This is the second article in a series on the Ethan Tucker case. See the first HERE.  This article is in bullet point format, you would benefit by reading a journalistic narrative on the story through a second source – here’s one from MILITARY.COM and one from THE WASHINGTON POST.

Why is Seaman Ethan Tucker being charged with murder?

2002 was a big one for me. After graduating from Coast Guard Basic training, my mind was 100% focused on being a solid Coastie. My excitement level as I moved into the fleet was elevated!.. That turned out to be a bad thing. Within a week aboard the 378′ Chase, my excitement and professional demeanor left me vulnerable to hazing. The “FNG” position was tough, and as a great majority of FNGs do, I adapted my personality and lowered my standards to fit in. I’d learned that my principled expectations were naive. The work I was expected to do was not as CG marketing suggested it’d be. My time underway was spent with disgruntled coworkers and callous superiors. On daily bridge watch, helm/lookout,  I listened to superior officers joke about fucking hamsters and children. Two years later, I had internalized the culture and received orders to “A” school. I was 19 years old. Over the next four years between 25% and 35% of my non-rate shipmates from the Chase would be discharged with Other Than Honorable Conditions. At least two of us were raped during that time. 40% received negative marks for alcohol. 13% attempted suicide (these numbers are only for the non-rates aboard). And one of us went on to murder a police officer, and then his girlfriend, and then himself*. I thought my experience was normal, because I had nothing to compare it with. Not only did I think it was normal, I grew to love it! 15 years later, looking back at the details, I realize it was not only NOT NORMAL, it was grotesque. I carry a lot of shame now, and I hate that I was first vulnerable to the situation, then complicit in making it worse. I hate that I wasn’t stronger and I couldn’t maintain my prerogatives under the pressure of the environment, and that those prerogatives changed into that baseline junior enlisted Coast Guard attitude of “fuck it.”

Everything published about the Seaman Tucker and Kelch story matches my experience with 378’ culture. From what I’ve collected from social media posts and their comments, many others feel the same. From what’s available in academia and through prior publicized trials, Coast Guard behavioral issues are alarming. There is a huge problem with non-rate culture in the Coast Guard, which is a result of leadership.  Kelch is dead because of it. Tucker is being hung out to dry, to mitigate the attention the Coast Guard Image would otherwise face.

I am arguing multiple things about the Coast Guard Seaman Ethan Tucker case: 1) That Coast Guard should have prevented this: there were enough warning flags leading up to the catastrophe. 2) The Coast Guard’s response was poor: initial information was hampered by zero-tolerance culture, quick reaction was burdened due to crew preparedness, and search and rescue was incumbered by a lack of both overall Coast Guard readiness and also local emergency response readiness (which the command knew about). 3) Coast Guard policies incentivize needless command risk taking, which endanger the mental and physical health of crews; including prolonged and unnecessary deployment, unsafe and unnecessary tasks, and internal competition between commands. 4) Charging Seaman Tucker with murder and as a renegade Coastie will have negative consequences throughout the Coast Guard ranks, including distrust in leadership, cynicism toward the UCMJ, suspicion of shipmates, and over-reporting and fear-of-reporting unauthorized activities. 5) The key players who have focused this story on Seaman Tucker have personal stakes in the results, and the head of the trial is within their fraternity. 6) The big picture here is the toxic Coast Guard Culture that lead to the premature death of a shipmate. The number 1 tacit elite Coast Guard Leadership uses is perception management.

