General apologizes to unit for tattoo search

Source: Army Times

A top Army general has apologized to members of a New Mexico National Guard unit who were ordered to strip to their gym shorts and searched for gang tattoos while on duty in Kuwait.

Brig. Gen. Rodney L. Johnson, in his Thursday letter to officers and soldiers of the Rio Rancho-based Task Force Cobra, apologized “for the manner in which this investigation was conducted and the loss of trust that has resulted.”

He said he knew the investigation had been “gravely mishandled” when he read in a newspaper that the May 2006 search caused one task force member to comment that he “didn’t feel like an American today.”

“Although the search was lawful, it is also critical that my agents ensure that all soldiers are treated appropriately and respectfully,” said Johnson, provost marshal general of the Army and commanding general of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command.

“I sincerely regret that we failed to do so in this case and want to assure you that we have learned from this experience,” he wrote.



Read more: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/06/ap_tattooapology_070612/

There were rumors there were gang members in the unit.

They searched a particular platoon because it was predominantly Hispanic.

when have any of our soldiers really been treated "appropriately and respectfully,” ???

and white power tattoos? Or was this unit the only one checked?

The military is very good about booting people who sport tattoos they do not like. A couple years back (when I was still in the service) my unit CO kicked out 3 people, two white, one hispanic for having Nazi/gang tattoos. I had a buddy from Pittsburgh who was black and had a panther tattoo on his shoulder/arm. He almost got booted because they thought it was a Black Panther tattoo. He had to get a bunch of us to vouch for him that he wasn't some militant. The point is, the military is pretty equal opportunity when it comes to stuff like that.

made up of soldiers from Guard units around New Mexico. Task Force Cobra was sent to the Middle East in November 2005 to provide security for military convoys in Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. Its soldiers returned home last November and the unit has since been disbanded.

Task force members and the commander of the New Mexico National Guard, Brig. Gen. Kenny C. Montoya, have alleged the unit was targeted because of its large number of Hispanic soldiers.

The search followed an unfounded claim by a Wisconsin soldier who said he was showering near a Hispanic soldier when he noticed the soldier was tattooed with Chicago-area gang signs, Montoya said.

The Hispanic soldier was not from New Mexico, and Montoya said the Army has never explained why a report about a non-New Mexican with possible Chicago gang tattoos led the investigator to the New Mexico unit. He said the search amounted to racial profiling.

sort of the "well, they are all alike" syndrome. Yuck.

and welcome to DU!

they wouldnt have to check them for tattoos, because they would already know their gang affiliation. If you are referring to white-men with shaved heads, I find that very offensive, as I am a young white male with a shaved head, and do not fit the stereotype that you are throwing out there. Prejudice goes both ways.

but what was meant was the neo Nazis that have been infiltrating the military. And no, I wasn't referring to white males with shaved heads, the current fashion. Most of those fellows also have goatees and a gentle nature. Not like the neo-Nazis, who have been called skin heads for decades. I think what we have here is a generational gap more than anything else.

I'm surprised that the apology was issued. I had heard nothing of this...and the first thing I hear now is an actual apology. I had thought the top brass of the military as well as the felons in the Bush Administration were incapable of freely admitting errors.

There may have been an uproar over this of which I am ignorant, but right now I am just pleasantly surprised to see someone in a position of leadership actually acting like a leader. Damn refreshing. If someone knows otherwise, let me know, but for now I will just take some solace in the fact that someone out there may not be entirely corrupt.

that they'd be hard pressed to find many guys who didn't have them.

I've seen homemade gangsta tats on little old ladies in their 80s.

Methinks they stopped it because they realized it could be an easy way out.

what an idiot. bad enough they're over there risking everything, and then some asshole wants to see if they have tatoos? like they would start gang stuff over there if they did. what the hell is happening now adays?

...so they thought an impromptu Chippendales performance just might raise morale!

Heckuva a jorb there, Rodney.

u idiot

have Aryan Nation tatoos? White Supremists have gangs too involved in many crimes as well.

</sarcasm>

The article is missing, so I can't get the scoop, but did they think these soldiers acquired the alleged gang tattoos while they were deployed in Kuwait? I mean, don't they check for these kinds of things during physicals, etc.? I don't get it. Having once been in a "gang" will keep a person from entering the service when they decide to grow up and change their lives?

A few weeks ago I was watching a young 20-something reporting an assault, and the officer taking the report kept asking him about this tattoo and that, questioning what they "meant" and whether there were gang affiliations tied in with them. This guy was the victim of a crime, but he was being treated like a suspect on account the freedom of expression he exercised five and six years ago when he was "Down with the Clown" (a former Juggalo, follower of the rap act Insane Clown Posse).

It didn't help the guy that he "looks Hispanic".