Seeing the attachments did download in the previous post, I hope these also come through. They are well worth reading. Thanks Again, Michael.
Greetings,
On another note: If you would like know exactly why I am doing what I am doing, it is because I am intending, as the end goal, to force the DoD to change federal laws regarding ROTC Cadets. As you heard in the phone conversation with Jane Deese (per the youtube video I posted in your blog), Cadets are caught in a gray area in which we are “in the military” according to the courts (See attachment “Lovely v. USA”, page 8) and therefore can never sue the military for any reason because of the Feres Doctrine; however, for the purposes of having the same rights and benefits as “military members” ROTC Cadets are nothing more than “civilians” who are not even protected from blatant retaliation after sending an IG complaint (See attachment: “DoD says Cadets are NOT Covered”).
Consider this: There are people called a “NAFI” which stands for “Non-Appropiated Fund Instrumentalities”. NAFI’s are civilian employees who work for other civilian employers (Like a cashier at Walmart, etc.), but somehow still benefit the military in some way. For example (and this is the same example that the Pentagon gave me, which I have on tape), if a person works at a golf course near a military base, then that golf course benefits the military in that it serves as a form of entertainment and stress relief for the military, but the military does not pay those golf course employees, because the civilian owner of the golf course pays them. In other words, the money the golf course employees receive in wages is “not-appropriated” by the military, yet those golf course employees are still “instrumentalities” of the military by virtue of the fact that the military benefits from their services. Again, they are called “Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentalities” or “NAFI’s”. Another example of a NAFI would be someone who works at a Kinko’s near a military base because that civilian employee is not paid by the military but a plethora of military members are likely to frequent that establishment and benefit from those civilian services.
Ok, hold that thought about the NAFI’s and understand this: ROTC Cadets, are NOT protected under federal law (10 USC 1034) meaning that when I was kicked out of ROTC, and I sent a “reprisal” complaint to the DoD-Inspector General, the DoD-IG told me that while they were “sympathetic” to my case, they could not even investigate it because even if I was blatantly retaliated against by LTC Lubiak, I was not “in the military” and therefore am not protected under the federal law.
Here’s the kicker: The problem is that there are court cases that say “Cadets are considered military members” so ROTC Cadets are caught in a gray area and fall through the cracks to where they have no protection or rights of any kind (either military or legal). When looked at together, the court cases, and the DoD’s decision create a very unjust situation for Cadets. Consider this: NAFI’s and NAFI applicants and protected under the federal law (10 USC 1034) but ROTC Cadets are not. This means that someone applying for a janitor’s job at a civilian golf course has more rights than an ROTC Cadet who is obligated to a 12-13 contractual obligation (4-5 year of college and 8 years of military service thereafter).
Conclusion: I am trying to advocate for all ROTC Cadets on a national level to stop what happened to me from happened to anyone else. I will accomplish this by getting the federal law changed to better protect Cadets. So when that person told you that I was the one trying to screw the Cadets over, you can see how they either (1) didn’t quite understand me, or the situation, or (2) are one of the people who personally have something to lose from what I am doing, and knowingly deceived you. The saving grace for me is that I have so thoroughly documented my story, so it will be hard for anyone to convincingly argue against me.
Anyways, that’s my spiel for the day 🙂
Thank you for your time.
Respectfully,
Michael Cocchini
a12iggymom's Blog 