“I was both astounded and grieved to read that 73% of the respondents [Coasties] thought that the officers over them cared more for their own careers than for the needs of their subordinates.” – USCG Admiral, James Milton Loy (2001)

“Leadership is the ability to influence others to obtain their obedience, respect, confidence, and loyal cooperation.” – The U.S. Coast Guard (COMDTINST M5351.3)

1995: Captain Ernie Blanchard was accused of making sexually explicit statements during a Coast Guard Academy event. As the Public Affairs officer, he should have known better. However, the following investigation revealed shoddy evidence and even no evidence against Blanchard at all. The man had a spectacular background and was admired by his superiors, peers and subordinates throughout the Coast Guard and his personal life. Though none of that mattered to the Coast Guard, it had a reputation to keep and Ernie Blanchard was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Coast Guard was determined to frame Blanchard as a RENEGADE COASTIE to save itself from having to deal with the allegations. Within a year, Coast Guard Captain Ernie Blanchard committed suicide, leaving a wife and family behind. A complete account of this is in detail in Retired Navy Captain Ladson Mills’ 2019 book “Abandoned Shipmates: The Destruction of Coast Guard Captain Ernie Blanchard.”

2013: CGI and a few ranking Coast Guard Officers successfully chased off CDR Benjamin Strickland (the XO of the Munro (now the Douglas Munro). Strickland was only guilty of taking a sexual assault statement and blowing the whistle to help. The chaos that followed was prompted by some of the same people that are in charge of the immediate Kelch/ Tucker strategy(Mathew Bell and Michael Berkow). See the book on this here.

2014: The Vietnam Veterans of America, and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School, published a report PROVING the Coast Guard illegally discharged members for medical and adjustment disorders. This report stated that the Coast Guard did this to save billions in Veteran benefits. It concluded: “the records analyzed in this paper demonstrate that the COAST GUARD HAS BEEN DENYING SERVICE MEMBERS THESE ESSENTIAL REGULATORY PROTECTIONS AND ILLEGALLY DISCHARGING MEMBERS FOR THE PAST DECADE.” (Yale)

2016: Kodiak: the Department of Justice began a joint-operation with the Coast Guard Investigative Service, and “launched an investigation into drug trafficking activities in Kodiak”(DOJ). On April 10, 2019, the DOJ concluded this multi-agency investigation with 13 separate convictions. In an APPARENT COINCIDENCE, Coast Guard Investigators concluded a second drug investigation at USCG Air Station Kodiak where a total of 31 Coasties would ultimately be separated from the Coast Guard. THESE MEMBERS WERE CONNECTED TO CUTTERS, the air station and the base. The Coast Guard stated that this investigation at CG Station Kodiak began in late 2018, and was on going as Ethan Kelch walked away from the Douglas Munro for the last time. It was completed 13 days after the DOJ report, April 23, 2019. (ktuu.com)

August 2016: The wives of two murdered Coast Guard members are suing the Coast Guard for being negligent. They claim the Coast Guard knew its civilian employee was disgruntled, and the CG was negligent because it took no action. The civilian employee, a man by the name of Wells, was found guilty of shooting his two Coast Guard colleagues to death, all three of whom worked at Coast Guard Station Kodiak(Courts).  

Dutch Harbor / Unalaska 2013: 800 miles west of Kodiak, the Aleutian Islands. Police Sgt. Jennifer Shockley, “I can only imagine that someone who’s never been here would think that this is some kind of Twilight Zone town where every form of human oddity and absurdity exists all at once – exacerbated by alcohol” (NPR). Dutch Harbor 2017: Deputy Police Chief Jennifer Shockley: “We’re operating about 60-70% capacity with our staffing right now” (kdlg). 2019: Jennifer Shockley, the Acting Director of Unalaska’s Department of Public Safety, resigned on Feb 24, 2019, citing an inability for the police force to perform its mission (www.kucb.org).

January 2019: I was in the first phases of proofing a book titled “Shipmates Before the Mast: A Coastie’s Chronicle of the Dishonorable,” when I read a news report on a Coast Guardsman who died of unknown causes in Dutch Harbor Alaska. I happened into a CG Patrol Boat at a San Francisco fueling dock that same day. Those Coasties and I speculated on the cause of death, reminisced over the debaucheries we’d all experienced in Unalaska/Dutch-Harbor, and parted ways with agreements that it was “just a matter of time.”

