{"id":122183,"date":"2022-01-24T11:30:25","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T16:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=122183"},"modified":"2022-01-24T11:30:25","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T16:30:25","slug":"bonhomme-richard-arson-suspect-promotes-himself-for-his-art-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=122183","title":{"rendered":"Bonhomme Richard arson suspect promotes himself for his Art 32"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Seaman Apprentice (E-2) Ryan Mays, seen wearing E-3 stripes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ninja sends in this interesting story from Military Times<\/a>. Seaman Apprentice Ryan Mays was photographed coming into his Article 32 hearing wearing stripes one grade above that which he holds. Mays you’ll recall is accused of starting the fire aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) which caused so much damage the ship has been written off (the ship cost an inflation adjusted $1.4 billion when new). He had enlisted on a SEAL contract but didn’t pass the course and was re-classed. He is alleged to have had a chip on his shoulder due to that.<\/p>\n

From the article;<\/p>\n

When Ryan Sawyer Mays walked into a Navy courtroom late last year for a hearing that would help determine whether he goes to trial for allegedly starting the fire that ultimately destroyed the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, he did so as a seaman apprentice, or E-2 rank.<\/p>\n

But photos from outside the December hearing show Mays wearing the three-stripes uniform insignia of a seaman E-3 on his left arm.<\/p>\n

Despite being an institution well-known for its rigorous adherence to standards in all things uniform, the Navy can\u2019t explain why the sailor was wearing the wrong insignia.<\/p>\n

Navy Times asked the San Diego-based U.S. 3rd Fleet why Mays had three white stripes on his arm during the Article 32 hearing, in which an officer weighed evidence as to whether Mays should stand trial on charges of arson and improperly hazarding a vessel.<\/p>\n

Third Fleet declined comment and referred questions to Mays\u2019 civilian defense attorney, Gary Barthel.<\/p>\n

Navy officials told Barthel and his client that Mays would have \u201ca proper uniform inspection\u201d before the hearing, the attorney told Navy Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what happened, but his command did a uniform inspection of him before the Article 32,\u201d he said this week. \u201cI don\u2019t know where the disconnect is on that, but they inspected his uniform twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mays denies starting the July 2020 fire aboard Bonhomme Richard and Barthel argued at the Article 32 that there was no physical evidence tying his client to the blaze.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors argued at the hearing that witnesses placed Mays near the site of the fire\u2019s origin and that the former SEAL candidate was a \u201cdisgruntled\u201d sailor, the Associated Press reported last month.<\/p>\n

Third Fleet has yet to release a decision on whether the charges against Mays will be referred to court-martial.<\/p>\n

Navy records show Mays was advanced to E-2 on June 3, 2021, 11 months after the inferno and eight weeks before the Navy preferred charges against him for starting the fire aboard the billion-dollar warship, which burned for five days and led the Navy to scrap the once-mighty amphib.<\/p>\n

While Mays was already suspected of starting the fire at the time of his advancement, the bump up from E-1 to E-2 is generally automatic following a certain amount of time in service.<\/p>\n

If Mays\u2019 command wanted to delay his advancement, they would have had to do a \u201cPage 13? administrative action or give him an adverse evaluation, according to Lauren Hanzel, a former Navy attorney now in private practice.<\/p>\n

But such a move could have left the Navy open to allegations that they were making a judgement on Mays\u2019 guilt before he was charged, Hanzel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that was prudent and smart, particularly pre-referral (of criminal charges), in order to avoid any appearance of illegal pre-trial punishment or pre-decision,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s no advantage to the government in preventing this (advancement).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ninja sends in this interesting story from Military Times. Seaman Apprentice Ryan Mays was photographed coming … Bonhomme Richard arson suspect promotes himself for his Art 32<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[185,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-navy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}