Military News - Military Times

Officer charged with faking rank, award

A Navy Reserve public affairs officer is facing a general court-martial next week for allegedly forging an award citation and pretending to be a lieutenant when he was one rank lower at the time, the Navy said.

Lt. Paul J. Pelletier, 42, is charged with five counts of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including failure to obey an order or regulation, making false official statements and going absent without leave. His court-martial is set to begin May 13. Calls to Pelletier’s cell phone were not answered as of Thursday afternoon.

According to the charge sheet, Pelletier put himself in for a Joint Service Achievement Medal at some point between June 20 and July 20, 2006, while serving with Multi-National Force in Baghdad. He served at Camp Victory in Iraq for nine months in 2006.

The award justification “outlined achievements he had not accomplished,” the sheet said.

Around the same time, he wore the rank of lieutenant when he was actually a lieutenant junior grade, the sheet said. He continued to wear the unauthorized rank, the charge sheet stated, even though he had been ordered by a captain to stop. At the time, he was still a year away from being eligible for that rank, according to Navy records.

Specifically, he allegedly told his commander he was commissioned in November 2001 — it was really November 2003 — and made lieutenant junior grade in November 2003. He actually made O-2 in November 2005 and was selected for promotion in June 2007. Pelletier was authorized to put that rank on in December.

Pelletier later racked up a few more charges while serving at the Naval Air Facility at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., last fall.

He is charged with being absent without leave for a day around the beginning of August.

A few months later, in the first week of November, he is accused of attempting to impede an investigation by “removing two pieces of documentary evidence from the preliminary inquiry officer’s investigation report.”

Also in November, he allegedly had a firearm and ammunition in his barracks room at Andrews. Doing so violates standing orders and is also illegal under the U.S. Code.

His Article 32 hearing was held Dec. 15 and he was arraigned March 10.