Update: The discussion on this post has been closed and moved to a new thread. Click here to visit the new discussion thread.
Airforce Major Jill Metzger, stationed at Manas Air Base, was shopping in a Kyrgyzstan mall with friends when she disappeared.
From CNN:
(CNN) — A U.S. Air Force officer is missing after a trip to a shopping mall in Kyrgyzstan, a U.S. military statement said Wednesday.
Maj. Jill Metzger, with the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, was last seen shopping at the Zum Shopping Center with others from the Manas Air Base when she disappeared on Tuesday, the statement said.
“Major Metzger was last seen wearing a green sweater and blue jeans,” the statement said.
“She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is in excellent athletic condition.”
Military Web sites describe Metzger as a top-flight marathoner.
Both the Kyrgyz police and the US military are searching for her:
BISHKEK, September 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) — Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry and National Security Service say they have launched a joint operation to locate the U.S. air servicewoman who disappeared on September 5 in Bishkek.
The woman, who has been identified as Major Jill Metzger, is working at the U.S. Manas military air base, near Bishkek.
Manas air base public affairs officer Ann Carpenter told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service that Metzger disappeared while shopping at Bishkek’s main department store (TsUM) with other U.S. base members.
“The [U.S.] 376th Air Expeditionary Wing base officials are working with the U.S. Embassy and local officials to locate the servicemember as soon as possible,” Carpenter added.
The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek has issued pictures of a blonde woman as part of the search operation.
Let’s hope she’s found quickly.
Update: Maj. Metzger was supposed to return home on Thursday and went to the mall to buy souvenirs for her family.
Update II: We’re thrilled that everyone here is having a great time commenting, but since we’re approaching 1400 comments, we would love it if everyone could continue the thread here.
Update: The discussion on this post has been closed and moved to a new thread. Click here to visit the new discussion thread.
Johca: That was awesome to read! Makes one very hesitant to trust the gear issued. I just had a friend of mine who is a Navy Seal and Master Diver email me (they are following the story too) and said that his guys DO NOT believe they were on a routine “training” mission in Arctic waters. He too mentioned improper gear and oh yes, the fact that it could have been a sea monster and he wondered if they looked for bites on arms and legs. Always adding humor as it keeps one sane. They are all in tune with this mystery so if I hear anything I will let the blog know. I have no idea and although a diver, not in tune with ice diving enough. However, do know there are many more complications in ice diving than warm water diving.
Hypothermia is a possibility as immersion with no protection in waters of 29 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit can cause death in as little as 90 seconds. Data from boat torpedoing in the North Atlantic and subsequent boating accident data indicate typical survival time is 15 to 30 minutes.
Terminal ventricular fibrillation and irregular pulse is normally associated with severe hypothermia of core temperature being below 82 degree F or 28 degrees C. However, it is a danger if warming is improperly done to allow cold blood of the extremities back into the core to lower core temperature when it is being believed treatment is warming the patient. This is what usually causes the terminal ventricular ventilation in the moderate (95-90 degree F) and severe (90-86 degree F) Hypothermia patient. Stupor and coma are typically associated with core temperatures below 90 degree F. Two divers succumbing to hypothermia in a ten minutes or less period is indicative something other than ripped, torn, or hole in wet suit / dry suit was the cause.
Doubting the ripped, torn or hole in wet suit theory. Two of them at the same time makes me think not. However, hypothermia seems plausible. I am thinking that normal reasoning would most likely have been relayed by the Coast Guard by now, thus, you can’t help but think if it WAS the “improper handling” causing the heart to fail. That would be a good reason for the Coast Guard to claim a “mystery”. Reason being, they would be giving reasons like we are here as normal dive accident (ice diving) deaths…..ugh, ok, taking a break on theories for today…..
BTW-myself and another PJ spent three hours bobbing in 3/8 inch wetsuits off the coast of Iceland in December 1974 waiting for a helicopter to pick us up. Ended up swimming a mile or so to the shore and walking back to NAS Keflavick Iceland. Had a similar situation happen 4 to 5 miles off the coast of San Diego at about midnight in 1995. Two HH-60s doing night low and slow, water hoist, and gunnery training for pilots and flight engineers. Pilots and FEs needed live employment and pickup for night NVG mission certification. Both HH-60s abort for engine and transmission failure warning lights. A bit scarier than hypothermia–Do you have any idea how much commercial shipping (large ships) travel off the coast of San Diego at night and all you have is a couple of chem. lights and a MK-13 flare and PRC-90 survival transmitter/receiver each and you are drifting towards the shipping lanes and if it comes to swimming to the coast you have to swim through the shipping lanes.
