Air Force Officer Gets 9 Years for Assault, Other Crimes
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AP, June 26, 2008
An Air Force colonel was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday and will be kicked out of the military for assaulting a woman, misusing his government travel card and other crimes at Sheppard Air Force Base.
Col. Samuel Lofton III faced 140 years in prison after being convicted of 34 counts, including indecent assault, larceny, being absent without leave and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
{snip}
Lofton was convicted Wednesday of assaulting one woman but acquitted of rape and two other assault charges involving another. He was convicted of bad conduct charges involving a third woman.
He also racked up $26,000 in personal expenses on his government travel card and was reimbursed $14,000 for trips he never took. He pleaded guilty to those charges last week.
{snip}
Lofton, the former 82nd Training Group commander at the base from 2004 until he was removed last year amid an investigation into his financial wrongdoing, did not testify at his trial or sentencing.
Defense attorneys called no witnesses Thursday but showed pictures from throughout Lofton’s life and career. They argued that Lofton already will suffer consequences because of his court-martial convictions—especially the indecent assault, which will require him to register as a sex offender in most states.
{snip}
Two-thirds of jurors had to agree on the sentence. A term of more than 10 years would have required three-fourths approval.
{snip}
  Col. Samuel Lofton III. |
(Posted on June 27, 2008)
Comments
How did he ever qualify for a military commission to start with? Affirmative action?
Posted by kitty at 6:25 PM on June 27
This has much less to do with race than the privelege of rank. After 20+ years in the military I can say that it wouldn’t matter what color he is. What matters is that he is a Colonel and a Commander. I’ve see it happen time and again.
Posted by at 6:47 PM on June 27
It is not surprising that this guy made it to a full Colonel before getting caught. I saw his kind often during my service as commissioned officer in the USAF.
At least half of the blacks that I encountered in the officer corps were obviously incompetent malingerers who posed a life threatening danger to those around them. Yet, hidden affirmative action polices kept them in the service and flying.
I can’t tell you how relieved I was when the black pilot in command of my bomber crew was transferred out. We were a “leper crew” the whole time he was part of it - guess why. As soon as he left, we became the best crew in the bomb squadron, with the best training record.
Posted by We're Screwed at 8:14 PM on June 27
I noticed his lawyers tried the same argument that was recently used by lawyers of the black female athlete Marion Jones, when she was convicted of lying to a federal agent. “Just being caught is so embarrassing . . . that it’s punishment enough. No need for jail . . . please.”
Nope. Doesn’t fly. Off to prison with Samuel Lofton.
Posted by Reader-1 at 12:00 AM on June 28
As an ex-Air Officer I’m stunned. Only a small number of over- achievers make full colonel, and a stellar service record is required. How did this sociopath make it? Obviously he was given preferential treatment when it came to promotions because of his color.
Posted by Cliff Yablonski at 1:22 AM on June 28
When he gets out of prison, if indeed he ever actually does any time in prison, he will probably go to work for KBR, CSA or ITT in the middle east since those organizations seem now inclined to hire black screw-ups into management.
Posted by Skip at 1:39 AM on June 28
From my time at the US Air Force Academy and in the Air Force, I can confirm exactly what most of you are thinking when you read this article - it is not a matter of rank, as one poster has presented, it is a matter of race.
Blacks were let in to the Academy that were not qualified and then “racism” was claimed when they could not compete academically. As a white male, you learned early on that you were competing only against other white males. Minorities and women had their own “tracks” so to speak. Average, or below average, women and minorities received generals endorsements on their records and were promoted at rates far exceeding their abilities.
Also, it seemed to take an Act of Congress just to get rid of an incompetent black from a flying job. The race card was very effective. I have a (liberal) military flight instructor friend who experienced this protection afforded to blacks first hand. When the black student could fly to standard, he screamed “racism.” Only by bringing in another black pilot to flunk him out of the program was he allowed to be removed.
The crime side of this race issue is obviously not any better.
