Illegal? No. Unethical? Hmm. Immaterial? Yes.

"Don't do anything illegal, immoral, or unethical," goes the Army's version of empowerment. The first one's a matter of law. The second one's difficult to enforce, but that last one permits you no defense.

On May 22nd, CBS's 60 Minutes ran a story about the Army's investigation into its Recruiting Assistance Program. It highlighted the story of MSG Gary Wilson, one of the 105,000 people who had received bonus money as part of the program and later investigated for it.

Wilson was found not guilty, but received a general officer letter of reprimand anyway. As LTG Gary Cheek explained,

"We have our Army values that we're part of. So if you are found not guilty in a court of law, that really simply means-- that you are not guilty of a crime but you have done something unethical within the military for which you could receive an administrative action."

The most troubling thing about these General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMORs) is that there's no recourse against them. Unlike a court action, you don't need "beyond a reasonable doubt." And unlike an Article 15 (military non-judicial punishment), you can't appeal to a court-martial.

When I was in Afghanistan, a fellow platoon leader received one because a few soldiers in his platoon stole some televisions from the load they were convoying. He was cleared of wrongdoing in the investigation, but that didn't stop the general from filing a GOMOR, essentially ending his career over it. Given the Army's up-or-out environment, GOMORs are a convenient back door to kick someone out.

A more significant matter is the materiality of the investigation. At what point does cost exceed the benefit?

CBS noted that "the Army has spent nearly $28 million to uncover $10 million of alleged fraud. Over 100,000 soldiers have been cleared with more than 4,000 still under investigation."

This may seem ridiculous, but as LTG Flora Darpino explained, "When it comes to crime it isn't really about the cost of what it takes to investigate. It's making sure that people are held accountable for criminal misconduct."

OK, yes, law and order are important, but I wonder if American taxpayers would agree this is the best use of their money. The IRS doesn't work that way -- they only investigate what they can with the resources they have. They don't mess with the "little fish." Police, too, work within limitations -- you don't see them writing tickets for going 2 miles an hour over the speed limit because they have more important stuff to do.

In my mind, there was never any sense in investigating all 105,000 recipients in the first place. The Army admits the program was faulty from the start, so why are we still wasting money on this?