Carson soldier faces charge of cowardice

Jorgy · 11-05-2003, 05:39 PM

By JOHN DIEDRICH - THE GAZETTE

A soldier with Fort Carson"™s 10th Special Forces Group has been charged with cowardice for allegedly refusing to do his duty in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Georg Pogany, 32, a Special Forces interrogator, is charged with showing "œcowardly conduct as a result of fear, in that he refused to perform his duties," according to his charge sheet.

If convicted in a court-martial, the soldier faces prison time and a dishonorable discharge. He was charged Oct. 14. His first court appearance is Nov. 7 at Fort Carson.

A cowardice charge is extremely rare, military law experts say. Army officials couldn"™t say Wednesday the last time it had been filed.

Pogany said he is wrongly charged.

The soldier said he experienced a "œpanic attack" after seeing the mangled body of an Iraqi man and told his superior he was heading for a "œnervous breakdown."

After that, Pogany said he didn"™t request to go on missions nor did the unit ask him to go.

Pogany said he asked for help but was denied the care soldiers with "œcombat stress" are supposed to receive.

Instead of help, Pogany said, one of his superiors told him to "œget his head out of his ass and get with the program."

An Army psychologist in Iraq said Pogany had a normal reaction to seeing the body and recommended rest and then a return to duty, the soldier said.

Instead, his commander ordered him back to Colorado Springs to face a court-martial for "œmisbehavior before the enemy."

"œI don"™t know how asking for help qualifies as misbehavior," Pogany said.

"œSomething happens, you ask for help and they throw the book at you and kick you to the curb."

Army officials declined to talk about the case.

Pogany, an intelligence soldier with the group for two years, left for Iraq on Sept. 26 from Fort Carson. He is not a Green Beret but was attached to a team of Green Berets for this mission.

The unit was working on Sept. 29 out of Samarra, north of Baghdad, when Pogany saw the body of an Iraqi man brought into the Army compound.

Soldiers on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle killed the Iraqi after he was spotted shooting a rocket-propelled grenade, Pogany said.

Pogany had never seen anything like that. Shortly after, he said, he began shaking, couldn"™t focus and kept throwing up his food.

Pogany said he was terrified he would be killed.

"œUntil you are faced with the chance you could die in two minutes, that an RPG could come through the window when you are sleeping, you don"™t know how you will react," he said.

Pogany said he told his team sergeant, a superior, that he was headed for a "œnervous breakdown."

The sergeant told him to "œgo away and think about what I was saying because I was throwing my career away," Pogany said.

For the next day, Pogany said he was repeatedly told he had "œone more chance to redeem himself."

Superiors began threatening court-martial, he said.

His superiors labeled him a suicide risk, Pogany said. The soldier said he never thought of suicide and wasn"™t a risk.

On Oct. 1, Pogany was sent to another base, where the 10th Special Forces Group"™s higher headquarters is located.

While on that base, Pogany said he asked to talk to a chaplain, who suggested he go to a Combat Stress Management Team. He said he referred himself in for care.

He was examined by psychologist Capt. Marc Houck, who wrote in a report that "œthe soldier reported signs and symptoms consistent with those of a normal combat stress reaction."

He recommended Pogany rest for a day or so and receive stress-coping skills.

Houck recommended that remaining with his unit would help Pogany"™s recovery.

Those steps are typical for a soldier who experiences combat stress, said Col. Rene Robichaux, chief of the Department of Social Work at Brook Army Medical Center in Texas, who wasn"™t speaking specifically about Pogany"™s case.

Army psychologists are trained to let soldiers know their reactions are normal, Robichaux said.

"œIt is appropriate to say, "˜This is crazy over here. What you are doing and everyone else is doing is bizarre. Being scared is not only normal, it is life-saving. If you are not scared, there is something wrong."

Special Forces follows all the same programs as any Army unit, a spokesman at Army Special Operations Command said.

Pogany said he returned to the 10th Group after he was examined, was ignored for more than a day and then told he was being sent home to face charges.

The soldier said he had asked three times to stay in Iraq and work through his problem.

Back in Colorado Springs, Pogany said he was ordered to see a psychologist at Fort Carson, again as a suicide risk.

The psychologist wrote that Pogany was not a suicide risk and should be returned to duty without any change.

Pogany said his security clearance has been pulled, and he is forbidden to have a gun.

Pogany questioned what might happen if troubled soldiers are afraid to come forward, noting the three soldiers who were accused of killing their wives last year after coming home from in Afghanistan.

