Pendleton Marine faces sentencing in canine security case
 

Sergeant admits dog-training data faked

Pendleton Marine faces sentencing in canine security case

By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

October 31, 2003

CAMP PENDLETON ? Staff Sgt. Christopher Greatting admitted yesterday he was the senior enlisted Marine in a conspiracy to fake records to hide the fact that dogs in the base military security unit were improperly trained.

Greatting, 28, is the last of six Marines to be court-martialed in a yearlong investigation into improper training of security dogs at Camp Pendleton. Eleven other Marines in the "K-9" dog handling unit have received lesser administrative punishments, base spokesman 1st Lt. Dan Rawson said.

Greatting's sentencing hearing is expected to continue today.

The staff sergeant was the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Marines who handle the dogs, which sniff out explosives and drugs.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy with lower-ranking Marines in the unit, disobeying orders by keeping nonmilitary dogs in the base kennel and falsifying dog training records. He also pleaded guilty to a drug count for smoking marijuana at a private home.

The maximum sentence for all counts is 27 years in a military prison, base officials said. As part of a pretrial agreement under which he pleaded guilty, Greatting will probably receive a much shorter sentence.

In testimony yesterday, Greatting said it was nearly impossible to train the dogs to military regulations ? which require them to pass a certain number of tests monthly ? because of the unit's other obligations, including entering competitions and giving demonstrations at schools.

He also said the practice of falsifying records started before he took an authority role in the unit.

But when asked by military judge Col. Robert Chester if he could have asked his superior officers to cut back commitments that diminished training time, Greatting said yes.

"I probably could have gone to the command to cut them out," he said.

Base officials discovered discrepancies in dog training and launched an investigation in September 2002. All base dog handlers were reassigned during the inquiry and those found culpable will no longer work with dogs, Rawson said.

The dogs have been replaced because they lost certification as military working animals.

Despite the reassignments, the base never failed to have proper security in place, Rawson said.

Other dog handlers who were convicted included Staff Sgt. Ruben Cadriel, second in charge under Greatting. He was found guilty of conspiracy and falsifying dog training records. He received a bad-conduct discharge at an April trial.

Sgt. Christian Blue, Cpl. Jaime Marmolejo and Cpl. Aaron Hutchings were found guilty of being derelict in dog-handling duties and making false official statements. All three were demoted but they were not discharged from service.



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Jeanette Steele: (619) 718-5182; jen.steele@uniontrib.com


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Sempers,

Roger