The Army has finally issued a decision allowing Green Beret Sgt. Charles Martland to remain in the military once and for all, following a long witch hunt to drum him out of the service for assaulting an Afghan army soldier caught red-handed sexually assaulting a young boy in Afghanistan.
“In SFC Martland’s case, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records determination modified a portion of one of SFC Martland’s evaluation reports and removed him from the QMP list, which will allow him to remain in the Army,” Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry Pionk told Fox News.
Martland was ecstatic at the announcement.
“I am real thankful for being able to continue to serve,” Martland, a two-time Bronze Star recipient, told Fox News. “I appreciate everything Congressman Duncan Hunter and his Chief of Staff, Joe Kasper did for me.”
GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan, who has long championed Martland’s case, said there never should have been any question of punishing the Green Beret at all and wanted to know why the Army took its sweet time in coming to a final decision.
“What took so long?” Buchanan asked, following the announcement from the review board.
“The Pentagon finally took action and did the right thing,” Buchanan added. “Going forward, I hope the Department of Defense will learn from Martland’s case and avoid punishing those who stand up for American values at home and abroad.”
The Army initially dismissed Martland for beating down an Afghan rapist in 2011 while on deployment in Afghanistan. When Martland confronted the Afghan commander for chaining a boy to a bed post and raping him repeatedly, the commander laughed in his face, prompting Martland to shove him to the ground, which earned him the ire of higher-ups in the military. He was sent off the base and then sent home.
Unfortunately, backlash against Martland does not appear to be an isolated case. The New York Times has reported on the existence of a policy mandating that soldiers ignore sexual abuse of children by Afghan officials.
Martland was supposed to be discharged in November, but several appeals extended his time in the service until May 1. He was on his third and final appeal.
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