Posted by GWS at 7:41 AM on June 28
We’re Screwed at 8:14PM on 06/27
I’m surprised that you say they fly. Do they actually fly fighters? Do they fly stealth bombers? Are blacks mechanics working on the planes? I’m asking because I always thought blacks just we’re APs, cooks, PX workers, etc in the Air Force.
I never had a black officer. There was no such thing as a black oficer when I was in the Marine Corps.
Tom Iron…
Posted by Tom Iron at 8:45 AM on June 28
I am employed at another government agency. Working with blacks on a daily basis is very tiresome and inefficent. Why do I say that? They have a lack of anticipated consequence of future events according to their actions or inactions. I have seen this firsthand for years. I try to ignore it but they keep reminding me how incapable they are.
I’m past trying to reason with those who can’t comprehend, disassociation is my only avenue left.
So I am not surprized by the actions of this Col of Color.
Posted by Tired observer at 8:51 AM on June 28
I don’t have military experience, but I can tell you that every black I’ve ever had work for me in the private sector was a joke.
I manage programmers, and the black ones without exception need to be nagged and babysat until their work is done - which is usually worthless once completed.
Programs that don’t work are, well you know…
Posted by at 3:46 PM on June 28
I suspect black Air Force pilots are quite rare, since Air Force pilots very often end up flying for the airlines once they’re out of the USAF. When was the last time you flew somewhere and saw a black airline flight crewman?
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 6:02 PM on June 28
Somewhat related.I recall reading a few years ago that
during WW2 white South African fighter pilots were shooting
down American fighters piloted by blacks.
True or false,I don’t know.
Unreconstructed
Posted by unreconstructed at 6:32 PM on June 28
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the damage this clown may have done over the years. How many other unqualified “brothers” did he help along in their careers with his influence? How much does our military detiorate everytime an unqualified affirmative action type becomes a senior officer and helps others like him attain high rank?
Posted by Seen It Before at 6:35 PM on June 28
“I am employed at another government agency. Working with blacks on a daily basis is very tiresome and inefficent. Why do I say that? They have a lack of anticipated consequence of future events according to their actions or inactions. I have seen this firsthand for years.”
We had a poster write in here a long time ago something like, ‘Never underestimate blacks ability to engage in verbal warfare (with ‘gossip’ etc)’, ‘or just sew confusion’. It was a really good post. I should have wrote it down.
Posted by at 7:19 PM on June 28
God bless all those in our military who are involved in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The military establishment seems to be falling apart. I think that involving women in the military to the degree that they are now involved was a grave error. We’re constantly hearing about rapes and molestations and God knows how many that we’re NOT hear about and now the second young pregnant women found dead near Ft. Bragg. The first was murdered by an illegal ” Mojado Mexicano”.
Now they’ve announced the first ever /anywhere female 4 Star General. What a joke! Omar Bradley, George Patton, Mark Clark, Nathan Twining et al along with our Muslim enemies and the Chinese and North Koreans must be laughing.
Posted by at 11:54 PM on June 28
Another poster just reminded me of how tedious and tiring it is trying to work with the black bunglers. In Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, the blacks are employed in mechanical projects and many black managers also, and having to listen to LOUD, BLARING Rap music ALL DAY is so tiring. And with only a few exceptions they NEVER finished the jobs they were assigned. They would get into the vehicles and sleep, or sign in and leave camp (being covered for by black or scared white supers)
Posted by Skip at 1:03 AM on June 29
Until reading these posts I never knew there were so many fellow ex-USAF types here. Looks like most were officers, though, so I’d like to bring an enlisted perspective.
IIRC, about 10% of my 48-man flight in basic was black. Most were OK, a couple were creeps. But all of us were treated & evaluated exactly the same. Blacks got no demerit allowances on inspections and no “brownie points” on exams. That policy continued after basic. Any mention of race on an enlisted person’s performance review was strictly forbidden. The NCO promotion system was about as objective as humans can make it. As a result, no one made rank via affirmative action — if you saw a black senior NCO, you knew he had earned all those stripes. It also meant that in highly technical career fields (like mine) there were relatively few blacks.
OTOH, I learned in a hurry how different things were on the other side of the tracks. One of my flightmates was the son of a retired USAF officer. When asked if he intended to go to OTS, he said “NO!” as emphatically as he could. Officer advancement was 10% merit and 90% politics, he told us, and he wanted no part of that system.