Myself and another PJ were reported missing and feared dead a hundred or so miles off the coast of Alaska on 4 October 1980 in the remnants of a typhoon. Unfortunately, there were 20 elderly survivors in the life boat with us in nothing but pajamas. Me and the other PJ kept them all alive and they were in better shape than the other several hundred that were rescued many hours before we became misplaced in the storm lost at sea for most of the night. If interested in the details, you might want to find and borrow a copy of the recently published book (Feb 2006) “Burning Cold, the cruise ship Prinsendam and the greatest sea rescue of all times”, by H. Paul Jeffers. BTW, I’m not Jeffers and didn’t know of him or the book until last year.
I was also developing member of the first DoD High Altitude rescue recovery climbing team and have done several rescue and recoveries at elevations between 10,000 and 20,000 feet. Have been on a mountain top at 20, 320 feet. In this capacity I preformed several recovery dives above 10,000 feet.
I have much cold water immersion and hypothermia experience. I was a qualified combat/rescue diver and preformed frequent dives for 23 years. I was also factory trained by several manufactures in the inspection and repair of diving regulators, to include U.S. Divers, Sherwood, and Poseidon regulators.
BTW-I don’t have any dating ad as I have been married twenty years (only one marriage for the both of us) and it is likely we will remain married for a long time. Plus I’m an old and ugly these days.
Forgot–having qualification and certification to perform military dive operations differs from having the qualifications to plan and supervise military diving operations. The reports omit identifying who the diving supervisor was and if there was a safety diver standing by. I don’t know the Coast Guard’s policies or standard operating procedure, so I can’t even speculate much more than wonder which person (one of the two divers or a surface supervisor) in-charge pertinent to planning and supervising the dive.
So, johca… you were one of those two Canadian Armed Services parajumpers in the story?
“So, johca… you were one of those two Canadian Armed Services parajumpers in the story?
Posted by: ijosha at September 25, 2006 06:24 PM”
My memory fails me; I do know there were at least two Canadian PJs involved with the Prinsendam Rescue. I do not believe the Canadian PJ are mentioned by name in the book I previously mentioned. It was already written by the time I became aware of it. It has some inaccuracies, but those inaccuracies are insignificant to the telling of what happened. I was one of the two USAF PJs specifically mentioned being in the life boats. Anybody reading the book should easily figure out which USAF PJ I am in the book.
CGA Alumni office staff notified me of the Prinsendam mural presentation schedule: 9:15 am Saturday October 21, 2006 at the Alumni Center pertinent to the unveiling of a mural of the Prinsendam rescue at the Coast Guard Academy. Not sure of the final concept, however here is the proposed mural depicting the rescue at approximately 1430 and trust me the waves were getting higher and rougher and the visibility and wind was getting worse as the day and night progressed. At about 9PM I don’t think I could see more than 100 yards as it was raining/sleeting/snowing very heavily and the waves were 15-20 feet if not more. I know this because I fired off three gyro jet flares when I heard a C-130 in the area, the flare illuminates from 700 feet to 1400 feet and all I saw was a faint glow of red for an instant in the clouds.
Here is a cut and past of a portion of an email to me from a Coast Guard Academy Alumni:
“Appreciate your prompt response and looking for a picture; going the extra mile as usual. What do you think about us showing you deploying aboard the jungle penetrator; similar to the link’s photo showing the penetrator and PJ? That could add more excitement to the USAF component of the painting.( USCG did not have PJs in 1980. The USCG recognized the effectiveness of you and Rios during the Prinsendam rescue. Prinsendam rescue and the Merchant Electric sinking eventually led to USCG Rescue Swimmers in 1984.”
M/V Prinsendam Rescue
M/V Prinsendam Rescue
FYI: The movie “The Guardian” is about Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmers and opens in theaters on 29 September.
Johca: Your story is amazing and remarkable, and you have provoked me to obtain that book if I can. I would be honored to dive with you if I ever could. What do you feel went wrong on the CG arctic dive deaths? Now now on the dating ad, that came about out of humor for the ones who were so suddenly curious 🙂 Would have been nice to be married once to the same person forever, but fate calls certain situations in a lifetime. When you fall, it is how you handle yourself getting back up, brushing yourself off and moving forward which matters and portrays your true character. 🙂
I am marvelling at your experience. Awesome.
Johca: Saw the previews and will definitely see that movie.
Hi all…
Just wanted to say… “Johca KNOWS of what he speaks”
I think I already said that, didn’t I?
“Johca: What do you feel went wrong on the CG arctic dive deaths? “
Totally clueless as it involves death of two divers, ten minutes into a dive operation, and neither diver being conscious when they were recovered. No information provided pertinent to specifics of qualification, who planned and was supervising the diver operation, equipment, air source, weather conditions on surface, depth of dive, water temperature, water visibility, current, sonar operations, bilge operations, last diver medical physical or what activities were being conducted on the dive. Search of ocean bottom in area, specimen collection, inspection of boat, tagging of wild life.
Wizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!
Where have you been? I thought Johca was a female???
Johca: LOL, too many elements to consider on this one. Whatever it is, they don’t seem to know either. Rumor had it in the local town paper of one of the divers that the family was told by a fellow shipmate that they were sent down to chip away ice from a block they had hit. I have no idea, just hearsay from a newspaper…
You’re looking mighty nice today!! Keep that smile going..