DISCLAIMER

I am not excusing the actions of Ethan Tucker or the other two seaman who wandered into the frozen grasses of Bollyhoo Mountain in the middle of the winter, on an Aleutian Island, to pound a bottle of cheap Canadian whiskey. I not only refuse to excuse it (even though I did this same thing as a 378 non-rate), I believe there should be negative consequences for those actions.  I am reviewing evidence and explaining a point of view, I am not excusing. Some of the evidence is wrapped up in silence, red-tape, and CG orders, so I am missing details (It would be standard for the crew and friends of Ethan Kelch have been told not to talk with the Kelch family). Regardless of my conclusions, there is video of Seaman Tucker performing a heroic action and there are witness statements saying Seaman Kelch was known to act up and become aggressive when he drank. (Military)

THOUGHTS FOR OVERSIGHT

Why is the Coast Guard focused on such a narrow window of time, when the larger picture is a more reasonable focus? The larger picture is a more useful focus for prevention, justice, valediction, and vindication. What is the statute of limitations of this wrongful death (2 years)?

THE BUILD UP

Rear Adm. Matthew T. Bell Jr., Coast Guard 17th District Commander, would have known all points of concern from the Coast Guard’s Pilot House in Alaska, he had the big picture; Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats all laid out in front of him. His boss, Coast Guard Pacific Area Commander Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, would have known these things too. Their subordinate and shining star Captain, Commanding Officer of the USCGC Douglas Munro, Captain Kevin Riddle, also would have known this. As an officer with 27 sea-going years, five tours in Alaska, about to be promoted to District, Riddle had detailed knowledge of the Alaskan-Sailor experience and more…

Many of Riddle’s crew knew that Ethan Kelch did crazy stuff when he drank(CG Hearing). So, it’s more than just unfortunate Riddle did not. Riddle also missed the red flag warnings that rang out over the Coast Guard’s Alaskan Fleet in the winter of 2018-19. Junior Enlisted personnel were on track for additional stresses and anxieties – struggles and distresses.

The Government Shut Down that began on December 22, 2018 meant no pay for Riddle’s crew. An E3 making a menial $1,900 a month (Kodiak has an average monthly income of $5,400) must have been a tad irritated by this. But the 50-year-old Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro was underway, despite its condition. As they spent their Christmas in Dutch Harbor, the crew would just have to suffer a bit more, not only without their families, but without pay too. USCG Commandant Karl Shultz warned Capt. Riddle and the world when he said, 3 days before Kelch’s death, that the shutdown was causing Coasties “Stress and Anxiety.” (twitter)

Like other Coast Guard officers, Capt. Riddle was under strict pressure to produce results. According to the Coast Guard’s own Human Capital Strategy, Officers have many incentives to push their units harder, including “maximizing cutter sea time” (CG Strategy). It’s not easy for Captain’s to find that next promotion, it’s truly a cut-throat undertaking… The Coast Guard uses many metrics to justify its worth. When reporting to congress for budgetary needs (always more than the previous years) based on simple linear progression models, the accomplishments of the individual units in each district go to justify larger budgets. Once again, Coast Guard flag officers can more easily obtain cash and other resources if their subordinate commands complete more tasks and check off more accomplishments.  This method of analyzing performance has established competitive performance at the expense of resources (vessels and crew).

But maybe Riddle could afford to take it down a notch, it really isn’t clear. On December 06, 2018, the month before Seaman Kelch died, Riddle received notice that his next assignment was a promotion to District. He had successfully completed his underway career, after 27 years, and he would be able to settle land-side with his family. All Riddle had to do was to complete his last deployment on the Douglas Munro without any fuck ups. His orders would be cut at some point in January 2019 (USCG). Riddle wrote pridefully and poetically about his promotion, family and leaving his sea-going career in the CG Academy Bulletin (“Why I Went to Sea, Kevin Riddle”).

