Free Opening Brief in Support - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1 :04-cv-01453-JJF Document 29-8 Filed 01/18/2006 Page 1 of 3
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT V V
1 FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
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1

E SSGT JASON A. ADKINS, USAF, ) C.A. NO.: 04-1453-JJF
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1 _ Plaintiff, )
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v. ) DEFENDANTS’
1 ) MEMORANDUM OF
DONALD H. RUMSFELD, Secretary of Defense; ) LAW IN SUPPORT OF V
1 JAMES G. ROCHE, Secretary of the Air Force; ) DEFENDANTS’ MOTION
i GEN. JOHN W. HANDY,Commander Air Mobility) TO DISMISS
Command; COL. JOHN I. PRAY, JR., 436th Airlift )
Wing Commander, in their official capacities, ) . » _
)
1 y Defendants. )
` EXHIBIT 7: 1
RESPONSE TO ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER OF REPRIMAND _
FROM SSGT JASON A. ADKINS, DATED OCTOBER 26, 2004 ·
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if ‘ Case 1:04-cv-01453-JJF Document 29-8 Filed 01/18/2006 Page 2 of 3
11/{81/2854 12:55 QE-?B8B3.` 3AS IST l ‘ l l 4 4 , Bl 4 ‘
l V FROM: SSgt JASON A. ADKINS 4 . ` A U C ` ° ` ` Q 4
» _ , i--SUBJECT: Response to ofkepiirnand 4 X , · 4 4 _
l 1. This is in.responsetod1eLe¤er or Reprimsndlreeeived with regardtothe evc¤t;.of2l4 _
i - md mysubsequent DNIF lt is submitted toplace these events in their 4 -
P —pr¤p¢r¤¤i¤¤=¤<¢- · " “ - ‘ ‘ , — l .
’ During the nigln_of20 October 2004and early of 21 October 2004r:l received very
1 . " little rest as s result of rr severe headache. At approximately 1200 on 21 October I ·
i departednty home in Smyrna. DB, to the Bose to visit the Flight Surgeon,-as my ‘
E headache had not Unbeknownst to me at the time, TSgt Miller celled mylhome at _ ‘
r 1245 to inform .rne`l was required toparticipste in s practice launch to take phsceion 22
l October 2004, at 1045, some 22 hours later. He left this information on my answering machine. 4
i - My wtrersnyecurar information to me on my ¤¤11 ph¤¤= ¤t ¤m>r¤¤=i¤¤¤t¢1y 1247- $¢¤¤h§¤§~¤¤¢ ¤% .
i ` . , 1 resehedthe base. _l returned it coll to TSgt,Mil1er at 1250, informing him ofmygntenuon tosee ~
l the Fligle Surgeon with regard-to my headache. I told him that] was of Whstmy _ · _
svsilsliilltyfor the launch the next day would be,_with of being placed in DNIF · _ _
I 4 4 statusbytltedoctor,butthatlwouldnotifyhimassoonllcnewsomethirmg. ‘ 4 · 4
'3. 1 signed irrat the Surgeoifs office st l255. After his examination, he a» i i 4 · A V
·· medicet.ion_forme didindeed DNIF me. -I notified 'l`Sgt Miller immediately. lleft Flight 4 _ »
S\l|’g¢0ll,S office, my mcdicationy repvrwd to mc 3 md gave the Z .
` 4 to ’l`Sgt To reiterate, the moment lrealized that I had an illness was not lilrely to go ‘ Q _
4 · sway onjts owrr, ltoolt steps to seek medical treatment, some 45 minutes bcforel wssfhwsre the · 4 _
prnctice launch scheduled for the next day existed lslso promptly notified=*?l`Sgt of my ` _
° condition when I learned ofthe launch, and did likewise when l lesmccl lwas DNIF. 4 4
[ ` 4. Having recourrtedmy every movech1ringthetimefrarneiriquestion,lfsil toseehowlwss ’ 2 ‘ i
derelict in nrry wsy. lclid not have the ability to predict the onset of my illness, ondrie practice
launch. As such, it was not possiblefor me to provide any more lead time to Millerthsn I
provided. Moreover, I in ready contact with him the I was_·alertcdr¤f the need to
4 V be, as ev·ideneed‘by,the chronology I have laid out, with the 4aid_oftelephonie records for added ' _ ·
i Finally.·sr¤d possibly most disconcerting is your allegation that my fsctions’* ‘· V
[ _ ` and that] "decided" to go DNIF for noneemergerrcy conditions, If by my ` .
y ~ actions yotrare referring to fact that I became ill and decided to seek qualified medical -
l attention, then I as charged I found that to be far more preferable. than taking the risk 4 . i
Â¥ of being to flyon s mission not physically equipped todo so! Sriliiecting Flyers to
i 4 actions forbeing DNIF due to illnesszhas the potential of havinhis and " i .
j ° - · potentislly sffect, causing squadrons members to hesitate in -seeking·rnedical attention _
when they are fit for flying duty, as I was that day as confirmed by the Flight Surgeon. · » i
[ 4 . U 4 Additionally, lmede ho such decision to be DNll’. .It was the doctor's actions, specifically l

Case 1 :04-cv-01453-JJF -
Document 29-8 Filed O1/18/2006 Page 3 of 3 _ _
A U _l1/etréiibé ·12: Ss svvssea gn; IST SGT Y . 4 PAGE A B2 ‘° A
4 ‘ - h rnedicine be prescribed,_that causedme td be Dlilllf. As fer I admit to I ‘ »
I " not being sure what you believe would have constituted an emergency, but it is eienr that what .
` my sgmdddn did constitute-ova n legitimate medical condition, and it is iny sincere ltope that i
A . · is no suspiqion that l somehow faked an illness to avoid participation in a simple mission ·
t which] had no idea existed at the time I decided to seek medical attention. _ . _ g . _
SZ ·It is amy nnderstiinding that those with tlie authority to do so are s _· p
· gr-edtieted, steir-step approach to issuing edministmtion actions. Both Letters of‘Counseling and ·
t Letters of Admonishment are considered lesser forms of correction than _LORs. As such; l-do not ‘ .
understand why l·, with no history of administmive actions, was isstted e LGR for in mst offense, .
- ` V nssurning for argument seke alone that there was an offense to begin Also, as l understand _ `
it; imposition of extre_duties·ns punishment is not permitted outside of nonjudicial or judicial » ._
punishrnem preeeedingshvhich raises it question in my mind about the motivetiorinnd -
" · appropriateness bf my newly reworked duty schedule, the type of which l haveneyer- been ’ g
l ' A Subjeoledto in allrny years of flying, · . ` . U _ ‘ ’ .1 `
I 6. for the rnultitiidejof reasons raised in this response; l would respectfully reqnest that the LOR .
_ ‘ was issued on 22 October 2004 be rescinded. · _ ; · · " ` ` ‘ .
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[ V n · i . ’ ·. ·’ ` ·- JASON A. ADKINS, .SSgtQ USAF · ·
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