Well, gotta scoot.. but I’ll be round.. just wanted to see how things are going..
Deb.. you really got to get you a blog going!!
“I thought Johca was a female???”
ROFL–my wife has been tying to train me to leave the toilet seat down for years and convince me I have a feminine nature in me I should find and embrace.
Johca: That was funny. Toilet seat should be down. If they did not want it down, they would have made toilets without it and well, no toilet seat. It is a seat and the seat should be DOWN. LOL
Johca, I’m not sure the toilet seat issue has anything to do with your “feminine side.” ;’)
I firmly believe toilets are made with movable seats so otherwise happily married couples have something to fight about. See also how to squeeze toothpaste.
My husband was stationed at Manas with Jill Metzger for most of her TDY. We are both pretty shocked at the speculation on this blog about her and we really want to believe that she is a good person. There are several observations about Jill’s character which might be in line with the not so flattering portraits portrayed on this blog, though. First, on July 4th, she was in a little parade they had on base. She was on a “float” of some sort in a baby pool. She had a squirt gun that she used to spray the marines and appeared to be flirtatious, not something a 32 year old newly married woman would characteristically do. The second observation is a petty bureaucratic decision where she kept a group who needed to go off base for volunteer work standing around for 45 mins with drivers idling at the gate (meters running) while she passive aggressively did mundane work for people who weren’t even in a hurry, but had a higher priority in the pecking order. All she had to do was take three mins to inspect these volunteers and let them go. She refused like a petty child. Finally, her family is religious and apparently she is too, except that she wasn’t ever seen at church or doing any volunteer work. She ran all the time though and had great respect from runners on base. She rarely if ever left base, perhaps due to fear of something bad happening to her. That’s all I know. Nothing too personal or groudbreaking. She was flirting with the Marines though on July 4th, everyone witnessed this. There was an indoor tent set up with loud music blaring and they had the two beer limit in force, but an outdoor area where people could meet and pour a couple back would have been the likely place for her to hook up. All speculation, but one wants to believe that she’s telling the truth. All of Manas is clamped down and nobody is sharing information on Jill, but I guess everyone here knows that. The truth will probably seep out with some intrepid reporter going after all the rumors. Cheers!
Shrink: LOL.
Duke: PERFECT INFO!! Well, that does it for my abortion theory – pregnant following the July 4th party, drinking, hooked up with a Marine, EASY STUFF (she never thought anyone would find out because, well, he is a Marine and not AF)….September would make her 2 months pregnant, PERFECT!!!! Ok, just a speculation, but it fits, it fits…What married women would be lying in a pool with a squirt gun in a parade?? Shows the wild side……THANKS DUKE!!!!
You are welcome Deb. A couple other comments: Jill is kind of a “ditzy” woman who gets lost easily, loses things etc. She knew about the danger in going to the Zum which is definitely a shady place and very easy to get lost. As a personnel officer, she wouldn’t have been trained to deal with a country like Kyrgyzstan (Not to get into taxis EVER etc.) The three entrances from the Zum all look alike and the booths alike. The bus station is very near to the Zum. We thought abduction from the very start because of her personality. One other fact: when we got info it was before the story broke in the press. We heard directly that she was beaten up with head shaved… that’s all we heard until the Kyrgy spokesmen started talking. We are still clinging to the abduction story here, but are confused by all the reports. I’m not sure how much credence to give the Kyrgy press and government. They are all completely corrupt.
“She had a squirt gun that she used to spray the marines and appeared to be flirtatious, not something a 32 year old newly married woman would characteristically do.” K-I’ll stick up for Jill on this comment.
I got married for the first and only time at age 30 and my wife was age 21. I loved to flirt just to flirt, I didn’t care if it resulted in having sex or not. After being single that many years it was a habit requiring some effort to control especially since I was TDY 200 days or more from the day I got married to the day I retired. However, I didn’t have any side dishes after I became married. One of the myths that irks me is that married woman are more faithful than married men as I can tell you first hand from my single life otherwise.
The other thing I found out fast is if the two spouses decide to see who could have the most adulterous affairs with the most partners the woman generally wins. I suppose this is why I have a good marriage as I saw what made many relationships go bad before I got married.
However, the toilet seat stays in the position I last used it and my wife is still trying to correct that behavior. We also disagree on direction the toilet paper roll is put on the dispenser–I like it so the next sheet comes down in front of the roll and she likes it going down behind the roll. We don’t argue much about that as she is happy that I even put a new roll in the dispenser when it becomes empty after use. I typically also clean the toilets and the bath tub too which is perhaps why she doesn’t abandon me for a boy toy.
