Grinder
30 October 2003, 22:14
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1732298,00.html
Ft. Carson GI accused of misconduct
Special Forces soldier charged in Iraq action
By Eileen Kelley, Special to The Denver Post
FORT CARSON - A 32-year-old sergeant with the elite fighting group the 10th Special Forces has been accused of misconduct while serving in Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Georg Pogany will have an opportunity to answer the charges at a military hearing Nov. 7.
Pogany has been in the Army since 1998. Officials at Fort Carson said he is an interrogator with a specialty in German. He is charged with violating Article 99 of the military code, misbehavior before the enemy.
Reached at his home in Fountain on Wednesday night, Pogany declined to comment on the charges, other than to say, "An Article 99 is pretty serious."
Officials with Pogany's Special Forces unit refused to comment about the case, shuffling questions about the charges from one spokesman to another.
No one has been convicted on such a charge in at least five years, said Martha Rudd, an Army spokeswoman. "I haven't heard of a case like that," she said.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice said the charges could result in death.
The Nov. 7 hearing will determine if there is enough cause and evidence to bring the case to a court-martial.
Unlike a grand jury proceeding, the accused is able to state his case during the hearing.
Two battalions of the 10th Special Forces group are stationed at Fort Carson but are not under Fort Carson's jurisdiction. They are under the operational control of Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
A public affairs officer with the 10th Special Forces as well as a public affairs officer at Fort Bragg both refused to comment on the case.
Members of the legal department at Fort Carson also did not want to comment on the case nor give any indication of what kind of punishment Pogany may face if he is convicted.
There are nine aspects of the charge, and Pogany refused to elaborate on the exact specification of the charge.
The specifics of the charge are running away; surrendering or shameful abandon; disobedience, neglect or intentional misconduct that endangers the safety or the command or unit; casting away arms or ammunition; cowardly conduct; quitting a place of duty to plunder or pillage; causing false alarms in any command or unit; willfully failing to encounter, engage, capture or destroy any enemy troops, combatant, vessels, aircraft; and not affording practical relief and assistance to troops.
"I don't want to go into the details," Pogany said.
Pogany was one of about 980 members of the 10th Special Forces who went to Iraq. That's about 90 percent of the Special Forces members at Fort Carson. Secrecy surrounds much of the Special Forces and their operations in war and peacetime. The soldiers are considered to be highly trained.
Most of the Special Forces members from around the United States have left Iraq, but many have deployed to other places in the world, said Maj. Rob Gowlan, a spokesman for the Army Special Forces Command.
Many left for the Persian Gulf well before the U.S.-led invasion in March.
Pogany admitted the charges stem from something that happened in Iraq.
Cases such as Pogany's are uncommon not only for Fort Carson, but nationwide, military officials said.
"With an all-volunteer Army, cases like this are rare," said Richard Bridges, a public affairs officer at Fort Carson. "It's rare because the Army is smaller and people join the Army, and we want an all-volunteer force."
Ft. Carson GI accused of misconduct
Special Forces soldier charged in Iraq action
By Eileen Kelley, Special to The Denver Post
FORT CARSON - A 32-year-old sergeant with the elite fighting group the 10th Special Forces has been accused of misconduct while serving in Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Georg Pogany will have an opportunity to answer the charges at a military hearing Nov. 7.
Pogany has been in the Army since 1998. Officials at Fort Carson said he is an interrogator with a specialty in German. He is charged with violating Article 99 of the military code, misbehavior before the enemy.
Reached at his home in Fountain on Wednesday night, Pogany declined to comment on the charges, other than to say, "An Article 99 is pretty serious."
Officials with Pogany's Special Forces unit refused to comment about the case, shuffling questions about the charges from one spokesman to another.
No one has been convicted on such a charge in at least five years, said Martha Rudd, an Army spokeswoman. "I haven't heard of a case like that," she said.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice said the charges could result in death.
The Nov. 7 hearing will determine if there is enough cause and evidence to bring the case to a court-martial.
Unlike a grand jury proceeding, the accused is able to state his case during the hearing.
Two battalions of the 10th Special Forces group are stationed at Fort Carson but are not under Fort Carson's jurisdiction. They are under the operational control of Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
A public affairs officer with the 10th Special Forces as well as a public affairs officer at Fort Bragg both refused to comment on the case.
Members of the legal department at Fort Carson also did not want to comment on the case nor give any indication of what kind of punishment Pogany may face if he is convicted.
There are nine aspects of the charge, and Pogany refused to elaborate on the exact specification of the charge.
The specifics of the charge are running away; surrendering or shameful abandon; disobedience, neglect or intentional misconduct that endangers the safety or the command or unit; casting away arms or ammunition; cowardly conduct; quitting a place of duty to plunder or pillage; causing false alarms in any command or unit; willfully failing to encounter, engage, capture or destroy any enemy troops, combatant, vessels, aircraft; and not affording practical relief and assistance to troops.
"I don't want to go into the details," Pogany said.
Pogany was one of about 980 members of the 10th Special Forces who went to Iraq. That's about 90 percent of the Special Forces members at Fort Carson. Secrecy surrounds much of the Special Forces and their operations in war and peacetime. The soldiers are considered to be highly trained.
Most of the Special Forces members from around the United States have left Iraq, but many have deployed to other places in the world, said Maj. Rob Gowlan, a spokesman for the Army Special Forces Command.
Many left for the Persian Gulf well before the U.S.-led invasion in March.
Pogany admitted the charges stem from something that happened in Iraq.
Cases such as Pogany's are uncommon not only for Fort Carson, but nationwide, military officials said.
"With an all-volunteer Army, cases like this are rare," said Richard Bridges, a public affairs officer at Fort Carson. "It's rare because the Army is smaller and people join the Army, and we want an all-volunteer force."