From: deputydawg23x@gmail.com   
      
   Chaplain diagnosed with dementia to be booted from Army   
      
   By Kevin Lilley, Staff writer   
   2 days ago   
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   Courtesy of David Sheldon   
   In this photo, Chaplain (Maj.) Joseph Blay awaits a decision from a recent more   
   Facing a board of inquiry, an Army chaplain literally begged for forgiveness,   
   getting on his knees in front of the panel.   
      
   Chaplain (Maj.) Joseph Blay admitted to plagiarism -- taking credit for   
   others' written work -- three times over about a six-month span ending in   
   early 2014. He told the board he was facing significant financial stress and   
   dealing with family medical    
   issues and marital problems, that he was ashamed of his actions and that he'd   
   never done anything similar over a 17-year Army career.   
   What he didn't tell the board, or his lawyer: Five years before the   
   plagiarism, Blay had been diagnosed by Army medical personnel with dementia   
   connected to early onset Alzheimer's disease.   
   Unaware of his condition, the October board of inquiry found the plagiarism   
   allegations were supported and recommended separation from service. While his   
   condition has been made clear to his command since the ruling, appeals to this   
   point have been    
   unsuccessful, and a decision on the matter now rests with the secretary of the   
   Army. Blay's lawyer, David Sheldon, said the major does not yet have a   
   separation date.   
   Meanwhile, a medical evaluation board has recommended Blay receive "permanent   
   disability retirement" -- an option that won't be available if Blay is   
   separated for disciplinary reasons.   
   "Had the show-cause board known of his condition, there would've been no   
   recommendation to separate him," Sheldon said, adding that if the secretary   
   doesn't allow Blay to take medical retirement, he would pursue action via the   
   Board for Correction of    
   Military Records. Federal court could come next.   
   Blay remains attached to the Huntsville, Alabama-based 2nd Recruiting Brigade,   
   but lost his position as brigade chaplain because of the charges.   
   'You wouldn't know there was a problem'   
   Sheldon said his client has trouble connecting his thoughts in some instances   
   can forget something he's just read. His wife, Marian Blay, said she initially   
   attributed some of the changes in her husband's mental state to his deployment   
   to Iraq, which    
   ended in 2007, but that memory issues have continued since.   
   "If you see him on the street, you wouldn't know there was a problem," she   
   said. "But if you live with him, day-to-day, with the details of things,   
   that's where you see something is wrong."   
   Unaware of Blay's diagnosis, Capt. John Sullivan didn't begin work in earnest   
   on the chaplain's case until June 2014. Sullivan said he asked Blay if he had   
   any medical issues. Blay, who for seven years had been having memory problems,   
   said no. Sullivan    
   said there were no signs during their conversations.   
   "Typically, if there's some kind of ... disability or medical impairment, you   
   want to bring that to the attention of the board," said Sullivan, then serving   
   as senior defense counsel at Fort Rucker, Alabama.   
   After the board's decision, Sullivan sent a memo to Maj. Gen. Allen   
   Batschelet, then-head of Army Recruiting Command, that recommended Blay remain   
   in service at least until the 20-year mark or, failing that, offered a   
   potential path to early retirement.    
   The memo was provided by Sheldon to Army Times.   
   Marian Blay also wrote to Batschelet requesting her husband be allowed to   
   remain in service. Her letter also leaves out the chaplain's dementia   
   diagnosis and mental lapses -- details she said she didn't include at the   
   request of her husband, who she said    
   felt including such concerns would reduce his chances at returning to active   
   duty.   
   After preparing his memo, Sullivan said, Blay "came to me ... and said, 'I   
   just remembered that in 2009, I was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's   
   disease and received treatment. No [medical evaluation board] was ever   
   initiated by my unit, but I do    
   have the diagnosis.' "   
   Sullivan had Blay inform his chain of command, including providing documents   
   outlining his diagnosis. The lawyer sent multiple emails to the legal team at   
   2nd Recruiting Brigade notifying them of his client's condition, and was   
   informed that Batschelet    
   would take the new information into consideration before issuing a final   
   ruling.   
   "Given the nature of the misconduct -- it's related to his intellectual   
   capacity, obviously, and his ability to put together a paper, consolidate his   
   thoughts, and so on -- a diagnosis of dementia would've been huge. It would've   
   been incredibly relevant    
   material to present to the board," said Sullivan, now chief of military   
   justice at the U.S. Military Academy.   
   "He'd just completely forgotten about it, I guess. Which, again, could be a   
   result of the dementia."   
   Spokesmen with the Army's G-1 and and with Army Recruiting Command said they   
   would not comment on an ongoing personnel matter, so it is unclear what, if   
   anything, has been changed by the revelation of Blay's condition.   
   'The Army has been good to me'   
   Sullivan called about a dozen character witnesses on Blay's behalf during the   
   show-cause proceedings and said all were eager to offer kind words for the   
   long-serving chaplain. Sheldon provided multiple letters of support along the   
   same lines, as well as    
   glowing evaluations of Blay's service:   
   A major rating Blay in his 2006 performance review called him "the best of   
   nine chaplains I have worked with in my 23 years of military service" and   
   noted his "truly unlimited potential."   
   A colonel who served with Blay in Germany called him "the most respected   
   chaplain in the community" and said soldiers and families would "benefit   
   immensely" if the board allowed him to continue service.   
   The colonel in command of Blay's battalion during his Iraq deployment called   
   him "an energetic, bright and articulate officer" and said the accusations   
   were "uncharacteristic of the Chaplain Blay I know."   
   "I came from Ghana, from a poor family," Blay told Army Times during a phone   
   interview coordinated through his lawyer. "The Army has been good to me. I've   
   been able to do things that I never dreamt I could do, in terms of helping my   
   family back home."   
   The 58-year-old served as a parish priest for seven years before joining the   
   Chaplain Corps, endorsed by the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.   
      
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