One other comment Deb on your abortion theory. Unless Jill was completely out of her mind, there is no way she would have gotten an abortion in Bishkek. She could have stopped and gotten an abortion done more safely and cheaply in Germany on the way home. All the speculation is fascinating, but none of this makes any sense. This story is going to keep growing until 60 mins gets involved and then and only then will we get the truth. The armed forces have completely shut everyone down with career ending threats if they leak information. You can be sure of that. People will talk like we are doing on this blog, I just wish I had any semblance of trust of the Kyrgy press.
Johca, you are right about military women and their affairs. Many get pregnant to get out of their deployment and go have abortions in Germany so they can go home. Any attractive woman on a deployment who doesn’t want to be constantly hounded for sex by the men has to be a total b***h. It’s very sad. The men are the ones who are aggressive and women usually break down after years of this. It’s very sad. Sexual harassment is an every day experience in the military because there is no proscecution of it like there is in the private sector. Men are hunters… and they want partners who are not the easy ones. Marines are the most aggressive of all. If Jill flirted wtih a Marine then she certainly got approached for sex married or not.
“All the speculation is fascinating, but none of this makes any sense.” The strange and unexplained things people do seldom make sense.
True story and I actually sat at the dinner table in this person’s home with his wife and children several months before this tale begins.
In May 1987 an Air Force SSgt with impeccable reputation staged his death. It was well planned and executed in that without any discovery of a body and extensive several months of searching he was declared dead and buried with significant military honors and ceremony. In May 1993 it was discovered he was alive and it was only because woman he was living with since the day he disappeared ratted him out to the former wife on the evening before she was going to finally remarry (what a wedding present). The now former widow immediately called the FBI whose agents the called me as I was doing duty officer duties on the MAJCOM crisis action team. The FBI, US Marshall inquiry discovered individual had numerous false identity passports and other fake identifications and that he was supporting himself by doing armed bank robberies and then traveling to Mexico and casinos and resorts around the world spending his loot. The investigation also discovered he had fathered and assumed secret lives with other woman around the country.
While waiting for Courts-Martial he told his prison guards at the Air Force Brigg he was going to escape that night and did as he boasted. He was evading quite well with no law enforcement having a clue where he was. He had to turn himself in for medical treatment after inhaling poison Ivy/Oak (I’m not sure which) when he made a fire one night to keep warm.
“Any attractive woman on a deployment who doesn’t want to be constantly hounded for sex by the men has to be a total b***h. It’s very sad. The men are the ones who are aggressive and women usually break down after years of this.”
BTW-my comments were not limited to wives of military members or single female military members. The TV serious Desperate Housewives is a hit for a reason and I see no military presence on that show.
I don’t buy into this myth completely as being stated. Yes–there are some men that are aggressive and I will even agree a significant number of these men are supposedly happily married. Although my specialty is closed to women, support positions in the units are not. I have directly supervised females (before I was married and after) and due to my enlisted grade and rank I was deployed Detachment Chief on several occasions and also acting first sergeant on those involving other units deploying to a location to form a capability of some sort or another. I know the games that go on and I’ve seen instances of the woman finally caving in, but I’ve seen more instances of the woman advertising availability to the male whether single or married. Both of these instances are of the minority of what I’ve personally become aware of in the performance of my duties in the population of military members deployed.
I also disagree that many female military purposely get pregnant AND subsequently get abortions to get out of a deployment completely or early. Some do get pregnant for that reason, but most that I have become aware of were accidental pregnancies and I’m not convinced a significant numbers of these pregnancies result in abortions. BTW–you do know a military woman can’t be punished under articles of the UCMJ for having an abortion. However, the personal readiness and medical condition of pregnancy is certainly a concern regarding unit having numbers of trained and equipped persons ready to do its daily operations and missions. Consequently, if inquiry does discover pregnancy and subsequent abortion there will be no speculation about the impact and results of Major’s actions regarding discussion of sexual harassment and impact of pregnancy on combat readiness of a unit.
———DUKE:
There are just a couple of inconsistencies with what you are posting, minor details perhaps, but that doesn’t do much for credibility:
a.. “…The second observation is a petty bureaucratic decision where she kept a group who needed to go off base for volunteer work standing around for 45 mins with drivers idling at the gate…” There are a couple of “gates” at Ganci. One is the “front” gate, or main gate. This gate is guarded.. a parking lot is available for vehicles who will not be allowed onto the post. Once past the “gate” it takes a good trip to get to the second gate which actually gets you to the ‘tent city’. The bus for the tour was probably at the ‘front gate’. Getting there would have taken more than a ‘3 min’ ride.
b. “..The three entrances from the Zum all look alike and the booths alike. The bus station is very near to the Zum…”
The three entrances at ZUM are not alike. One leads out to the main street. One leads out to the side of the building where no street is. The other leads out to another street, but is not as busy as the main street.. Anyone.. going into the bldg would know if they had exited out the ‘wrong door’.
The bus station is on the opposite side of town. It is not close to the ZUM. One would not walk there for sure!!! It’s a good 10 min taxi ride. At the time of day she ‘disappeared’ it would have taken longer.