A final reminiscence: My work required a lot of interaction with pilots (especially my 1st posting, which was a pilot training base), and blacks in that line of work were very few and far between.
Posted by Strider at 2:52 AM on June 29
“Somewhat related.I recall reading a few years ago that
during WW2 white South African fighter pilots were shooting
down American fighters piloted by blacks.
True or false,I don’t know.”
Unreconstructed
Posted by unreconstructed at 6:32 PM on June 28
Unreconstructed,
I don’t know either but I’d wager that if it had been true the MSM would have been all over that story like stink on garbage.
The media likes nothing more than showcasing examples of White racism and is not above inventing incidents if necessary.
I doubt that one can see clearly see the face of a pilot in another fighter especially with the Sun glare and the helmet.
Could that be checked on Snopes?
Posted by at 9:59 AM on June 29
Could that be checked on Snopes?
Snopes is good for debunking urban legends, but keep in mind that they have the same political and social biases as any Wikipedia or Google. For some reason, they’ve decided that much of the truth about Martin Luther King, Jr. is a “hoax”. And for some odd reason, they don’t even mention, let alone try to debunk, “urban legends” like, “Martin Luther King, Jr. liked to get drunk and beat up white prostitutes”.
Posted by HideouslyWhite at 3:53 PM on June 29
As a side note, have any of you noticed that in movies and TV, blacks have been constantly portrayed as wise, brave, all around super soldiers? This couldn’t be farther from the truth. In my experience, black soldiers either didn’t care about their work, or they constantly used their position to go on a power trip.
Posted by Mike at 5:42 PM on June 29
Whites commit indiscretions in high command positions, too, but no where near the black average.
In fact if the difference were ever expreseed as a percentage of their respective populations within the military, the black figure would appear as an abomination.
Almost all the Army rapists were black several years back, and the Army’s black top sergeant was ousted for assault and sexual harassment to name but a couple of incidents.
I’m willing to bet that if investigations into the characters and competence of blacks in authority in the military were completed in an unbiased way, a vast majority would be declared unfit for duty.
That will not happen, however, because the country has degenerated to a level where bean counting is more important than military integrity and efficiency.
Instead we will continue to define morality, integrity and competence downward, and the awful truth won’t be known to the sheeple until disaster strikes in a big way, which likely could be when it’s too late for any kind of correction, just as society in general is right now.
I’m a realist and not a doom and gloom advocate, but neither am I a fool who paints a happy face on everything because he wants things to be as he would like them to be.
I analyze the situation and go where the facts lead me. And where they lead me in so many instances is to a “doom and gloom” scenario.
I’d rather write something positive but the only way I can do that is to lie.
Posted by Ranger at 5:49 PM on June 29
Strider,
I concur with your view of the enlisted promotional system. During my time as a USAF Officer, I never considered that there was much favoritism shown for promotions in the enlisted ranks. The system was far more objective than that for officer promotions (which is about as subjective as promotions get in any line of work).
Honestly, from my perspective, blacks did not have to be as competent as whites to be kept around, however, it was the women that were truly shown favoritism in the form of high level endorsements, subsequent promotions, good assignments with a blind-eye turned toward actual competence as leaders and pilots.
Posted by GWS at 8:19 PM on June 29
I’m struck by just how many military officers are racially aware or have become racially aware in the service.
The multicultural establishment should be aware that America’s best and brightest are disconecting from the multicult position.
The final triumph will belong to us.
Posted by Duncan Hengest at 8:36 PM on June 29
“I never had a black officer.”
In the Army battalion where I was mail clerk we had a black executive officer, a major who was a graduate of Prairie View A&M. One day when my work was complete I was reading a book when he walked into the mail room and instructed me to lay my “novel” aside. All I remember about this unremarkable man was that he was vain and arrogant.
Posted by at 9:57 PM on June 29
Unreconstructed,
I don’t know either but I’d wager that if it had been true the MSM would have been all over that story like stink on garbage.
