Issue Date: September 06, 2004

SEAL officer may face court-martial
Drug charges could land him 30 years in prison

By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer

SAN DIEGO — When word came down that his platoon faced mandatory urinalysis for suspected drug use in Thailand in early May, the Navy contends Lt. Scott C. Hobbs told his men, “We have a rat.”

The next day, investigators say, Hobbs told one of his men, “There are ways to beat a piss test.”

Now the SEAL officer, caught in a springtime drug sweep of naval special warfare units, faces a potential court-martial on charges he used and distributed illegal drugs and tried to impede the investigation, officials said.

The Navy in July charged Hobbs, 31, with one count each of using cocaine and Ecstasy on May 13 in Pattaya, a resort on Thailand’s coast, and with one count of distributing ketamine, a hallucinogenic sedative, on May 5 while in Thailand.

He also faces three counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, one count under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice — a general charge that covers his alleged advice to his platoon on ways to beat the urinalysis tests — and a count of twice using a government credit card June 3 to get cash, less than $250, from automated teller machines in San Diego, according to a spokesman and charge sheets provided by Naval Special Warfare Command to Navy Times.

If prosecuted and convicted on the drug charges, Hobbs could face as much as 30 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and benefits and dismissal from the service.

The findings of a mid-August Article 32 preliminary hearing will determine Hobbs’ fate, said Cmdr. Jeff Bender, a Naval Special Warfare Command spokes-man at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Calif. Hobbs joined the Navy in 1997.

Hobbs, who was a member of SEAL Team 1, has since been reassigned to Naval Special Warfare Group 1, Bender said.

Hobbs is one of eight SEALs who popped positive on urinalysis drug tests that led the top SEAL commander to order commandwide testing for nearly 3,300 personnel and ask the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to investigate the cases. Another five sailors, who include special warfare combatant-craft crewmen and administrative personnel, also tested positive.

One of the remaining 12 naval special warfare members caught in the drug bust faces charges during Article 32 proceedings scheduled for the week of Aug. 30, Bender said. Specific charges would not be released until the hearing, he said. It’s not clear what punishment or charges, if any, have been levied against the other members who tested positive on their urinalyses.

The drug scandal began when the command received a report that 10 naval special warfare personnel were seen using illegal drugs while they were on liberty in Thailand in early May, around the start of the annual Cobra Gold military exercises. Seven of the 10 tested positive for illegal substances, although officials did not say which type of drugs. Navy officials pulled two SEAL platoons from the exercises and replaced them with two others.

Last year, Naval Special Warfare Command booted 21 members from service for drug use, down from 32 kicked out in 2002.

http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-NAVYPAPER-324818.php

Well, it looks like it wasn't "performance enhancing" drugs that were used...


What a damn shame.

Same DOD rules apply, no matter who you are.  If they are doing dope then they get burned.

My $.02

He should be glad he's facing American Military court's justice and not Thailand's courts.........

Quoted: The Navy in July charged Hobbs, 31, with one count each of using cocaine and Ecstasy on May 13 in Pattaya, a resort on Thailand’s coast, and with one count of distributing ketamine, a hallucinogenic sedative, on May 5 while in Thailand.

When this story broke everyone was speculating that it was just weed or steroids. i guess nobody wanted to admit that navy SEALS were snorting coke/smoking crack, taking X and abusing an animal tranquilizer.

It does not matter, The policy is the same for all of our fighters out there.  weather it be weed or coke or X, there are many hard chargers out there who will gladly take their place.

If those charges are true, he is one high-speed low-drag DUMBASS.
Busting one's ass to be a Naval Officer, then busting it 100 times more to
become a SEAL, only to throw all that effort, dedication, blood, sweat and tears
away for drugs?
Loser.

What y'all are missing is that this guy had time to do drugs in Pataya....there's no time for dgugs in Pataya, way too much pie in that town!  Beautiful pie everywhere!  There's barely enough time get drunk!  You can order pie from your room!  Pie reaches out and pulls you off the street!  Maxim called Pataya a "sex carnival."  They were right!  We have a two month deployment: PI and Thailand, 30 days each, we call it the freaky deaky sex tour.  This guy must be gay!

Quoted: If those charges are true, he is one high-speed low-drag DUMBASS. Busting one's ass to be a Naval Officer, then busting it 100 times more to become a SEAL, only to throw all that effort, dedication, blood, sweat and tears away for drugs? Loser.

+1



Heh, my first.

I've never been able to figure out why people abuse Ketamine.  It was initially developed for veterinary purposes but is a widely used anesthetic agent, particularly for pediatric sedation.   It induces a dissociative state know as neuroleptanalgesia in which the patient appears to be awake but is totally unaware of his surroundings.  It is a derivative of phencyclidine (PCP).  The reason why I don't understand the abuse potential is that once you come back around, you have no memory whatsoever of anything that happened while under the influence of the drug.

All that work for nothing...

Tagged

Quoted: I've never been able to figure out why people abuse Ketamine.  It was initially developed for veterinary purposes but is a widely used anesthetic agent, particularly for pediatric sedation.   It induces a dissociative state know as neuroleptanalgesia in which the patient appears to be awake but is totally unaware of his surroundings.  It is a derivative of phencyclidine (PCP).  The reason why I don't understand the abuse potential is that once you come back around, you have no memory whatsoever of anything that happened while under the influence of the drug.

Dr. John Lilly would intravenously use Ketamine, then lay in sensory deprivation tanks for hours.  The combination really tweaks with your consciousness, and his biography and anecdotes are interesting, to say the least.

DXM is a dissociative like ketamine, except it's an ingredient in cough medicine.  It  has a strange effect.  It's not euphoric or pleasurable.  It's just WEIRD.  I imagine ketamine's the same way.

Anybody check the date listed on the artcle?

Issue Date: September 06, 2004

What's that about?


Cheers