Ex-Astronaut Lisa Nowak out of Navy with "less than honorable" discharge

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43944919...science-space/

One pay grade less in retirement pay, less than honorable discharge,
etc. Hope she thinks it was worth going after that other woman...

It only costs her $600-$700 per month in retirement pay (a 15% cut or
so, I think). She'll still be making more than the typical working
American in retirement (more than $50k per year, plus whatever Social
Security pays her).

It would be interesting to get a really knowledgable evaluation of this.
They procrastinated until she made 20 years, and some posts indicate pension
is on top 3 not exit grade - if that's true it was a sweetheart deal. Also
some have indicated successfully appealing a less than honorable is close to
an assured win. There's been more than a few conflicting posts after the
news articles on this. They also compare this with some recent Navy actions
with active male officers - having an affair with a married woman - you're
out! Someone in the group must know the real facts on this - anyone out
there.


Val Kraut

Val Kraut wrote:

It would be interesting to get a really knowledgable evaluation of this.
They procrastinated until she made 20 years, and some posts indicate pension
is on top 3 not exit grade - if that's true it was a sweetheart deal. Also
some have indicated successfully appealing a less than honorable is close to
an assured win.

When I was in the Navy 78-84 this would have been called an
"Administrative Discharge under other than honorable circumstances". We
were told it's how Walt Disney was discharged not the popular story that
says it was a Dishonorable Discharge.

I figure it won't be appealed because it was the equivalent of a plea
deal. She could have gotten far worse but she could have appealed. If
she agreed to this as a settlement there aren't any appeals. So yes I
agree that it's a sweetheart deal. But I apparently think so for
different reasons than others.

An appeal would have been a mess for the Navy. She's an astronaut and
therefore did better at everything than pretty much anyone else. They
only take the best. Far too much bad publicity. So she agreed to a
deal that got her cashiered with a pension rather than make a big
publicity splash. Were I her I would not want more publicity. Were I
in Navy leadership I would not want more publicity.

Cashier and try to disappear into obscurity. Having gotten into the
astronaut corps you wanna bet she can thrive under an assumed name
somewhere? Piece of cake. Unless her craziness wasn't temporary ...

On Sat, 30 Jul 2011 09:12:31 -0700, Fred J. McCall
wrote, in part:

It's just not public enough to suit the mob's urge for vengeance ...
er, JUSTICE.

One would expect that attempted murder would lead to a full dishonorable
discharge. However, IIRC, she did reconsider and before she was caught
she already was not going to kill anyone. If that is the case, some
degree of mercy is not unreasonable.

John Savard
http://www.quadibloc.com/index.html

So what you're almost saying here is - the day was really saved because
Mission Control didn't issue a checklist for the operation.

On 7/30/2011 4:57 PM, John Savard wrote:


One would expect that attempted murder would lead to a full dishonorable
discharge. However, IIRC, she did reconsider and before she was caught
she already was not going to kill anyone. If that is the case, some
degree of mercy is not unreasonable.

Say what you want; I see her with a hammer, and I'm running. ;-)
It's very cruel, but here's the mission profile of what she did that I
wrote:

Cut to police officer looking down at a notebook in vehicle:
"*FLIGHT **PLAN* - DAY 2
0037 - Establish correct position for rendezvous and damp vehicle motion.
0041 - Initiate MECO.
0042 - Release safety restraining harness.
0043 - Don EVA suit.
0047 - Open vehicle door.
EVA BEGINS
0050 - Begin EVA.
0200 - Approach rendezvous target location and initiate loiter mode.
0245 - Expected time of first target visibility.
0300 - Close on target vehicle by most energy efficient path.
0305 - Initiate target disable action via pepper spray.
0306 - Activate target capture maneuver.
0310 - Return to primary vehicle by most energy efficient path.
0311 - Close vehicle door.
EVA ENDS
0312 - Remove EVA suit.
0316 - Remove fecal containment garment.
0317 - Place fecal containment garment over target's head.
0318 - Secure fecal containment garment over target's head with rubber
tube.
0319 - Initiate target head/steel mallet interface.
0325 - Re-don safety restraining harness.
0326 - Initiate engine restart.
0327 - Maneuver primary vehicle to Gatorland Theme Park by most energy
efficient path.
0420 - Damp vehicle motion.
0421 - Initiate MECO.
0422 - Release safety restraining harness.
0423 - Open vehicle door.
EVA # 2 BEGINS
0424 - Remove target from vehicle.
0426 - Disassemble target with folding knife.
0450 - Transfer target components to alligator pond.
0500 - Release target components in free drift mode.
0510 - Expected time of first target components/alligator interface.
0511 - Laugh manically.
0512 - Jump up and down while laughing maniacally.
0515 - Terminate laughter and jumping.
0520 - Return to primary vehicle.
0521 - Close vehicle door.
EVA #2 ENDS
0522 - Re-don safety restraining harness.
0533 - Initiate engine restart.
0600 - Expected time of first primary vehicle/police interaction.
0601 - Flee from police by most energy efficient path.
PRIMARY MISSION ENDS" ?! :-)

Pat