Bell and Riddle also knew the published statistics on drinking in the Coast Guard: Alcohol problems get worse at afloat billets. They get worse in Alaska. They get worse over the holidays. They get worse for junior enlisted personnel. They get worse in unaccompanied housing (where many of the cutters’ crew and 31 Cocaine Coasties lived). And they go up during periods of high stress and anxiety – like being underway, broke down in Dutch Harbor Alaska, without being paid, over the holidays… Leadership principles show team inclusion is essential for individual members’ health – and everyone on the Douglas Munro under the age of 21 was not included in the shared ritual on Dutch Harbor – to wander around the local bars and drink (see our original article “Empathy for USCG Seaman Ethan Tucker”).

Cocaine in Kodiak

Two investigations were underway in Kodiak Alaska in January 2019, the home port of the Douglas Munro. In late 2018 Coast Guard Investigators (CGI) were compiling a list of evidence against a number of junior personnel at Kodiak Air Station(News). Most of the 31 CG members charged with drug offenses (specifically cocaine) were airdales. Many of whom would have lived at the same unaccompanied personnel housing unit at Kodiak. This investigation would have a bombshell effect at the Kodiak Base, when the CG publicly acknowledged it in April of 2019. The second investigation also involved CGI, but it was spearheaded by the Department of Justice and it spanned the time period of years. News sources suggest that the coincidental timing of the two investigations were unrelated. The DOJ pressed charges on 13 Kodiak civilians for drug trafficking, also in April of 2019.

It’s Personal

It’s true that this case has stirred some emotions for me. I’ve been the liberty van driver in Dutch Harbor. I’ve picked up my drunk ass superiors and shuttled them from bar to bar. I’ve also been underage on Bollyhoo Mountain. I’ve been drunk in the bunkers scattered around those parts. I’ve seen Coast Guard Graffiti celebrating “Coast Guard Thug Life” sprayed on abandoned buildings in Dutch.  I witnessed shipmates struggle with suicide on Alaskan deployments. Shipmates undergo masts. Superiors get moved to different divisions because they were accused of sexual harassment (notice I said moved, not discharged or charged ).  So yeah, it’s personal. Everything: drinking underage, fighting friends, discontentedly and drunkenly wandering Bollyhoo Mountain, feeling left out of morale events, extreme boredom, covering for crazy friends, covering for myself, jumping in freezing water…. Being masted unfairly. Being shoved under the rug.

Over the years, through my research on the social and emotional characteristics of veterans with OTH discharges, I’ve talked with some very amazing people. Some went on to get lawyers.  Their stories are waiting to be told… Maybe at least one of these people will use her son’s death as motive, to publish a book, exposing Coast Guard Investigators and Coast Guard leadership as corrupted.

But my story and those I’ve heard along the way are a small part of startling revelations from the Coast Guard front lines in the 21^st century. They alone cannot lead us to understand what happen on the beach, by the Gun Range, in Unalaska on the night of Janraru 26, 2019.  But they can lead us to understand why those three men were there in the first place. And they can help us understand why their being there, in the condition they were in, was to be expected.

Yes this is personal. I could have been Tucker. I could have been Kelch. I could have been Hunter. Most of the junior enlisted men I served with aboard the USCGC Chase, at the turn of the century, could easily fit into any role of this story. 

Unalsaka / Dutch Harbor January 26, 2019

• Avg Temp: 35 degrees
• Wind Gust Max: 50knts
• Water Temp: 38 degrees
• Sunset: early
• Sunrise: late
• Tides: rising in the evening  

DISTRICT 17

RADM Mathew Bell released the Commanding Officer of the USCGC Hickory from duty after a major incident took the life of a Chief Warrant Officer. In a press statement Bell said, “Commanding Officers are entrusted with tremendous authority and responsibility to ensure operational success, good order and discipline, and crew safety” (Homernews.com).

