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Ask the Sea Lawyer!

ChuckMK23 said:
WSj Editorial Board weighs in
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Their editorial page has always been very conservative-leaning…

With that said, talking to those very familiar with the situation, there are many *missing* or just ignored details that paint a more fairer picture on the situation. LT Alkonis DID have opportunities to just stop driving when something didn't feel right, but ignored to do so. Additionally, he did plea guilty to the charges. There was a somewhat recent post on Reddit about this and someone very much in the know chimed in with similar details.

If Ridge Alkonis was say, an E-4, and his family did not attempt to make this as political as possible... this would NOT be in the news.

While I sympathize with LT Alkonis' family, Ridge did ruin the lives of family members in Japan and must face the consequences.

Of note, the trial information for LT Alkonis was recently released/posted on the SECNAV FOIA portal: https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/re...0&View={854CB8F6-5C90-46E6-A4A1-11FD0F9B23C6}

I personally think the released docs are going very much against the LT + LT's family PR campaign.
 
FormerRecruitingGuru said:
While I sympathize with LT Alkonis' family, Ridge did ruin the lives of family members in Japan and must face the consequences.
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With all the knuckleheads in the service, it is pretty damn tragic that this gentleman is the one to experience this, and with his family in the car with him.

On the AMS thing, I've not heard of that (random rapid loss of consciousness at lower altitude following time up high) in all of my climbing experience. But we did have an E2 NFO who went into some unusual mental state/convulsion when we lost cabin pressure at altitude one time. He was med down from there.

Feel terrible for both families.
 
Griz882 said:
I saw this morning that the SWO O-3 in Japan lost his appeal and will spend the next three years in a Japanese prison. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/jul/13/navy-officer-ridge-hanneman-alkonis-will-serve-jai/
Totally out of curiosity, what is this guys fate with reference to the Navy? Will he lose all pay and benefits? When he reports to jail, does Navy support for him his family end? Earlier news reports show the Navy supporting his claim of what caused the accident, but now that the other shoe has dropped (no SWO pun intended) I’m curious about the long term impacts.
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It's likely that until he is released from prison he will be considered as part of the Navy. He will likely be dishonorably discharged once he leaves prison but he will continue to receive medical and welfare check ups until he is discharged. I know a guy who used to have to go down to Mexico to check up on some Marines who were incarcerated there for big crimes (I think they murdered a prostitute IIRC). They would bring a Corpsman or doc with them to provide medical care and commissary goods to them (blankets, clothes, food, etc.) since Mexican prisons require families and friends to provide for the prisoners. They may also work out a prisoner swap and move the dude to a brig. I've heard of that happening before. I assume that will be worked out between the US Embassy and Japanese Government. I'm sure there are a lot worse places to be locked up than Japan.

taxi1 said:
With all the knuckleheads in the service, it is pretty damn tragic that this gentleman is the one to experience this, and with his family in the car with him.

On the AMS thing, I've not heard of that (random rapid loss of consciousness at lower altitude following time up high) in all of my climbing experience. But we did have an E2 NFO who went into some unusual mental state/convulsion when we lost cabin pressure at altitude one time. He was med down from there.

Feel terrible for both families.
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I wonder if he had been diving prior to the high altitude exposure. I've heard of similar things in my scuba training. It happens among high altitude divers and for those who ignore decompression times prior to flying or other low pressure environments.
 
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AllAmerican75 said:
It's likely that until he is released from prison he will be considered as part of the Navy. He will likely be dishonorably discharged once he leaves prison but he will continue to receive medical and welfare check ups until he is discharged. I know a guy who used to have to go down to Mexico to check up on some Marines who were incarcerated there for big crimes (I think they murdered a prostitute IIRC). They would bring a Corpsman or doc with them to provide medical care and commissary goods to them (blankets, clothes, food, etc.) since Mexican prisons require families and friends to provide for the prisoners. They may also work out a prisoner swap and move the dude to a brig. I've heard of that happening before. I assume that will be worked out between the US Embassy and Japanese Government. I'm sure there are a lot worse places to be locked up than Japan.


I wonder if he had been diving prior to the high altitude exposure. I've heard of similar things in my scuba training. It happens among high altitude divers and for those who ignore decompression times prior to flying or other low pressure environments.
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Just because of how political and visible this has become, I feel SECNAV or whoever will send him home with an honorable.
 
AllAmerican75 said:
I wonder if he had been diving prior to the high altitude exposure. I've heard of similar things in my scuba training. It happens among high altitude divers and for those who ignore decompression times prior to flying or other low pressure environments.
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Not a doc, but I am a scuba and mixed gas dive supervisor. Like Mountain Sickness, the treatment is to descend. (With diving, using a chamber) For diving casualties, the odds of surviving LOC from DCS without a chamber, at least without brain damage, are really bad. It would basically be an untreated stroke; we can rule out diving as a contributing factor.

I hesitate to sea lawyer and arm chair QB, but my diving and mountaineering experience doesn’t help me make sense of why it reached an acute stage as he descended. I don’t claim to know what happened at all. Tragic no matter the cause.
 
Brett327 said:
Officers are not eligible for DDs (or BCDs, or OTH, etc)... they are simply dismissed.
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Close. They are not eligible for punitive discharges (DDs and BCDs). They receive administrative discharges (Hon, Gen, or OTH) OR are dismissed, which can only be administered after conviction at a General Court Martial.
 
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