A US Marine Lieutenant Colonel claims he was already retired before the USMC allegedly relieved him of command- and he wants his coffee maker back.
Marine Lt. Col Bron Roeder (retired) claims he submitted his retirement paperwork on September 23, four whole days before his regimental commander relieved him of command over Combat Logistics Battalion 23, a Reserves unit.
“I did retire,” he told Marine Corps Times on Tuesday. “I submitted my paperwork and I have all of the emails and everything supporting that I elected to retire and I was not relieved. I’m not quite sure if this is: ‘You can’t quit because we fired you!’”
A Marine Forces Reserve spokesman said that the commanding officer of Combat Logistics Battalion 23 was relieved of command but did not specifically identify Roeder by name.
“The circumstances surrounding his relief are currently under investigation, but what we can tell you is that this officer was relieved for loss of trust and confidence, failing to uphold the standards we expect from our leaders,” Capt. Andrew Chrestman said.
Roeder assumed command of the Washington-based reserve unit in November of last year, according to his LinkedIn profile. However, he submitted his retirement late last month, citing family and civilian job concerns for not fulfilling his two-year commitment.
“I felt that I was not able to actually be a battalion commander because any time I wanted to do something, which was within keeping of budget, safety and all the little wickets that should be within my purview -something as simple as battalion conference- I felt that if it was not favorable to some of the active duty that I worked with or worked for, it didn’t happen,” Roeder said.
In the aftermath of the “he said, she said” showdown, Roeder just wants his coffee machine back.
“I have personal belongings at the unit, including a brand-new Keurig machine in my office,” Roeder said. “He [the colonel] told me I cannot go back and get it, that I’m not allowed to talk to anybody in the unit, that everybody in the unit is not allowed to talk to me and that they’re going to ship me my personal effects, which I am still waiting for.”
© 2017 Bright Mountain Media, Inc.
All rights reserved. The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. which may be contacted at info@brightmountainmedia.
Give him his fucking coffee machine back already.
The I&I staff should be relieved also. They were a huge problem when I was with the unit as a SSgt. That is why I left.
What is required for Retirement Papers to be valid, if just submitting them then the Col is right and the unit is wrong.
One must request for retirement at least 4 months out and no longer that 14 months out from date of retirement. Submitting on 23 Sept means he would be asking for a Jan 2018 retirement date at the earliest without a waiver.