"œWhat is tragic is the message they are sending," Pogany said.

"œIn retrospect, maybe I shouldn"™t have said anything, but that is the wrong answer."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0110 or diedrich@gazette.com

Jorgy · 11-05-2003, 05:40 PM

Since I have never been in the military I would like to know what some of you who are think of this.

Dave590 · 11-05-2003, 06:29 PM

It' s not my nature to speculate about such things as this, but one thing is clear in this report...Only Pogany' s statements are presented, along with a few ambiguous psycobable statements.

I would be very interested to hear his units " take" on the situation.

I' m sure there was more to it than his calmly saying " I' m loosing it" .

I have no opinion except that I suspect that the C.O. did what he thought was best for his unit.

Strange Biller · 11-05-2003, 06:54 PM

A couple thoughts: One is to agree with Dave - this sounds like an awfully one sided account of the story. I' ll also agree with Dave' s guess that there was a little more to it than " Gee, I' m losing it, sir."

Two - and this isn' t really that relevant - this pairing of soldiers together is one of the funniest you' ll find. The soldier Pogany is a translator/interegator, which means he is a Defense Language Institute graduate - probably the biggest collection of nerds in the military (I know because in addition to my infantry time, I also graduated from DLI). And then they put him to work with the special forces guys - obviously the hardest of hardcore in all the military. Pair them up and sparks will fly - but it is necessary, as there aren' t enough special forces qualified Arabic speakers to go around.

Coastie · 11-06-2003, 05:00 AM

Dave and Strange Biller have hit it pretty close I think. There is more to this than we are hearing. The military does not take charges of cowardice lightly and they don' t bring these charges on a whim. Cowardice in the face of the enemy during war time can get you shot on the spot, a court martial is not required. If, as he states, the shrinks all said he was/is no suicide risk and is suffering from stress, there is a paper trail a mile long and a foot deep which will be brought out by his attorney and he will be exonerated.
Pure speculation on my part would be this guy was a constant pain in the backside always complaining about things and never able to " Get with the program" .
I would also speculate that he was/is a rear area commando (in the 60' s and 70' s known as a real candy a$$) wearing all of the accoutrements of a front line troop, talking tough then falling apart when the first indication of his own mortality presented itself in the form of the mangled body of one of the enemy. I wonder what would have happened if it was one of his own command that had been returned on that vehicle. Most of us are scared witless at one time or another but get through it and get the job done.

loner · 11-06-2003, 06:34 AM

i agree with you guys on each point not knowing anymore than was told.my guess would be that the CO had no choice but to remove a potential problem from the ranks before it started breaking down the morale of the troops.my training with the 3rd army many years ago left no doubt about my loyalty at any cost.however,i never was in battle or saw what this soldier did.unless this person was truly unstable,i feel like he would not have to go through a court martial,which in time of war is VERY SERIOUS.i can' t say i might not have been upset seeing the first body,but i would never have let it affect my performing my duty.

driftrider · 11-06-2003, 02:42 PM

What strikes me as odd about his reaction is that he experienced this reaction not in combat, but simply when viewing the (probably pretty badly torn up, if he' d been nailed with the Bradleys 25mm chaingun) corpse of an Iraqi man. According to the report, this guy wasn' t even in combat, but rather just viewing the aftermath of combat. So if that' s the only thing that set him off (which I doubt), then he probably is a coward...BUT...if he didn' t display the cowardice in the face of the enemy (i.e. he wasn' t cowering in combat), then this charge can' t stick. Being a coward is only a crime when in the presence of the enemy in combat...not a dead former combatant brought back to a rear area.

I' ll reserve judgement until I know more of the facts...but a " cowardice" charge is EXTREMELY SERIOUS offense in the military, which can warrant an immediate death sentence under certain circumstances (although, most officers are probably not going to shoot someone outright anymore, because if they are wrong, they' re royally screwed). Otherwise it rates a General Courts-Martial with is a felony conviction.

I will say, however, that if a guy like this had been in my unit in the Corps and all it took to make him cower like a sissy is the sight of a dead body, I sure as heck wouldn' t want to actually go into combat with him. People like that get other good Marines killed.

Mike

Jorgy · 11-07-2003, 07:48 AM

From Drudge Report................

Army Dismisses Soldier Cowardice Charge

Friday November 7, 2003 1:46 AM

By ROBERT WELLER

Associated Press Writer

FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) - The Army dismissed a cowardice charge and filed a lesser count against an Army interrogator who sought counseling after he saw the body of an Iraqi man cut in half by American fire.

