It was drink, sex, drink, sex. john macejunas delta force Call us today! It was their annual Ride for the Fallen, a coast-to-coast convoy of ex-military bikers to raise money for wounded special operators, and the families of those slain in battle. She says she didnt tell her lawyer about it till months later. Shes troubled by the memory of a night in 2012, when she woke up after having passed out drunk to find a man she knew having sex with her without her consent, she says. The latter was for firing shots at a guy outside a crack house on Enloe Street in Fayetteville, a very serious offense, but Lavigne was not prosecuted for any of these crimes. And then hes taken out. Then I learned the books author elected to invoke a pseudonym. The nurse took swabs from Scanlons vagina and cervix, and collected as evidence her soiled underwear. But he was in JAG for 20 years and has represented such high-profile military clients as Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, and is unable to recall another time when a JSOC operator was arrested for a violent felony against a fellow soldier on U.S. soil, as was the case for both Lavigne and Vallejo. After speaking with a chaplain, she met with her units SARC, or sexual-assault response coordinator, who took her to meet with agents from the bases Criminal Investigation Division. *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. All Rights Reserved. May 31, 2022 . He had been in Delta Force. Scanlon lived off-post in an apartment in Fayetteville, a moody military town in the North Carolina pines just outside of Fort Bragg, the biggest Army base in the U.S. On the evening of Sept. 9, 2016, a friend of hers from the gym, a military wife whom Ill call Tina to protect her privacy, invited her to a charitable event at a barbecue restaurant and bar called Macs Speed Shop. Because she was already guilty of one instance of fraternization, with the staff sergeant to whose house she had been headed to that night, she had a motive to lie and pretend that the encounter with Vallejo was nonconsensual, in Poppes theory of the case. Once out of uniform, Scanlon began to meet advocates, lawyers, and people knowledgeable about sexual assault in the military. He was a broken operator, a worn-out military part, destroyed by PTSD and substance abuse. Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States. Which is all I wanted to do: deploy with my soldiers. Out of fear that Vallejo [would try to] come looking for me, she wrote, she moved from Fayetteville to another small town nearby. If he didnt have a knife, he would be toting around, like Rambo, some bow-and-arrow-type shit.. The Army in 2021 presented Silver Star upgrades to 58 veterans of the Black Hawk Down engagement after a comprehensive review, the Army Times reported. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Army Sgt. Theres no doubt that he was charged in Cumberland County, yet strangely, there is no trace of his arraignment or indictment in a publicly accessible database of North Carolina court records. During his career, he served across the globe, running counter narco-terrorism operations in South and Central America, to missions in Lebanon, Jordan, as well as the Balkans. The Special Forces of the U.S. Army are based out of Fort Bragg, as is the powerful and secretive Joint Special Operations Command, making this spot, inland of the Eastern Seaboard, the central node in the United States global special-operations complex. They didnt care with who. Like Gallagher, Anayat was an ordinary Tier 2 special operator, of whom there are as many as 10,000. Her superiors didnt know about the former, and she herself had reported the latter. Nick now is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, producer, and father of two daughters and one son. She was the first witness called to the stand, on day one. The Army couldnt give Scanlon a transcript because no transcript ever existed. The trial began on a Monday morning. The standards are extremely high, as they should be. Contact me today directly at 727-420-5948 or jmacejunas@bhhsflpg.com. Its not even clear what agency, military or civilian, is investigating. He served with 2D Force Reconnaissance, 3rd Reconnaissance Bn, and as a Marine Raider with 2D Raider Bn, Marine Special Operations Command. She wasnt being truthful about her encounter with Cris Vallejo., They should not have allowed my lawyer to testify against me, Scanlon says.  