So, I’m not sure if you are really that familiar with the place, or if you are giving information which was given to you by someone who isn’t familiar with the place, or if you are just not giving accurate information… or any combination thereof..
Duke: You state “unless she was out of her mind”. Well, if, saying IF, she did state the whole bomb in pocket, trance induced note following, beating up captor, the I’d say: “She was out of her mind”. As psychology proves, women who become pregnant who absolutely DO NOT want to be pregnant, the fact it would ruin her career, her marriage, etc…might act “out of her mind” and irrational in order to try and “save herself”. Again, who really knows here, but SOMEONE does and she is NOT talking (or not telling the truth).
Johca: Funny about the TP roll! I have seen many situations where military personnel (Officers and enlisted) do NOT act appropriately in their personal lives to include married or not. It just happens, however, I refuse to say all Officers have the ability to do this, only SOME do. My feeling tells me Metzger is one who would act irrational and inappropriate if given the chance….we will see if they tell us the truth eventually.
No, I think Duke is probably right about the gate thing. I myself waited on several trips for the Personnel people to stamp my magic piece of paper so I could leave the base. And sometimes they were very busy watching a movie, or talking on the phone, or doing their email. So it is entirely possible that Maj Metzger could have kept the group waiting.
Also, when I was there, you got one driver to take you to the front gate, where they dropped you, and another, totally separate driver, picked you up, OUTSIDE THE MAIN GATE, to take you downtown. That way, they didn’t have to search the vehicles to bring them back onto base.
None of this means anything, anyway. Doesn’t answer the question of “What happened?”
Oh, and while I was there, heard rumors of people doing it in porta-potties and offices at night. There was also the story of one guy who snuck a girl into his room in a garbage bag, but when confronted with an NCO, the girl freaked and fell out of the bag. Busted. I’m sure it was just rumor.
“All the speculation is fascinating, but none of this makes any sense.” The strange and unexplained things people do seldom make sense.”
I have thought it was an abortion/affair since I heard it on the news at the beginning and heard that she had only been married for ten days before deploying and was due to leave to go home to this spouse in a couple of days. It is interesting that something, someone or most likely, Jill caused a disruption so that she did not go home with her group but shows up after she was supposed to have left. Great timing.
When a woman finds herself pregnant and she doesn’t want to be…she will steal money to pay for an abortion, lie to the people she loves, and do ANYTHING it takes to preserve her life as she knows it. Maybe Jill felt she was trying to save her marriage. Preserve her reputation, what mommy and dad thought of her. Getting an abortion in a dirty clinic would seem like not such a big deal if you can make certain you can safeguard your honor and integrity. We know this didn’t turn out as she would have liked if she did in fact sneak off to have an abortion but women will do whatever it takes when they are desperate and don’t see any other options. I think Jill was desperate. Why else would she put it all on the line?
I’ve seen women take a bus from NY to Kansas without a ticket home because that is where they could get a termination so late in their pregnancy. I’ve seen a woman in the emergency room who had tried to give herself an abortion and perforated her uterus and bled to death. A woman distraught because she had tried for years to get pregnant only to have an affair and get pregnant by her paramour and secretly terminate the pregnancy. My point being that during a time of crisis it is difficult to see beyond the self and see beyond solving the problem that is creating the crisis. It is difficult to see consequences for the actions involved in solving the problem. I think that none of it makes any sense to us because we can’t wrap our minds around the irrational when we are thinking rationally.
I like the July 4th impropriety theory. You are right on top of that, Deb!
Lying to the world about being abducted should not be tolerated and I think we should be given more info. I started my letter writing campaign and have been writing to the news agencies inquiring about the lack of reporting on this.
Wizbang Blogger is right that I am not familiar with the Zum. This is second hand information actually from my husband who probably got it wrong. I am just repeating what I was told.
Wizbang blogger might be right about the gate thing as well. I didn’t see the first comment because I thought it was my own words being quoted. Sorry. No, it should have taken only three mins to do the inspection of the volunteers by Major Metzger and she made them wait for almost an hour with taxis running. That’s what is so weird about this, Metzger was in charge of making sure people weren’t taking risks with clothing and other things before they left. She’s the one who totally messes up. This seems out of character for someone who took her job as seriously as she did. She was a pretty nice person though and very helpful to a fault in another situation I am aware of. Her jeans were baggy on her because she was so skinny, it’s conceivable that they were loose enough to have something slipped in there. They sell a lot of cologne at the Zum, perhaps someone put a cologne bottle in there and fooled her not thinking that it would actually work. Then they got her and couldn’t figure out what to do and let her go after roughing her up, dying her hair and whatever other evil lurks in the hearts of others. The Kyrgys have a lot of reckless alcoholism and shady behavior in their past. Just speculation.
Duke: “The Kyrgys have a lot of reckless alcoholism and shady behavior in their past.”
I won’t even TOUCH the inaccuracy or politically incorrectness of this statement. I will simply say that you can replace “Kyrgys” with “Jill Metzger” and the statement will no longer be false.