Less than a week after the death of Seaman Kelch, on January 31, 2019, Chief Warrant Officer Michael Kozloski was killed in a normal dockside evolution. Vice Admiral Fagan said the crane operator tested positive for drugs, though there is no evidence he was under the influence of them during the incident. By May 2019, Bell was putting the blame on the CO of the hickory and Fagan supported his decision. Bell did not make a press release the previous month when 31 of his subordinates were reprimanded for cocaine related offenses (criminal charges and 31 discharges) but it’s not like the commanding officer should take responsibility or anything. The crane operator would be discharged from service due to the zero-tolerance policy.

 TOO YOUNG TO DIE

January 2019: When the Government Shut Down, the New York Times went to Kodiak and interviewed a Coastie who said that the “active-duty Coast Guard mechanics are filling in for their furloughed civilian colleagues at the Kodiak Air Station. If it drags on, the ability of the Force to initiate the most rudimentary search-and-rescue missions are at risk of being hampered” (source). This was taking place at the same moment 31 Coasties (and maybe more) at that same air base were under investigation for Cocaine use. This is called not being ready. There is no evidence that the forwarded HH-60 at Cold Bay was launched to help the Douglas Munro’s helo search for the two-missing seaman. The HH-60 was less than 200 miles away and could fly at least that far in an hour. The Coast Guard stated that the Munro’s helicopter was launched to “canvass the Fox Islands.” This was a huge area of land. Why was that second search and rescue helo not launched? (The CG established temporary outfitted and manned Air Stations around Alaska each year. A HH-60 was, from everything I’ve seen, sitting idle at Cold Bay during this Search and Rescue mission.)

On July 18, 2018 a Seaman from the Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro gave a press interview on how easy it is to succumb to hypothermia with the factors of water temp (50 degrees), air temperature and wind chill (6 knts). He was called a hero as he used his “rescue swimming training” to pull four people off a rocky coast in Alaska. (source)

Hypothermia is a common medical emergency in Alaska. Traditional survival tables for hypothermia state that the expected exhaustion or unconsciousness state for water temperatures at 38 degrees is 15 to 30 minutes – expected survival time is 30 to 60 minutes. These tables are written for laboratory conditions, controlled air, no protective clothing, and average individuals. On January 26, 2019 the winter sun was slow to show and quick to go. The average temp that day was 35 degrees, colder when the sun went down. Winds sustained at 15knts and reached peak gusts at 51knts. Water temperature was 38 degrees.

Cold Water submersion is a very serious thing. The national center for cold water safety (NCCWS) says that “the sudden lowering of skin temperature on immersion in cold water represents one of the most profound stimuli that the body can encounter.”  The NSSCS says that there are three responses to this type of shock: 1) Loss of breathing control, 2) Heart and Blood Pressure Problems, 3) Mental Problems (source). Eventually cold water leads to Dizziness, faintness, numbness, reduced ability to complete cognitive and physical tasks, disorientation, fear, panic, inability to think clearly, inability to evaluate options, inability to carry out a plan of action, freezing in places, failure to act, helplessness, lethargy, and “if the temperature is below 40 degrees add severe pain to the list,” and then loss of consciousness.

We already know the consequences of what drinking a bottle of R&R Canadian Whiskey are, which is what the three underaged seaman on Bollyhoo Mountain were drinking: Symptoms include blackouts, dehydration, amnesia, confusion, unresponsiveness, nausea, aggression or lack of restraint, depression, euphoria, loss of judgement, drowsiness, and inability to feel pain. In severe cases, a person’s breathing and blood circulation is slowed and their body temperature drops. The center for disease control estimates 88,000 deaths in the US occur annually from excessive alcohol use.

The Alaskan non-profit “Drink Aware” says: “When you’ve been drinking heavily and then venture out into arctic conditions, the faulty internal thermometer coupled with the dulling of senses and bravado that alcohol can create, can spell trouble. When you drink, it dilates the peripheral blood vessels near your skin, which means more blood – and heat – flows to these vessels. That takes blood and heat away from the core of your body. So, while it feels like you’re warm because your skin is warm, your vital organs aren’t as warm as you might think they are”.

