Oldbabe said:
If I remember correctly the Greeneville case didn't involve a deliberate act. Is that true? Doesn't that make a difference in military justice? The astronaut's actions were deliberate but involved a personal matter. And she is not in the military (correct?), so why would the government have any right to take her pension?
True, only gross negligence. While it does make a difference in military justice, I'm not trying to compare the charges. I'm just saying that people died and and a formal court of inquiry was held yet it still wasn't considered "bad" enough to put a guy through a court martial. So I doubt that they'll do anything to CAPT Nowak because nobody died, despite the evidence that she may have been contemplating murder.
Oldbabe said:
If The astronaut's actions were deliberate but involved a personal matter. And she is not in the military (correct?), so why would the government have any right to take her pension?
She's still on active duty, just stationed at NASA instead of commanding an air wing or flying a Pentagon desk. She still "competed" for promotion against all the other naval officers in her year group, although admittedly the astronaut part of the fitness report tends to give one a boost in the competition. Much as her pending punitive letter of reprimand would knock her out of the competition if she was foolish enough to hang around.
It was a personal matter, true, but it was against a junior officer who was hypothetically under her in the chain of command. So although it's technically a military matter, it's also a huge tabloid hairball that would have Jerry Springer & Geraldo Rivera drooling on the floor, to say nothing of Montel Williams (USNA '80). No one in Navy Public Affairs wants to see pit-bull lawyers like Charles Gittins (USNA '79) or Eric Seitz defending her in a court martial or trying her case in the press. MegaNavy just wants her to go away fast.
As an O-6 with nearly 22 years of service she's eligible for a pension of roughly $51K/year (the calculations look at the top 36 months of pay, and I'm estimating that value instead of calculating it) plus a COLA and $40/month TRICARE health insurance. Mental health treatment is covered, too, with just a $12 copay per appointment!