She would not have gone to Germany to get an abortion because 1. She would have had to schedule her own flight from Germany to the States differently from the one her squadron was taking. This would have needed explanation for what she would be doing in Germany since Transportation would have to amend her orders. 2. She was scheduled to run the marathon and then go immediately on her honeymoon. She had no time in transit for an abortion, especially when Mommy and Daddy are so controlling of her every move.
I can see the marine thing and I can verify that Jill is a ditz…the worst kind because she thinks she is smart.
Also, if she had been abducted the AF would have said so by now.
And other thing about the “MARINES” thing… there are no Marines on Ganci per se..(I could be wrong, but I’ve been on Ganci and didn’t see any) I believe that the only Marines there are at the Embassy.. which is a 30-45 min taxi ride into the city.
Nevertheless.. It would lend to the thing of a “one nighter” since the Marines don’t live on Ganci.
Just throwing out more stuff….
CO: BINGO, “if she were abducted the AF would have said so by now”. I TOTALLY AGREE.
I have nothing against any military branch, but offer the personal experience of being deployed and having a VERY aggressive Marine make a sexual move while at a social event. Walking to a bathroom no less around the corner from the Officer’s Club bar. It is very possibled that someone of Jill’s status and athletic prowess would be a “trophy” score for a Marine over there. I did not give in to this Marine and basically put him back into his place, however, it happens in every branch of military at social functions often. I have had this happen on several occasion. Women in the military do get approached while deployed – often. Just the way it is. Perhaps Jill, while having a few drinks, could not resist the temptation of one of the Marine’s she was “flirting with”…..Yes, sticking to the abortion theory! Regardless of what REALLY did happen. I wish someone would say something. I am glad to see the new posts today -offers huge insight into the possibilities. Ok, now, some more pieces to my puzzle here. Let’s see, like the game of CLUE: Jill did it, in a porta potti, with a Marine, wait, I don’t have a motive yet….unless, of course, just plain aroused….now, the other part of the game: Jill left the Tsum, with a bag, had an abortion at the clinic, dyed her hair, etc….yes, just like the game of CLUE…..
Deb: Just like in Clue-She realized she had to leave the store and get the abortion because she had terrible morning sickness and fatigue and could not get back to the states to have her procedure done…even IF there was a way to pull it off when she got back home. She had a marathon to run and perhaps she would have given herself away that she WAS NOT OK if she could not compete due to the fatigue, etc. She dyed her own hair and unfortunately the dye does not come with neat little gloves like it does here in the US and she stained her hands. Too late for Jill when it wouldn’t come out of her hands. I wonder what her husband thinks?
The latest on Jill Metzger:
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=40351
Zubin
The latest from stars and stripes
http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=40351
Julie: LOL, those neat little gloves….what was she thinking? Hate when that happens…
Zubin: Well, seems like a lot more than just us folks on this site are are miffed at the lack of saying SOMETHING, ANYTHING….this is going to be interesting. Gosh, it has her going back to work in October. Perhaps she kept those lies to herself and the military truly does not know anything yet until they do their investigation. Oh boy – looking forward to A REPORT eventually.
Did anyone else catch this:
“What happened that night … that’s an unknown right now,” said Capt. Anna Carpenter, base spokeswoman. “Was it against her will or by her will? If was against her will, was she targeted because she’s a woman, or a western woman, or because she’s in the military?”
The last time Anna Carpenter was quoted, she said that Jill WAS abducted. Now she is saying hmmm…was it her will, or against. We don’t know!
Also, the headline was a bit negative…it might as well said:
“Thanks to that slut Metzger, Airmen at Manas are now constricted to base”
The article states the investigation is being “now being handled by the U.S. Justice Department” which doesn’t surprise me. Certainly takes any speculation she was doing a sanctioned clandestine or covert operation out of the picture. It also explains the Air Forces silence ion this as it takes AF OSI out of the inquiry picture also.
Although I knew the installation and deployed military personnel were at Manas Air Force Base were there supporting the Afghanistan Campaign, I didn’t know “imminent danger pay” she might in fact be eligible for maximum in time of war punishment.
There Air Force will have some serious damage control and perhaps collateral damage to a few other careers by the time this is over, especially if she was sleeping around with lots of her superiors in her chain of command.
A cut and paste from my 20 Sept post:
“The base commander and the military lacks jurisdiction outside of the installation unless a designated area of military operations is declared. Jurisdiction for responsibility for dealing with situations is the U.S. Ambassador and Embassy in country. Military jurisdiction and authority to act is limited by Status of Forces Agreement (If one is in place) or other agreements, or declaration of area and period of military operations (this typical means combat operations of some sort, but here can be other reasons, but I also doubt the Major’s adduction was sufficient).
…
Regarding the need to get her out of country fast I can make a great speculative argument that it was done so AF and OSI would be doing the inquiry rather than the U.S. Embassy, State Department, and some other Federal Law Enforcement agency.”
