U.S. National - AP


Guard Member Demoted for Mud Wrestling

31 minutes ago U.S. National - AP


By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. - A female member of a National Guard military police unit was demoted for indecent exposure after a mud-wrestling party at the Army-run Camp Bucca detention center in Iraq (news - web sites), a military spokesman said Sunday.



The party occurred Oct. 30, as the 160th Military Police Battalion, an Army Reserve Unit from Tallahassee, Fla., prepared to turn over its duties to the Asheville-based 105th Military Police Battalion, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, spokesman for detainee operations at Camp Bucca.


In the course of the transfer of duties, "some individuals in their exuberance decided to put together a mud-wrestling thing," Johnson said Sunday by telephone. "There were females involved, and some members of the 105th also became involved, one female soldier in particular."


Following an inquiry, that soldier was demoted and placed on restriction for participating in the event, specifically for indecent exposure, he said.


Four or five other members of the 105th who were spectators received counseling, Johnson said.


Johnson did not release the name of the demoted soldier. However, she was identified by the Daily News as Deanna Allen, 19, and the New York newspaper's identification was confirmed by her mother, Ladyna Waldrop of Black Mountain.


Allen was demoted from specialist to private first class. She is still a guard at the camp, the newspaper said.


The Daily News said it was given 30 of the party photos, and it printed several in Sunday's editions.


Waldrop said her daughter is devastated by the events.


"It was just a thing where she was coerced by a bunch of people, and with all the excitement, she lost her sanity for a moment and that's all it took," she said.


"It seems like they're just singling her out," Waldrop said. "She's the one getting all the publicity and punishment, and that's not right."


The 105th took over Camp Bucca on Nov. 1, and photos of the party were found after the 160th had left Iraq, Johnson said, adding that he understood a soldier had turned over the photos to commanders.


Results of the inquiry were sent to the commander of the 160th, he said. "It appears from the commander's inquiry that this was primarily put on by troops of the 160th, who are no longer under our command," Johnson said.


It wasn't immediately clear Sunday if any members of the 160th had been disciplined.


The party was isolated, Johnson said. "Detainees were nowhere in the vicinity," he said. "They had no possible way of seeing what occurred."


A scandal involving the separate Abu Ghraib prison erupted last spring when photographs were made public showing soldiers taunting naked Iraqi prisoners.


Waldrop said she communicates with her daughter almost every day via Internet instant messaging, and they also see each other by means of a Web camera. "She's very tearful, very upset," Waldrop said.


Waldrop said she was proud of her daughter for joining the National Guard. "But I hate that this happened, and so does she," she said. The party "just got way out of hand, and before you know it, pictures were taken, and she didn't have time to react.

"My mom and I have both had talks with her that she's supposed to be an example for her country."

please post a link.

When we deployed and partied, we had a VERBAL RULE among ourselves. What occurs on deployment, stays on deployment. We used the honor rule, concerning photos taken of ourselves during those moments better left experienced than documented. We held a photo purge at every port departure. Some made it into the book, others were deemed unsuitable for public consumption. It was a good tradition. It involved something called trust.

Now we have sat-links, internet access in combat zone, email, attachments, tiny webcams, camera phones, digital camera's and the like.

Everyone is click happy and appears more than willing to document every little detail of their deployment activities without considering the impact they are having on team members careers. Images transmitted around the world and posted online for all to see.

This is a classic example of a group having a little grab ass, and the politically correct command members over-reacting due to perceptions. Incidents such as this, should and could have been handled by a Senior SNCO. But then again, perhaps he was already on the bottom of the pile?

Political Correctness is a Disease, and it is spreading. What is the cure.

When my unit went to Subic Bay in the late 1980s, everyone (well not everyone, but many), including the COs and even the chaplain, were involved in nefarious sexual activities in Olongapo City. It sounds like they are trying to take some of the fun out of the military.

This is war, let the troops party!

Here's the one link I found with photos in question..... you decide:
mud wrestling evidence

Maybe thay shouldn't have did the mud wrestling thingy but WTF nobody got hurt or killed looks to me that they were blowing off some steam, Hell let them have some fun for the morrow they may die. Not that I wish that on them.

blowing off steam ..??
I always thought the military was supposed to be disciplined .. controlled ... managed ..
those photos don't convey that image .. especially the skimpy tops ..
that kind of crap doesn't go well with the Bible Belt types .. southern baptists .. etc .. and that's GW's core audience ..

still say that Southern Baptist's weren't held under long enough!

To Gunny .. LOL!!!!!

And now Special....woops,I mean Priva...woops, I mean, soon to be civilian,Deanna Allen will be chaptered out of military service for participating in the mud wrestling and showing her boobs.
As a civilian I could care less if she flashes the guys her ta-tas.Can she still be effective in her job.That to me is the question.Seems those in Command are not punishing her for not being able to carry on,but on showing that she has a rack.Am I wrong?

just gos to show that the command she was in got caught up in the real world of political correctness. Heaven forbid that titties get flashed while in country.

Sure did send a strong signal to the remaining troopers in that command..don't scew up and expect us to stand behind you or with you.

March 28, 2005

Army Reserves: Punish soldiers for mud wrestling

The Associated Press


MIAMI — Ten members of an Army military police unit should be disciplined for staging a mud-wrestling match at a U.S. military prison in Iraq, an investigation concluded.
No detainees saw the episode last October at Camp Bucca, one of the largest U.S.-controlled detention centers in Iraq, officials said.

The investigation involved reservists from the Tallahassee-based 160th Military Police Battalion, spokesman Steve Stromvall said Friday from Army Reserves headquarters in Atlanta.

It is up to the Army Reserves commander, Lt. Gen. James Helmly, to decide how to discipline the three female guards who wrestled, six sergeants who encouraged them, and a soldier who let one of the women change in his quarters, Stromvall said.

He said the decision on punishment had not yet been made, but options included reprimand, reducing the soldiers’ ranks, discharging them or ordering a court-martial.

The New York Daily News published photos of the incident, including images of women wrestling in bras and panties in front of a crowd of male soldiers.

A fourth female soldier who was also found to have engaged in the mud wrestling was from a different unit and her rank was reduced as punishment, Stromvall said.