasan, USA.

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  14. Wysiwyg Mtwzzyzx

    That concluding para is pure gold. I wanted to applaud the good LTC for how well written it was and how piercing the analysis of Rapone.
    Hopefully, the only reason he was graduated was so he could have this addressed as a commissioned officer, and so he could pay back the full amount of the value of the West Point education.
    Hopefully.

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  15. JP

    Heffington is documenting “potential criminal activity”. Who did he give his statement to? Why was it not pursued? Or why was it pursued and then somehow Rapone was cleared and allowed to graduate?
    Perhaps I’m naive, but it is simply unimaginable to me that a Cadet could brazenly, repeatedly disrespect an officer and suffer no immediate consequence. Is there no sort of routine punishment that can be inflicted on Cadets? The guy should be doing pushups until his arms fall off, or something. Has discipline at the USMA completely gone out the window? Can some recent USMA grad shed light on this?

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  16. Quartermaster

    Krag, I understand that the Regiment is not the same as the school. However, when my classmate was in the only people in the regiment who had not gone to Ranger school were those slated to go and had not gone yet, and a few admin types.
    JP, I can’t speak to the sit at WP, but Chuck Missler who graduated from Annapolis in the 50s went back for his 60th class reunion and said the place had changed a lot. The discipline and precision were not what they were when he was a Middie. I imagine WP is much the same.

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  17. Krag

    QM – What I’ve been told is most members of the regiment have not done the course. Leadership billets are likely to be filled by course grads, but my understanding is that most under E6 would not have gone through it.
    I claim no expertise on things Ranger, however, so perhaps a Ranger-type (scrolled) will chime in.

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  18. Casey

    What strikes me is the cadet’s repeated use of “you can’t (insert verb here).” It was quite evocative of the Sovereign Citizen objection “You can’t do that to me!!” seen so frequently on YouTube.

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  19. timactual

    I assume that members of the armed forces still fill out fairly lengthy forms when they enlist or apply for a security clearance or a commission. Evidently they are filed and forgotten.

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  20. Callmelennie

    The statement by LTC Heffington is far too lengthy and detailed for a mere counseling statement. If every counseling statement was this lengthy, officers would be spending all their time doing nothing but writing counseling statements. I was given one counseling statement in my six years of service in the US Army. It was short, terse, and to the point. No more than five sentences
    This is something else entirely

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  21. Quartermaster

    Well Krag, things change. What my classmate said may not be the case anymore. Soldier of Fortune had an article on the Ranger regiment back in the 80s after it was re-established. As I recall, the inmates were mostly course grads. However, given the strange stuff that went on in the time period from ’92 ’til now, things may well have changed enormously.

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  22. Esli

    Pretty much all sergeants (E5) or above in the Ranger Regiment are expected to go to Ranger School. Not necessarily the support guys, but certainly so for the infantry.

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