BAD DICE: A 22-year-old US Army military policeman, Specialist William Colton Millay, has been formally charged with attempted espionage. According to Reuters, Millay “knowingly making false statements to Army Counterintelligence officials regarding the full scope of his attempts to contact foreign governments and the nature of information he disclosed. He is also accused of soliciting a fellow service member to obtain classified information for the purpose of delivering it to an individual who Millay believed to be a foreign intelligence agent.”
It never ends. Someone will always be stupid enough to try espionage. And we need to constantly be alert to these stupid people doing stupid acts.
Did you know according to Department of Defense Directive on Counterintelligence Awareness and Reporting, DOD military and civilian personnel are on the hook if they fail to report a whole list of “Reportable Foreign Intelligence Contacts, Activities, Indicators, and Behaviors”? Click here to see the entire list.
More info on the case:
U.S. Army soldier charged with attempted espionage (Reuters, 7 November 2011)
Army charges Alaska soldier with attempted espionage (AP, 7 November 2011)
Lawyer: Soldier says he’s innocent of attempted espionage (CNN, 8 November 2011)
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Charges Preferred Against Spc. Millay (Department of Defense, 7 November 2011)
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Nov. 7 – Specialist William Colton Millay, 22, a military policeman assigned to the 164th Military Police Company, 793rd Military Police Battalion, 2nd Engineer Brigade was formally charged today with attempted espionage, failing to obey regulations, issuing false statements, solicitation and communicating defense information.
Millay, of Owensboro, Kentucky, was apprehended Oct. 28 at 6:30 a.m. on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska by Army Counterintelligence Special Agents and Army CID for suspicion of espionage. The charges are in connection with a joint investigation on Spc. Millay by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Army Counterintelligence and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. General nature of charges:
Attempted Espionage: Spc. William C. Millay communicated and transmitted unclassified national defense information to an individual whom he believed was a foreign intelligence agent, with the intent to aid a foreign nation. Millay had access to the information through the course of his normal duties both stateside and on a previous deployment, and although the information was unclassified, Millay believed that it could be used to the advantage of a foreign nation.
Failure to Obey General Regulations:
1. Spc. William C. Millay failed to report multiple contacts with someone he believed to be a foreign intelligence agent as required by Army Regulation 381-12, paragraph 3-1(d).
2. Spc. William C. Millay violated US Army Alaska Regulation 190-1, paragraph W-2b and W-4a by wrongfully concealing and storing two firearms and ammunition in his assigned barracks room.
False Official Statements: Spc. William C. Millay knowingly issued false official statements to Army Counterintelligence officials regarding: (1) the full scope of his attempts to contact foreign governments; and (2) the full nature of information he disclosed to someone whom he believed to be a foreign intelligence agent.
Solicitation: Spc. William C. Millay wrongfully solicited a fellow service-member to obtain classified information and tangible items for the purpose of delivering the materials to an individual whom Millay believed to be a foreign intelligence agent.
Communicating Defense Information: Spc. William C. Millay, having been entrusted with unclassified national defense information that could be used to the advantage of a foreign nation, willfully communicated the information to persons not entitled to receive it.
Millay joined the Army in November 2007, graduated from Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and served in Korea and Fort Stewart, Ga. before being assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in May 2011. Millay has had one combat tour of duty in Iraq from December 2009 to July 2010 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Millay remains in pre-trial confinement at the Anchorage Correctional Complex. The case is under investigation by the Army Counterintelligence and the FBI.
