NATION : Army Ousts ‘Heroic’ Chaplain
FT. LEWIS, Wash. — A Mormon Army chaplain who faked a heroic record with the elite Green Berets and Rangers in the Vietnam War was dishonorably discharged and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty during a court-martial.
Maj. Gary Probst, who joined the Army in the 1980s, was ordered to pay $1,000 a month for 10 months, Ft. Lewis spokesman Maj. Martin Eckert said.
Probst, 37, pleaded guilty to five violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Probst wore 15 insignia he never earned, including the Bronze Star and the Vietnam campaign ribbon, a military judge ruled. Probst also admitted making false statements in his list of career duties and decorations, disobeying an order, putting in a false claim of about $100 in motel bills and taking a government-owned chair for personal use.
He indicated in an interview before his court-martial that he wore the insignia to gain the trust of soldiers.
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