The media likes nothing more than showcasing examples of White racism and is not above inventing incidents if necessary.
I doubt that one can see clearly see the face of a pilot in another fighter especially with the Sun glare and the helmet.
Could that be checked on Snopes?
I have a huge interest in WWII and history in general with quite a bit of information on the 332nd FG and the 99th BG (all black units in the Med) and have never read anything in any article, to include personal accounts by the members of those groups, of their being shot at by our own aircraft (which the SA pilots were flying) which would include British aircraft. Quite a lot of good things were said by units being escorted by the black pilots in fact. They were however, the best of the blacks and in my reading, they do not display any of the perceived entitlements modern young black display, better men all around.
Posted by Skip at 12:52 AM on June 30
To think we once had officers like Jimmy Stewart , Barry Goldwater , Curtis Lemay , Claire Chennault , Robin Olds , Tommy McGuire , Richard Ira Bong , Robert Scott (whom I had the pleasure of meeting),Bob Johnson , Francis Gabreski not to mention even George C Wallace . Now the ranks are full of micro Idi Amins , Robert Mugabes and Mohammed Adids . We are in a hopeless spiral downward that we will not pull out of until we hit rock bottom .
Posted by Keltro Spambrick at 10:01 AM on June 30
I would not take anything from the Tuskegee Airmen , not one iota . I tip my hat and offer my deepest respect to them for a job well done .There were no slouches behind the stick of a P-51 ,P-47 or P-38 However , we now know their claim of “no bombers lost ,” is a mere myth . They lost at least 25 bombers over something like a five day period and since that has been proven it would have to call into the rest of their time as a unit and claim to no bombers lost . Had the U.S. remained the 84% Anglo-European nation it used to be and was intended to be it would all be inconsequential . But that is not the case , those who share DNA with the Founders are now losing their numerical edge . And the skewed , inaccurate history of the Airmen could very well prove to be one of the thousand pin pricks into our Achilles heel. All we ask for is the truth concerning the Airmen and any other issue concerning race.Why should that be too much to ask or taboo ?
Posted by at 2:35 PM on June 30
Last week, a black pilot from the tuskeggee airmen passed away. It was on the national news. When David “Tex” hill died, I found out weeks later. Tex Hill, alone, did more to win the war than any T-man.
BTW, the P-51 had an inline engine, just like the german ME-109. Many p-51s were shot down by friendly pilots because they thought it was an enemy aircraft. So it would not surprise me that a few T-men were shot down by mistake. misidentification, not rasism would be the cause.
Posted by Flyingtiger at 2:39 PM on June 30
“As a side note, have any of you noticed that in movies and TV, blacks have been constantly portrayed as wise, brave, all around super soldiers? This couldn’t be farther from the truth. In my experience, black soldiers either didn’t care about their work, or they constantly used their position to go on a power trip.”
Oh God that brings back a flood of memories from the two times I served in the military, Army/enlisted, then Air force/officer. Yes, the motion picture industry always portrays blacks in the military in a positive, unrealistic way. They never show them as less than intelligent shirkers that have to watched carefully and are always in trouble or screwing up, which is more the norm for any group of black soldiers or airmen.
Posted by Cliff Yablonski at 3:50 PM on June 30
Anyone who’s ever served in the military can attest to this: Individually, Africans will get by if surrounded by regular troops, but as soon as you get a group of them working together bad things start to happen.
Posted by Jim Dandy at 5:14 PM on June 30
To Ranger…..I remember the story about the military’s top enlisted man-a black- who threatened the females under him to play along to get ahead. He even coerced a White married pregnant female to have sex with him. How depraved. Also about the same time there were several stories about Army drill instructors literally “scaring the pants of female recruits”! They preferred White females.
Posted by at 5:30 PM on June 30
Just a few weeks ago we had a black person write into the base commander hot line wanting to know why blacks are treated bad at this southern base. He blamed it on the prevailing attitude of whites on the base from the south. I could not believe what I was reading. Blacks are a small minority on every Air Force base I have been on, yet they are constantly in the base paper getting awards. It’s an outrage for him to even suggest racism.
