"informal punishment," such as Captain's or Admiral's Mast or a Letter of Reprimand, if that hadn't happened already, before this announcement was made. I don't know how much he's been able to do up in Portsmouth at the clinic, there--hard to know if they suspended him, a la Nurse Jackie, or they're letting him work in his field while they sort this out.

He won't be promoted, so if he's in up-or-out territory, and he probably is, he's gone.

That's not really a bad outcome, at the end of the day.

He will find work very quickly in the civilian sector (he'll have to work a bit harder than he's been doing in a peacetime Navy--military staffs health professionals robustly, even in drawdown situations, because they need them to be ready to roll if the shooting starts) and he'll be able to enjoy his retirement check every month. There are good jobs available at decent pay in the northeast for someone with his skillset.

that the US military actually would consider punishing a medical person for NOT torturing someone?

So refreshing to see someone who thinks human dignity and respect is more important than their crass politics, and actually has the spine to see it through losing everything.

And PLEASE do not tell me he does not have the power to STOP force feeding prisoners, especially the ones held illegally who wish to starve themselves to death to escape the Hell Bush and Obama have put them in.

He would have been violating his code as a Registered Nurse.

I cannot even believe (oh yes, maybe I CAN) the Navy would consider disciplining him. . . . Revolting.

Camp Xray

We need to shut it down.

Got me to understand Gitmo a little bit better.

In case of a trial, the obvious defense for the nurse would be that force feeding the prisoner violates the laws of war, and as such, any order to do so was illegal and can not be followed. No way the Navy would risk the judge ruling that force feeding was a war crime.

Force-feeding is brutal and horrible.