When Ethan Tucker heard his rowdy and drunk friend say he was going to jump in the water, his moral obligation was to stop him, and that’s what he tried to do. Soon thereafter Ethan Tucker collapsed on the freezing rocks in exhaustion, hypothermia, and unconsciousness – he’s lucky he passed-out on hard ground above the high-tidemark (the tide was rising that evening). Enervated and unconscious, he was found by Unalaska rescuers on January 27 (source).

The three underage men who left the Douglas Munro were all excellent examples of magnanimous youth. With benevolent intent, they selected the US Coast Guard and made it through the most rigorous enlistment barriers of any of the Armed Forces. They made it past the meticulous background checks, because they had an impeccable personal histories, great academics, and strong community standings. Leaving Basic Training was an honor for them and their families. They were excited, fearless, and ready when they arrived at their first duty station – The Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro. They were all honorable, respectful, and devoted. However, they did not know the statistics of misfortune for Junior Enlisted personnel on 378s in the Coast Guard. Those numbers are not published, and the little information that exist is framed by the Coast Guard itself. When they walked across that gangway on January 26^th, 2019, they were shipmates, and they were in a mindset of “fuck it.”

CHANGING TIDES

The tide turned at some point that evening. If Tucker and Kelch were both in the water, they had 1.5 dark and freezing miles to make it back to the ship. All the data says that at his point, they were physically disoriented, exhausted, emotionally wrecked, afraid… The odds were against them. Unconsciousness was approaching and, in cold water shock, the howl of the wind and chilly haze all blended into the darkness of Bollyhoo Mountain. We don’t know who submitted to sleep first. Tucker may have helped his unconscious friend as far as he could in that shallow water, by the Gun Range on Bollyhoo. In a state of hypothermic failure, maybe the best he could do was to help his friend to the beach, where the water turned to gravel, not knowing the rising tide was on his heels. In pain and horrified he’d have to get help and come back… Confusion. Struggle…. Then darkness.

Tucker was found 200 yards from Kelch, on the rocks.

Kelch was in the water, and would never be warm again.

Who is running this investigation?

The Coast Guard lists Mr. Michael Berkow as the head of Coast Guard Investigative Services. Which is all good until we look into this fella. He is also listed as the guy who tried to (and maybe successfully) obstructed the FBI from investigating the death of the Notorious B.I.G. This book claims he was a figure in the cover-up of the rapper’s death (Article). A lawsuit  from Los Angeles claims Chief Berkow discriminated against several qualified officers because of their skin color(here). In 2006 Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow acknowledged that he had sex with a subordinate officer while serving as a deputy chief for the Los Angeles Police Department(read). Over a year later detective, Ya-May Christle, alleged that she suffered retaliation for accusing her former boss, Michael Berkow, of promoting other women employees in exchange for sexual favors(read).  And in one more article, we could keep going, the author quoted this: “It was widely known that [Michael] Berkow was part of Bratton’s inner circle, and was well-versed in containing bad press and managing potentially damaging stories.”

So we have the potentially dangerous and historically dirty lead investigator running the Tucker case. We have a Captain who is making up lies about how dangerous Tucker is and refusing to acknowledge his failure as a leader and speaking directly with Kelch’s family with high velocity emotion. Then we have the head honcho of the Pac Area with a hornets nest of drugged and drunk sailors, some of who died prematurely, taking the side of his probable-pupil from the gold old days, who, by the way, was also the dick who fired CDR Benjamin Strickland for doing an excellent job (you can read about it in the Case of CDR Benjamin Strickland). And we have their friend and another potential candidate for taking the blame that needs to cover her ass, Rear Admiral Fagan. We have these people deciding the fate of Ethan Tucker. Who was tired, stressed and anxious, and was trying to help his friend. Which one of these supposed leaders is going to stand up and admit that there is too much suffering, death, and other-than-honorable discharge coming out of Alaska?

