N.C. Man Kicked Out of Military Over Contraband Rifle

[greyhound]

N.C. Man Kicked Out of Military Over Contraband Rifle
By The Associated Press
(03/22/05 - FORT BRAGG) — A North Carolina National Guard soldier who tried to bring home a contraband AK-47 assault rifle has been kicked out of the military, a Fort Bragg spokesman said.
Sgt. Craig A. Marks II was charged with conspiracy to steal the rifle and with the violation of a broad general order that bars troops from various activities that include brining home souvenir weapons, Maj. Richard Patterson said Monday.

Marks, a member of the Fayetteville-based 1st Battalion of the 252nd Armor Regiment, served a 10-month tour in Iraq with the N.C. Guard's 30th Heavy Separate Brigade. "I can't talk about that right now," he said Monday.

The weapon was discovered in Kuwait and never made it to the United States, Patterson said. He had no other details of how the weapon was smuggled or how investigators determined+ that Marks was involved.

Marks' case was handled by authorities at Fort Bragg because he was on active duty when the violations took place. He asked authorities there to dismiss him from the military rather than call a court-martial.

Because of privacy regulations, Patterson said he couldn't say whether Marks received an honorable or dishonorable discharge.
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---- A far cry from the old days when, I'm told, soldiers brought home all kinds of contraband. When did this stop? WWII, Korea, Vietnam?--------

 

[PMDW]

It'd be a felony to have it in the U.S., anyway.

 

[El Rojo]

Wouldn't it be nice for soldiers to be able to bring home at least one souvenir rifle, pistol, and shotgun? Wouldn't it be nice if the laws back home were right and it wouldn't matter if it was full-auto or not? Oh well, it isn't so this dude screwed up.

 

[Lennyjoe]

As a C&R holder I believe I can bring back 2 weapons as per the C&R rules and regs and the ATF regs.

Unfortunately, the military has their own regs forbidding us to bring back any.

 

[EghtySx]

Their fathers and grandfathers did it.

 

[El Tejon]

Anyone reciting Tommy Atkins in their head? :banghead:

We are not citizens, but serfs in service to the tsar.

 

[WT]

I don't mind that he tried to bring in an AK. I do mind that he willingly violated a general order.

 

[jefnvk]

What I don't get, is why don't they just try to smuggle back the reciever? Seems to me that that would be easier, and they could build it up with a parts kit.

I'll second WT's, though.

 

[Antjo]

I believe that the men & women who risk their LIVES for not just our freedoms, but to provide those freedoms to others less fortunate, should be able to have a souvenir. WW2 Vets got to bring back Lugers and Japanese machine guns, and Vietnam Vets brought back AK's, so what. Stupid media induced hoplophobia bullcrap. No leniency left in this country.

 

[Langenator]

IIRC, troops weren't allowed to bring back AKs from Vietnam, or if they were, the military put up a huge amount of red tape.

The big problem now, I think, is not so much hoplophobia as media-relations phobia. The generals are deathly afraid of images of American troops going souvenier hunting being broadcast as 'looting' around the world.

 

[Spreadfire Arms]

Lennyjoe wrote:

As a C&R holder I believe I can bring back 2 weapons as per the C&R rules and regs and the ATF regs.

That is actually incorrect. C&R license does not allow importation. You would need a Firearms Importer License like Century Arms International or Southern Ohio Gun. A C&R license is different.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Some Vietnam veterans may have gotten AKs into the U.S. but we were not "allowed" to bring them home. It was in violation of policy and orders if it happened.

 

[Shorts]

While I think it'd be cool to be able to bring arms back from overseas, it bothers me that orders and rules were violated. My husband is squadron Legal-O, and the stupidity that he has to take care of is ridiculous. You would think grown men and women would honor the rules set before them. Would I be bummed to if I was told no if I were in the same position? Yes. Would I continue with the 'illegal activity', no. It's not worth it.

As for wether the guy got released with OTH or GD, that might can be determined from the general info provided about the incident.

 

[crucible]

During the first Great Sandbox War, I was aware of a few cases of folks doing that very thing and getting caught. One I knew-a man that had earned meritorious Corporal just a couple months beforehand got caught trying to mail home a RPG launcher in a seabag. Was quite sad really-he was married with one child and was headed to Ft. Leavenworth instead to home to his family.

I had (there) a liberated folding stock AK for several months-a nice piece that was doggone small when the stock was folded. Could have easily fit into a seabag....but no way I was silly enough to try, and it, along with thousands of others, got buried uin the sand.

We did have other souviners though-many AK bayonets and others things. We had so many AK bayonets that the pogues in the rear issued orders that we had to turn them in-with the promise that we'd get them back once home. Yea sure, that never happened, but I remember seeing a whole lot of people with AK bayonets back at Lejeune who never were there months afterwards

Cruc

 

[sturmruger]

That is sad that this mans military career is over. Too bad he did it to himself.

 

[HankB]

WW2 Vets got to bring back Lugers and Japanese machine guns . . . ,

No. Rifles and pistols were fine, but fully automatic firearms were prohibited back then. Not to say that some didn't actually return with the GIs (including various Thompsons, grease guns, BARs, grenades, etc.) But they weren't supposed to.

My late father sent back - I mean, he knew a guy who sent back - some Nambu souvenir machine guns, but when they disappeared in transit, he felt - I mean, his buddy felt - it would be best not to inquire about what happened to them.

It really bugs me that today some anal-retentive poltical animal of a REMF has decided that all ordinary firearms found on the battlefield by U.S. combat troops are now considered contraband.

 

[Bear Gulch]

I think that a lot of WWII stuff came back via the mails without permission. Or at least that is the impression that one gets talking to my WWII vet relatives.

 

[Shorts]

That is sad that this mans military career is over. Too bad he did it to himself.

That's what we say about every one of these guys that has been sent home. They just don't think.

 

[DSRUPTV]

Man, it would be really cool if they would be allowed to bring a souvenir like that home. Even if they were required to have the automatic capability disabled. For the service they are providing for us by putting their lives on the line I think it is the least they deserve.

 

[bad LT]

Can servicemen bring back semi-automatic rifles (SKSs, Dragonovs, etc.) or pistols?

 

[DRZinn]

We did have other souviners though-many AK bayonets and others things.

Not even that, this time around...

 

[jefnvk]

Nope, nothing. The people I knew said even bayonets were iffy for a while, but command let them go.

 

[Sean Smith]

The guy was a dummy. These policies have been around forever, and are very clearly articulated over and over. He disobeyed a general order and got smacked. Is it stupid? I think so. There was a cool Croatian pistol I'd have liked to take home from Bosnia. But so what? It's the military, you follow orders or get smacked down.

 

[Missourigunner]

N.C man kicked out of Military

When I served in Vietnam, we were specifically told that the AK-47, was illegal as a War Trophy as were other Automatic Weapons. Face it, the guy screwed up

 

[Joejojoba111]

Hypothetically, could one simply leave the [item not allowed to be brought home] with a resident of said foreign state, and then re-acquire it later, as a person-to-person transaction with all due paperwork? Every country has lawyers, I'd look into having a lawyer in said wartorn country participate in the transaction.

P.S.

I never really respected enterprising intelligence of troops in general (a horribly wide brushstroke, I'm sorry to say) after those soldiers turned in hundreds of millions of dollars in US cash they found whilst on patrol. $100 million for a pat on the head, not a good price in my books.