AND a cut and paste from my 24 Sept post:
Since this is a time of war (Global War on Terrorism) it is perhaps fortunate for the Major that she was not deployed into a Theater of War, Theater of Operations, Joint Special Operations Area, or combat zone as this allows avoidance of a Courts-Martial considering the imposing of maximum “in time of war” punishment where AWOL, missing movement, and other offenses may result in punishable by death conviction.
Guess she didn’t go on her honeymoon, either. Says she is taking leave with family. What about the Jet Skis and romantic dinners???? Pooooor Jilly Willy.
Well…
Just googled “Metzger Mystery” under google news.. except for the S&S article…NOTHING!
Johca pretty well outlines what the legal implications are and how it will effect the process not that Jill Metzger is back on the block..
With this much ‘leave time’ the story should pretty much be solidified by the time she returns to duty. I’m not sure that I would have allowed leave, as that implies that she’s “OK” from a personnel actions perspective. In other words.. Leave is a ‘favorable action’ – or isn’t it? I’m thinking she should have started the question and answer session right from the start.
If an E-0 had been involved in something like this, he/she would have been restricted to the barracks/dorms until all was cleared up!!!!
Yesterday, USAF’s KC-135 Stratotanker collided with Kyrgyz Tu-154 passenger aircraft on runway. (KC-135 Stratotanker pilot’s fault). KC-135 exploded.
Kyrgyz Tu-154 passenger aircraft has damages.
Do not know what happened to passengers.
It’s just on news. The road Bishkek-Manas Airport has been closed.
http://www.izvestia.ru/news/news116342/
Just a month ago, US fuel truck ran into Kyrgyz Tu-154 passenger aircraft. The US driver allegedly was drunk. USAF whisked driver away to Germany.
Just a few months ago, Stratotankers dumped fuel near Bishkek in emergency. (80-100 tons each). Hmmm, US side refused to pay damages to ecology.
Hm, couple of weeks ago Jill Metzger came up with looney tunes.
What’s going on? US airbase in Kyrgyzstan seems to have bad spell on it. Just amazing, that all that is happening at once when Kyrgyz Govt asked US Govt for payment increase for airspace and ground facilities. Actually, US has refused to pay up to demands.
(Uzbekistan is threatening Kyrgystan that if Kyrgyz Govt is to let to stay US airbase any longer, Kyrgyzstan will face increase in prices for our natural gas supplies from Uzbekistan.) It’s all suspicious.
Kuba… It may be that we just are reading the wron news, but Reuters indicates that the Kyrgyz plane struck the US Military cargo plane.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26256875.htm
“BISHKEK, Sept 26 (Reuters) – A Kyrgyz passenger plane hit a U.S. military cargo plane and smashed off part of its wing before taking off at Bishkek airport on Tuesday night, a Kyrgyz government source told Reuters. No one was injured.
The Kyrgyzstan Airlines Russian-made TU-154 aircraft, with 52 passengers and 9 crew on board, ripped off about 2.5 metres (8 feet) of its wing when it collided with a U.S. C-130 Hercules cargo plane during take-off at about 2200 local time (1600 GMT).”
I am surprised and curious by two things in that Stars n Stripes article from Bagram:
1. It seems odd that the base spokeswoman from Manas would say ANYTHING even vaguely negative about MAJ Metzger if people have indeed been threatened with loss of career for leaking info about her. To say “Whether she left against her will or by her own will” is pretty accusatory. Usually the spokespeople just say something unrevealing, like “the investigation is ongoing and we are confident answers will be forthcoming”. The sentiments against MAJ Metzger must be pretty high on base for the base spokeswoman to say something like that, and it must be pretty common knowledge there that she may NOT have been abducted.
2. I am curious about the comment that “it seems out of the way” for MAJ Metzger to have been sent to Bagram AB first before she went on to Landstuhl. I looked up the military hospital in Bagram, it’s big. They have OB/GYN services, even a NICU, and treat a lot of Afghans. I think it’s very likely she was sent there for the OB/GYN services, which would have been rudimentary at Manas. Whether she was a kidnapping victim OR whether she ‘fessed up to an abortion OR whether she just mentioned heavy bleeding, they would have wanted to get an evaluation ASAP– quicker than it would take to get to Germany. Particularly for a rape exam, if she was claiming that as part of her kidnapping story, they’d want to collect the materials a soon as possible.
It doesn’t really help to unravel the mystery, because I think they’d have sent her to the big CENTCOM OB/GYN center no matter what she was claiming, but I’m guessing she went to Bagram in Afghanistan for OB/GYN exam which had to be done soon after her reappearance, and then she went on to Landstuhl for the “debriefing” and further treatment.
We have different local info. (Do not trust much Western media after Jill Metger’s affair).
US Stratotanker KC 135′ has mistakenly landed on the wrong runway.