CHARGES

Prosecutors said that Tucker lied when he was found: that he didn’t know where his shipmate was. 

Prosecutors said that Tucker lied again in the hospital. Investigators told him his friend was dead and then they asked about his injuries: Tucker excused his hand injury as “punching a bulkhead.”

These are the two facts that the Coast Guard has used to charge Tucker with murdering his friend with his bare hands. The first potential lie was probably a truth: Tucker was disoriented, struggling from hypothermia, and it was pitch dark. If he had reason to think Kelch was alive, this lie would be covering for his friend. It’s not good evidence. The second lie, is, an obvious lie… I’m trying to imagine myself in this hospital room, when authority figures surround me, tell me my friend is dead, and ask about my injuries. We know Tucker fought Kelch to stay out of the water – it’s on video. Who cares that he lied here. There is so much evidence that supports his efforts as a hero, not a murderer… But I’ll let a real justice system narrow down the truth on this one. Regardless, the bigger picture is where justice lies on this.

August 28, 2019, after months of silence, the Coast Guard confined Seaman Tucker to the brig. Coast Guard documents state that Tucker’s Commanding Officer requested Tucker be confined because: “I consider him a serious threat to the safety of the community.” That same document says the Commanding Officer possessed three letters which the Kelch family asked the Coast Guard to “seek punishment for Petitioner’s alleged offenses.” (USCG) I feel for the Kelch family, and I hope they know they are not alone, and the packaging received by the Command is not the only framework to what’s happened. 

I think all of this shows the Coast Guard’s efforts to unfairly punish Tucker, at the expense of justice and the truth. Manipulating the emotional environment may be worse than manipulating the public’s perception.

Regardless, Tucker remained in despair and then jailed for months, until his JAG lawyer produced a Snapchat video captured by the third Seaman, showing Tucker trying to save the life of Seaman Kelch, by fighting him and keeping him out of the water. That third Seaman testified he witnessed the two men fall and hit their heads on a shipping container.  Other shipmates have sworn that Kelch was a drinker who was known to be rowdy.

Dec 2019: Still, despite the evidence, the Coast Guard keeps Tucker confined – this time on the mini Coast Guard Island in Alameda Ca. (Military)

Captain Riddle received his advancement to the District office, where he currently serves beside RADM Mathew Bell.  Their boss and fellow CG Academy shipmate, Vice ADRM Linda Fagan, is the lead judge for the Ethan Tucker trial.  Riddle attended CGA in the early 90s, RADM Bell began instructing there in the 90s. Vice Admiral Fagan graduated from CGA a decade before.  Bell and Riddle have both commanded two premier CG Cutters: the Alex Haley and the Douglas Munro. They were stationed together at PAC Area in the early 2000s. Amongst his listed qualifications on the CG Homepage, RADM Bell is conveyed as being a mentor to certain officers.

Seam Ethan Tucker’s trial is set for September 8, 2020 at Coast Guard Island Alameda. He’ll need all the support he can get once he’s free of these ridiculous charges. (One can’t help but notice the coincidence of the original trial date of June 15 [delayed to COVID], which is either an obvious attempt to enrage emotions or a display of poor CG planning.)[UPDATE: The Trial has been moved to begin September 8, 2020]

The Coast Guard is an amazing organization with many gargantuan missions. It also has an unhealthy and high rate of suicide, alcohol abuse and, I am determined to prove, Other Than Honorable discharges. It has a long-documented history of ignoring problems, framing events to the point of being misleading, and wrecking good people’s lives – all to protect the Coast Guard Image.  It needs help. And I think we can help by holding leadership accountable – not blaming them, only demanding that they speak the truth about the organization as a whole. Let’s protect those who enlist ready with honor, respect, and devotion to duty.