Sergeant John "Mace" Macejunas was a defiant Delta who was involved in the rescue unit to save his fellow Delta members. John G. Macejunas, a Delta Force NCO. The prosecution did not call Matrafailo, the Fayetteville detective who had investigated Scanlons claim, interviewed witnesses while their memories were fresh, collected evidence before it disappeared, and concluded by arresting Vallejo for second-degree rape. Hes our family hero, said Fillmores niece, Angie Burd of Unity, who recently retired as an Army master sergeant. Vallejo, wearing his full-dress uniform, was seated at the defense table, next to his defense attorney, Kris Poppe, a former JAG prosecutor who previously served as an infantry officer. The Army never made a transcript of the court-martial, and destroyed the audio recordings as soon as it concluded, leaving no record of the testimony the witnesses gave, the arguments the lawyers made, or the judges oral rulings. On deployment, they literally go around blasting peoples brains out, she says. Im absolutely convinced and entirely confident that Owens book does not reveal any secret tactics, sensitive techniques or delicate procedures that would put current servicemen and women in jeopardy. Home; About; Program; FAQ; Registration; Sponsorship; Contact; Home; About; Program; FAQ; Registration; Sponsorship . That is not accurate, a spokesman for Army CID, Jeffrey Castro, writes in a statement. They outfitted the warehouse with couches, a full bar, foosball and ping-pong tables, a stripper pole, and something called a Sybian. It took her months to get a military protective order against him. Army) "Delta Force," officially known as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), is one of the U.S. special missions units primarily focused on the . She took him for a run-of-the-mill special-forces veteran, retired from the Army or otherwise discharged, because shed been taught that its against regulations for active-duty personnel to solicit donations for a military cause, and that was the whole point of the Coast x Coast Foundation. There were three Delta Force soldiers, plus a retired bomb technician, in addition to Vallejo who went back to the warehouse that night, all of whom were Coast x Coast members. 4. Its like a saddle vibrator, she explains. Had Owen used his true name, the claims of glory hunting would be loud and wide spread. They even took his license plates off., Billy, we love you and will miss you, the Coast x Coast club posted to its Instagram page two days later. This industrially zoned property, which Vallejo rented from a chemical company, is cut off from any obvious street access, being surrounded on all three sides by train tracks, storage buildings, and scrap yards. I defaulted to what the USASOC prosecutor and the DA would decide, and consented to removal of the case to Fort Bragg, which resulted in an unanticipated four-month delay. Instead, on June 26, Matrafailo was the first person called to the stand by the defense. He didnt let me get past him. John G. Macejunas, a Delta Force NCO who led multiple rescue efforts searching for the missing personnel from the helicopters, according to journalist Mark Bowden. From the perspective of the Armys image-conscious leadership, the failure on the part of the press to catch wind of Vallejos court-martial was a lucky break. Everything revolved around drinking booze and hooking up. Vallejo is a notable exception. She attained the rank of captain, but the missed deployment, the transfers between units, and the stigma that attaches to female soldiers who report being raped all the gossipy, nontangible ways, she says, that marks you out as a problem child diminished her prospects of advancement. These same steps were taken by Owen, who isnt looking for fame either.  He returned to Mogadishu a fourth time the day following the battle dressed as a civilian to recover the bodies of the missing Deltas and pilots. They would have these epic parties, tailgate pool parties, where they would put a liner in the back of a truck and fill it up with water. On one occasion, they hired midget wrestlers to come out, she says. And that was the reason why my case was handled the way it was., Well after midnight, with Paddys about to close down, Vallejo invited Scanlon and Tina to the after-afterparty at a place he called Warehouse 13. Thinking it was some kind of lounge or club, they took a cab to the location on Worth Street in downtown Fayetteville, only to find that it was literally a warehouse. Sad as it is, that happens a lot. Delta Force played a key role in the fateful Battle of Mogadishu in which some poor planning and bad luck led to tragic consequences. Someone might easily have connected the rape case to the unexplained shooting of a Green Beret by a fellow Special Forces soldier three months earlier. He always had something in his hand, Locklear says. Vallejo is considered a ladies man and groupies hang out at the ware house [sic] looking for an opportunity to sleep with Mr. Vallejo. This, the detective noted, was according to an employee of the Fayetteville Police Department who had to recuse herself from the case because she herself had once spent the night at Vallejos apartment. This is a very secluded parcel, the fire marshal wrote in an email to the zoning department. He was originally set to be tried in civilian court, but Army prosecutors assigned to Special Forces swooped in at the last minute and caused the Cumberland County district attorney to drop the charges so that Vallejo could be tried by the military. Delta Force operators protect General Norman Schwarzkopf during the 1991 Iraq War. In 2018, after a drug- and booze-filled bender, Lavigne (left) shot and killed his best friend, Leshikar (right), in front of their two young daughters. He says Lavigne smoked crack, that was his main thing. Two ABC officers went to the location to check it out. In a motion dated June 12, the defense stated that one of the