Posted by Doug at 7:14 PM on June 30
Last week, a black pilot from the tuskeggee airmen passed away. It was on the national news. When David “Tex” hill died, I found out weeks later. Tex Hill, alone, did more to win the war than any T-man
Another noted Marine Aviator, Marion Carl was murdered in his home in Oregon, by a thug who had broken into his home with intent to rob. Marion carl was a MH winner and pioneer Marine pilot. The race of the assailant was, at the time of the article “not known” though he was in custody. The newspapers only listed a small article citing the “passing of Marion Carl” with no mention of the manner of his passing. This article of his manner of passing was printed in detail in several specialist aviation magazines of which I believe WINGS or AIRPOWER were one of them. A typical MSM cover up I suspect and if I recall further the thug was 19 and Mr. Carl was 84.
Posted by Skip at 7:22 AM on July 1
Marion Carl shot down Junichi Sasai, with a vertical 90-degree defection shot. Sasai himself had over 40 victories. My wife’s great-grandfather was on the other side, but they admired guys like Bong, Carl, McGuire and Boyington.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 5:36 PM on July 1
Does anyone besides me ever speculate in the manner of ; What if when the Pearl Harbor attack occurred we had had P-40s and P-39s with 2000 plus horse-power engines , big four bladed paddle props , larger control surfaces and larger fuel tanks ? Or can you imagine a T-6 Texan or a Dauntless with a 2500 hp engine , armed to the teeth with .50s , with a rear gunner sporting twin .50s to train on attackers ? Mindgames I suppose but entertaining .Of course if we had had such aircraft would the other great planes like the P-47 ,P-51 , F4U and the Hellcats ever gone into production ? which of course would have been a great loss .
Posted by at 7:04 PM on July 1
I just hope the black animal had no kids. At least we wouldn’t see a repeat from ilk like his bloodline.
Posted by Elrey Jones at 7:22 PM on July 1
I am a veteran Air Force enlisted and live in San Antonio Texas, which is a great city mainly because of the military. I think this Air Force Col. is not the frist time in San Antonio their is a black Lt. Col Army who is awaiting trail for stealing money, and another black Air Force Col. who was charged with sexual assault he did not do jail time. The sad thing is all these clowns are not going to do much time if any, and than they will enjoy their military pension and benifits at the taxpayer expense very sad.
Posted by craig at 1:37 AM on July 2
As a response to 7:04 PM, a P-38L Lightning with a pair of 2200 HP R-2800s instead of the Allison V-12s and a cockpit heater would have been perfect.
An Army Air Force version of the Grumman F7F Tigercat would also have been perfect. With four 20mm cannon and four .50” machineguns, it would have been murder on Soviet Army formations in 1946.
Japan was working on a big twin before the war ended as well, their army’s Ki-84 “Steve”. The real dinner-winner of the big twins, though, was Germany’s Dornier 335.
A P-36 with a 1700 hp Pratt & Whitney would also have been good.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 2:18 PM on July 5
Surprisingly Japan was working on some very interesting aircraft . One had a pusher prop and looked similar to a 1930s Northrop that never went into production .It was called a Violet or Flower or something like that . Plus they had their own version of the Me-262 Swallow which fortunately never got out of it’s infancy .But can you imagine a six bladed turbo-prop ,vtol Chance-Vought-Sikorsky Corsair to defend that mythical white Judeo-Christian nation founded on Antartica after the ice caps melt ?
Posted by at 9:59 PM on July 5
I want someone to make a movie about the above subject and give old Reb a small part in it . No anti-white themes now ,it has to be pro Western civilization Anglo-European .
Posted by Palmetto Reb at 1:44 PM on July 8
.I recall reading a few years ago that
during WW2 white South African fighter pilots were shooting
down American fighters piloted by blacks.
True or false,I don’t know.
————————————-
Sounds like nonsense to me.
How many black pilots were there in WW2? If any, they would have been exceedingly few. Furthermore, how could anyone manage to see who they were, inside the cockpit, from a distance and in the air? And would the Air Force have stood for it? Sheer nonsense!
Posted by at 3:51 AM on July 10