Staff Sgt. Georg-Andreas Pogany was charged with dereliction of duty, according to a statement released Thursday afternoon by Fort Carson officials. A military court hearing set Friday for Pogany was canceled.

The new charge was filed by the company commander after military judges dismissed the cowardice charge, officials said. ``He believes that this charge is most appropriate to address the alleged misconduct based upon the evidence that is currently available,' ' an Army statement said.

Army officials did not immediately return phone calls for comment. Neither did Pogany nor his attorney.

Attorney Frank Spinner, a retired Air Force colonel who handles military cases, said dereliction of duty is a minor offense that, if disposed of without a court-martial, usually is penalized by loss of pay or reduction in rank.

With a court-martial, the maximum penalty is several months confinement, said Spinner, of Colorado Springs. Whether a court-martial is held depends on the military judiciary.

After seeing the mangled corpse, Pogany says he began shaking and vomiting and feared for his life. Soon, Pogany says, he had trouble sleeping and started suffering what he thought were panic attacks.

Six weeks later, Pogany, 32, was charged with cowardice, a count that he said was filed after he sought counseling. Pogany denies that he acted in a cowardly way.

``What is tragic about this is the message being sent to other soldiers,' ' Pogany said recently. ``It' s not about me.' '

Cowardice violations can be punished by death. Military code does not include a minimum sentence.

Army officials have declined to discuss the case.

Cowardice charges are rare. The last such conviction in the Army occurred during the Vietnam War. Charges were filed against a married couple during the Gulf War, but reduced to mistreatment of public property, said Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice.

``You have to look pretty hard to find any of these cases,' ' Fidell said. ``We have a well-trained army that is a motivated one.' '

Pogany' s case and others that are similar suggest Iraqi deployments are wearing thin, said military analyst Dan Goure of the Lexington Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

``I think what you are seeing here is a consequence of the changed character of an all-volunteer force,' ' Goure said. ``The strain gets worse when you have longer deployments or multiple deployments or changing deployments.' '

Assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, Pogany was attached to a team of Green Berets on Sept. 26 when he departed for Iraq. He declined to discuss his responsibilities, citing security issues.

Three days later, he was standing in a U.S. compound near Samarra north of Baghdad when soldiers brought in the Iraqi man' s bloody body. The soldiers told Pogany the man was killed after he was seen shooting a rocket-propelled grenade.

Pogany said he was shaken, couldn' t focus and kept vomiting. He told his commanders he believed he was suffering from panic attacks or a nervous breakdown and requested counseling.

At least one officer suggested he consider what such a request would do to his career, Pogany said. When he sought help, ``I was told that I was wasting their time,' ' Pogany said.

Pogany was examined by psychologist Capt. Marc Houck, who concluded he had signs consistent with normal combat stress reaction. Houck recommended Pogany be given a brief rest before returning to duty, but he was sent home to Fort Carson in mid-October and charged with ``cowardly conduct as a result of fear.' '

Pogany said he asked three times to be given time to adjust and complete the recommended treatment while in Iraq.

Pogany said he can offer a credible defense. ``If the Army decides to go down the route of character assassination, I have plenty to show I have been a good soldier for five years,' ' he said.

His attorney, Richard Travis, speculated that Pogany may have received more help if he had been assigned to another unit.

``All he wanted was some help dealing with the physical reaction he was having, including vomiting, shaking and inability to sleep,' ' Travis said.

burniegoeasily · 11-07-2003, 01:33 PM

Quote:

The soldier said he experienced a "œpanic attack" after seeing the mangled body of an Iraqi man and told his superior he was heading for a "œnervous breakdown."

When this reaches its apex, isnt it called shell shock?

eldeguello · 11-11-2003, 09:18 AM

Quote:

The soldier said he experienced a "œpanic attack" after seeing the mangled body of an Iraqi man and told his superior he was heading for a "œnervous breakdown."

After that, Pogany said he didn"™t request to go on missions nor did the unit ask him to go.

Pogany said he asked for help but was denied the care soldiers with "œcombat stress" are supposed to receive.

Instead of help, Pogany said, one of his superiors told him to "œget his head out of his ass and get with the program."

Shades of George S. Patton! All that' s missing here is the slap!

Seriously, in the current P.C. Army, the superiors who denied him counselling will end up in deeper Kim-Chee than he will!!