civil-affairs officers was expected to testify that she had observed close, friendly, and flirtatious interaction between Vallejo and Scanlon all night. Thereafter, things moved very slowly toward a trial. He joined Military Times in 2020. Though open to the public, no reporters were in the courtroom. In 2020, The New York Times, Associated Press, and CNN would cover the sexual-assault allegation against a Navy SEAL on a base in Iraq. Scanlon was looking forward to getting the ordeal over with. I remember hearing some shots. On the point of leaving, Scanlon says she asked Vallejo where she could find the restroom. Starting in 2019, victims who testify get a copy of the court-martial record, including audio, whether it was an acquittal or conviction.. The blond 25-year-old from suburban Phoenix had secured a lieutenants slot in the storied 82nd Airborne Division thanks to the good offices of one of her ROTC instructors at the University of Arizona. Hailing from the highly secretive Joint. It appears that a lot goes on here.. I was resolved to be stoic no matter what, because I knew I had stood up for myself as much as possible. Retired. I think they deserve everything the military can honor them with, even though its so far after the fact.. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ , Missing flight data contributed to accident that made AC-130J unusable, PO Box 1077 MURFREESBORO, Tennessee 37133 United States, P.O. . The practice address is PO Box 40124, Olympia, WA 98504-0124. When Scanlon learns that the audio was destroyed, she unexpectedly breaks down in tears. Whether Americans needed to know or not is truly debatable. 99% of the SEALs that I know joined because they also read a book, he said. This was in violation of regulations that forbid fraternization, or close personal relationships between officers and enlisted soldiers, but as the staff sergeant wasnt in her unit or her chain of command, she thought of it as little more than a peccadillo. Billys about to be questioned, or face some sort of retribution. Over those five years, it paid out grants totaling $187,143. May 23, 2022 / by / in . As soon as it was over, Scanlon says, I jumped up and grabbed my shoes and ran inside to get my stuff. The trial record shows that the prosecution called only four more witnesses, half as many as the defense. Some were deployed, others reassigned, or otherwise bureaucratically reshuffled. Looking back on the court-martial, it was a solid case and my testimony was powerful, Scanlon says, but I was this lowly lieutenant up against Delta Force and USASOC and JSOC, and all that entails. Family members of Sgt. He started this project as a resident in 2017. (2) Acts of valor described.--The acts of valor referred to in paragraph (1) are the actions of William F. Thetford on October 3 and 4, 1993, in Somalia for which he was previously awarded the Silver Star Medal. He just ambushed me, she says, repeating what she told Fayetteville police, according to the written report of the detective assigned to the case, Paul Matrafailo. In the history of United States military operations, members from both units have performed some of the most sophisticated, classified, and dangerous missions authorized by the U.S . If signing the form letter isnt enough deterrent from one day sharing experiences, the culture is designed to police anyone considering otherwise. One, to ensure America focuses on the story and his teammates, not on Mark Owen, the individual. William Billy Lavigne II, whose violent life and cryptic death in the woods outside of Fort Bragg I wrote about for Rolling Stone last year. colonel frank o'sullivan interview; beverly hills high school football He was not a quiet professional, she says, using a term that special-operations generals came up with in the 1980s to describe themselves, and since repeated endlessly in the news media. I dont know how we survived., Jane was well-acquainted with the site known as Warehouse 13. If her aim was to avoid disciplinary action or professional embarrassment, she could have simply said nothing and no one would have been the wiser. Scanlon never knew Lavigne, not by name. It was shocking, Scanlon told The Fayetteville Observer in 2019, and honestly a little bit unbelievable. (Attempts to reach Matrafailo by phone were unsuccessful.). Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis. In 2008, I told the true story of the early hunt for Bin Laden because I felt America needed to know. