Hale's career began with great promise, both as a soldier and as a seducer. "But Hale apparently didn't live up to her view of his obligation, so the hell-hath-no-fury syndrome took over." "She thought she was going to get to marry a general, so she dumped the colonel," an Army officer volunteers. The general, they say, wanted to retire quickly to avoid dragging himself and the Army through the mud. They suggest it was Carpino who was the harasser, the one "stalking" Hale. But their comments, designed in part to protect Reimer, the Army's top general, betray a willingness to disparage a female accuser. They acknowledge that they don't know for sure what occurred between him and Carpino. There's no certainty they can get him back if they decide he needs to be punished." Even a senior Army officer concedes, "If we'd known back then what we know now about the severity of the charges, we'd probably have kept him on active duty."Īrmy officers close to Hale's boss, Army Chief of Staff General Dennis Reimer, have been quick to speak up for the retired general. Says Lawrence Korb, a former Pentagon personnel chief: "It was stupid for them to let him out.
"You don't let someone go until the inspector general has finished the investigation," says a senior civilian overseeing Pentagon personnel matters. But even before it is taken up, top Pentagon civilians are seething at the Army's public relations blunder and the demoralizing impact the handling of the case could have on the troops. "The troops in the field sure know it."ĭefense Secretary William Cohen has ordered a review of the entire case. "There are two systems of justice in the military, and those who practice in the military justice system are deluding themselves if they say otherwise," says Charles Gittins, the attorney for both Carpino and McKinney. In that post, he oversaw all Army probes into personnel misconduct and was expected to help eradicate sexual abuse in the Army's ranks. The 52-year-old Hale was allowed to pack it up just four months after he became the Army's deputy inspector general. Pentagon brass would have had good reason to dispense quietly with Hale's case, because his alleged offenses made a mockery of the sensitive new job he had been given. In the Hale case, the claim of a double standard is being made by the alleged victim and taken directly to the public. His argument was barred from the courtroom by the judge. During the month-long trial, McKinney tried to say that he was the target of overly harsh prosecution and that top officers facing similar charges were dealt with gently. Last March a military jury cleared him of 18 of the 19 charges. Flinn found herself facing nearly 10 years in jail for conducting an affair with a married civilian (and lying about it) McKinney faced a court-martial for attempting to coerce six women into sex. Hale is the best evidence to date that when it comes to adultery, the Pentagon has two standards-one applies to the powerful and another to the grunts. The case is likely to cause further upheaval in the Pentagon, which is still suffering the aftershocks of the sexual-misconduct cases of Sergeant Major of the Army Gene McKinney and Air Force Lieut. His getaway so infuriated the Army colonel and his ex-wife that they have formed a temporary alliance and are going public with their accusations against Hale. Instead of facing retribution, the two-star general was allowed to retire quietly. Yet when Pentagon officials found out about his alleged manipulations, he got away clean. Then, when both her marriage and the affair began to break up, Hale switched allegiance and offered to testify in the divorce case that she was an unfit mother.
Within four months, Hale had allegedly blackmailed Carpino, a civilian, into having a sexual relationship with him. "It was obvious that he was in heat." But the colonel says he tucked away his concerns: "I presumed he was an officer and a gentleman."
"The first time he saw her, he broke out into a sweat," says the 29-year veteran. She was among the guests of honor at a summer cocktail party in 1996 welcoming new arrivals to a NATO military post in Izmir. (TIME, May 4) - The 50-year-old Army colonel will never forget the way his new boss, Major General David Hale, laid eyes on his wife, Donnamaria Carpino, that day in Turkey. Why did he get off so easy? By Mark Thompson/Washington Sex, The Army And A Double Standard A general allegedly coerced an officer's wife into an affair.
Sex, The Army And A Double Standard - May 5, 1998Ĭlick here for more political coverage from TIME magazine.
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