Kyrgyz TU-154 with 52 passengers on board tried to avoid imminent collision (it gained already speed for take off), but hit KC135 with wing.
Kyrgyz TU-154 took off with one wing, made a circle, and landed in emergency with one wing!!!! Huge experience and soviet pilot schooling of Kyrgyz pilot Bolot Medetbekov prevented deaths of 52 passengers.
I used to see drunken personnell from US airbase nearly every evening buying tons of alcohol and buying off the streets local prostitutes in Bishkek. No wonders, that this would’ve eventually happened. Guess, this case should put an strict orders on US military personnell and ther behaviour. This is not some sort of summer resort drink bonanza.
It’s about performing military duties.
There were even several mass punch-ups in local discos between Kyrgyz lads and drunken US soldiers.
I do not know what are the practices in US to keep an order amongst militaries, but these kind of things used to be controlled by Soviet Military police by patrolling the streets in USSR.
Kyrgyz TU-154 took off with one wing, made a circle, and landed in emergency with one wing!!!!
Weight and balance, physics of the torque at where remaining wing joins with fuselage not to mention loss of control surface to make a controlled turn and a landing make it very unbelievable only one wing remained. Such foolish exagerations put your creditability and motivation into question.
Regardless of the source it is beyond question a part of one wing was broken off.
Well, this indeed happened, Kyrgyz civilian aircraft did land one wing ripped off (8 meters of it)!!! Thanks to USSR pilot schooling!!!
Pilot Bolot Medetbekov deserved due honors.
How happened that Kc 135 landed on civilian runway?
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26256875.htm
BISHKEK, Sept 26 (Reuters) – A Kyrgyz passenger plane hit a U.S. military cargo plane and smashed off part of its wing before taking off at Bishkek airport on Tuesday night, a Kyrgyz government source told Reuters. No one was injured.
The Kyrgyzstan Airlines Russian-made TU-154 aircraft, with 52 passengers and 9 crew on board, ripped off about 2.5 metres (8 feet) of its wing when it collided with a U.S. C-130 Hercules cargo plane during take-off at about 2200 local time (1600 GMT).
The Kyrgyz plane reached an altitude of about 200 metres and circled once before returning to land at Manas airport, northwest of Bishkek, said the official who is taking part in an investigation into the incident.
The U.S. cargo plane had been trying to turn off the runway when the collision took place. Its wing caught fire but firefighters extinguished the blaze.
The United States has an airbase at the airport that it uses to support operations in Afghanistan. The U.S. airbase declined to comment on the incident.
Local news sources are talink about US KC 135 aircraft.
Western media is talking about C130 Hercules type aircraft.
Hmmmm. Lost in translation case again?
Эгемберди Мырзабеков: Выяснением причин ЧП в аэропорту «Манас» будет заниматься правительственная комиссия
27/09-2006 08:50, Бишкек – ИА «24.kg»
«Выяснением причин столкновения пассажирского авиалайнера и американского самолета-заправщика КС-135, числящегося за военной авиабазой «Манас», дислоцированной в международном аэропорту столицы Кыргызстана, будет заниматься правительственная комиссия», – заявил сегодня ИА «24.kg» президент Открытого акционерного общества «Международный аэропорт «Манас» Эгемберди Мырзабеков.
Сразу после ЧП по факту летного происшествия создана следственная комиссия и специальная комиссия Департамента гражданской авиации.
По словам Эгемберди Мырзабекова, вчера поздно вечером столкнулись два борта – самолет Ту-154, принадлежащий авиакомпании «Кыргызстан», созданной на базе ранее действующей «Алтын эйр», и американский заправщик военной авиабазы «Манас». Сейчас все руководство аэропорта, авиакомпаний Кыргызстана, а также представители американской военной базы находятся на летном поле, непосредственно на месте аварии.
Президент международного аэропорта «Манас» сообщает, что вся информация будет дана журналистам в Департаменте гражданской авиации.
Происшествие с самолетом Ту-154, осуществлявшим рейс Бишкек – Ош – Москва, произошло около 22.00. Самолет, на борту которого находились 52 пассажира и девять членов экипажа, совершал взлет.
По некоторым данным, несколькими минутами ранее на взлетно-посадочную полосу приземлился американский самолет-топливозаправщик. Пока остаются неизвестными причины столкновения двух бортов.
В аэропорту «Манас» сообщают, что пока взлеты и посадка ранее запланированных рейсов откладываются. Аэропорт остается закрытым.
URL: http://www.24.kg/community/2006/09/27/7472.html
“To say “Whether she left against her will or by her own will” is pretty accusatory.”
Not really, it only acknowledges possibilities and gives ability to go either way when the facts are determined without committing to either possibility or any possibilities. The statement doesn’t suggest certainly-so she staged her own abduction and avoids this accusation by only suggesting she might have become a victim out of ignorance or negligence. Especially when followed by statement that policy and procedure are being reviewed to ensure stupid persons don’t do stupid things to cause them to be abducted.