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Years of proximity to military violence, as well as a culture of functional alcoholism and casual sex, left Jane feeling unworthy, damaged, and lost. Jane has dated multiple men on Delta Force at various times in her life. Mace was in the city of Mogadishu for a total of three times during the battle, all three attempts to save the rest of the men. Its unclear if he ever returned to Delta Force or what he did for his last three years in the military. The next morning, she told the guy she was dating at the time that his buddy had raped her, but he didnt believe her, she says. The warehouse is three blocks from police headquarters, but a spokesman for the Fayetteville PD denies knowing anything about the place, and had no relevant incident reports pertaining to the address. We were all so very proud.. The location was well-known, though, to other municipal authorities, who suspected it of being an illegal bar and a fire hazard, according to internal emails between city and county officials that I obtained. As soon as it concluded with an acquittal, the Army deleted the audio recordings. The sheriffs office and the DA had treated it as a justifiable homicide, and Army investigators would later come to the same conclusion, for reasons that both civilian and military authorities decline to disclose to the Leshikar family or to the public. Staff Sgt. Like maybe Im making a bigger deal out of it than it was., It is not your fault, her friend responded, and it is a big deal., Monday morning I went into work, Scanlon says. Alycia Stokes written testimony read. -Brandon. Among all the assets delegated to special operations of the US military, the Delta Force is undoubtedly covered by the strictest confidence. Because of societal prejudices toward womens sexuality, and the potential for abuse, rape shield laws, including Military Rule of Evidence 412, generally block defense attorneys from bringing up an accusers sexual history at trial.  Mace was in the city of Mogadishu for a total of three times during the battle, all three attempts to save the rest of the men. john macejunas delta force. As soon as they said not guilty, my people just kind of quickly escorted me out.. Burd said Fillmore was a mentor as well as her uncle. Arriving at the site in the early morning hours of Sept. 10, 2016, Scanlon and Tina were immediately creeped out by the griminess of the location. While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or. Delta Force operator and Medal of Honor recipient, Thomas Payne. Other than that, he says, I dont think youre going to get any comment from anybody around here.. Lavigne was a member of the Coast x Coast club and a good friend of Vallejos. 800-815-6600. He later served as command surgeon for Joint Special Operations Command. It seems he crashed there from time to time. This will prove to be the most damning psychological stain on Owen. He denies that Lavigne was ever into dealing any sort of narcotics. At the time Lavignes path crossed Scanlons, his cocaine habit was firmly established, but he remained a team member in good standing on Delta Force, and still had a clean arrest record in Cumberland County. In addition, according to USASOC, the court reporter deleted the audio. Why didnt you tell anyone about the witness that came around the corner? she remembers him asking. Among a dozen other things related to the skills you learned and earned while in a Tier One unit, you can even consult for a video game company. Black_Hawk_Down_(film) : definition of Black_Hawk_Down . At the same time it reminded me of a culture literally set in stone that mandates a life time tag of persona non grata, or PNG, for any Tier One operator who writes about his unit. Four months before the night in question, Cumberland Countys Alcoholic Beverage Control received a tip from a police officer in Hope Mills, another satellite town of Fort Bragg, about a party occurring in downtown [Fayetteville] in which donations would be accepted, an ABC agent wrote in an affidavit attached to a warrant to search the warehouse and seize alcohol. Legislative update - Brad Burnham, Program . All awards authorized by Congress will require final approval from the appropriate authorities. His truck, a black quad-cab Dodge Ram, was found some 40 miles away, in Scotland County, burned to a fucking crisp, according to his 24-year-old son. A member of the Army's elite 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, better known as Delta Force, Fillmore and his team fought through the streets of Mogadishu to reach the crash site of a . And that was the reason why my case was handled the way it was. (Phyllis B. Dooney for Rolling Stone). John G Macejunas is legal professional licensed with Washington State Bar Association (WSBA). But after reading Owens book, I know his story is clearly more important. Specialpedagogiska Perspektiv Ahlberg, John Macejunas Delta Force, Flkt Woods Kontrollpanel, 3, Is Abby Coming Back To 911' Season 4, Frklarar Mycket Webbkryss, Litterr Gestaltning Valand, Parkeringssensor Trdls, Likheter Mellan Hinduismen Och Buddhismen Och Kristendom, Stretchvningar Tinnitus, He is known as the courageous leader of the force that reached Durant's crash site on foot. Its the first time during many hours of interviews that she has lost her composure, and I can understand why. Davis studied history at Vanderbilt University and UNC-Chapel Hill, writing a master's thesis about how the Cold War-era Defense Department influenced Hollywood's WWII movies. 28. john macejunas delta forcedetox plster apoteket by , under . He was seven inches taller than her and 70 pounds heavier. Of the five potential Medal of Honor recipients, three fought in the Korean War, and two fought in the Vietnam War. According to Vallejos enlistment-record brief, obtained by Rolling Stone, he was born in California and joined the Army shortly before 9/11, when he was 19.