Have We Forgotten the Meaning of the Word Treason?

I believe that many of you out there in Ricochetland remember the infamous John Anthony Walker. From 1967 to 1985, he was a Soviet spy who used his position as a Chief Warrant Officer in the US Navy to pass along to the Soviets more than one million encrypted naval messages. According to then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, the information that Walker provided to Moscow allowed the Soviets "access to weapons and sensor data and naval tactics, terrorist threats, and surface, submarine and airborne training, readiness and tactics."

Along with his brothers in treachery, Aldrich Ames (CIA) and Robert Hanssen (FBI), Walker was able to escape a possible death sentence by making a plea bargain in which he provided the details of his espionage activities.

Fast forward to today and we see that we have a new crop of traitors (the below list is far from inclusive):

An Army Sergeant and Intelligence Analyst Korbein Schultz who, in return for $42,000.00, provided the Chinese government with Top Secret data which included Air Force Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (otherwise known as TTP). Just as an added bonus, he included Top Secret data on the F-22 Raptor, military rescue helicopters, US ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons.

A former Army Sergeant, Joseph Daniel Schmidt, attempted to sell the Chinese classified information, using a device he kept after he left the Army that gave him access to secure military networks.

A sailor from the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, Jinchao Wei (a naturalized citizen), communicated with a Chinese intelligence officer to turn over technical manuals on defensive weapons, damage control systems, power, steering and flight deck operations. The amount of money he was paid was not disclosed.

Another sailor (and naturalized citizen), Wenheng Zhao, turned over to his Chinese handler electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system stationed on a Navy base in Okinawa. Like Wei, the amount of money he was paid was not disclosed.

This is not the first time in recent history that we've been faced with traitors in the ranks. During the Cold War, the most prolific were: James W. Hall III (Warrant Officer, Army), George Trofimoff (Colonel, Army) and Clayton J. Lonetree (Corporal, Marines) (Note: Lonetree might have been the least guilty of the three; being the object of a "honey trap" by the Soviets.)

However, given that over 3.5 million troops were serving during the Cold War compared to the 1.4 million that are serving today, I believe that the problem might be greater.

I don't pretend to know why. However, I keep asking myself, "What sort of troops are we recruiting?" When Sgt. Schultz met up with a contact that he thought was working for the CCP, he confided that, "He wished he could be Jason Bourne." Is that who we are recruiting? A force of Walter Mittys? How in the world could this individual (who is clearly living a fantasy life) receive a security clearance?

Another thing I ask myself: How does this country recruit, for military duty, ethnic Chinese without giving away even more of our secrets? Yeah, yeah, we're not supposed to profile, but can we afford not to?

I ask myself for the 1000th time, "Why does the government make it so easy to commit espionage?" How does an Army Buck Sergeant get access to Air Force secrets? How were the two sailors I mentioned able to commit espionage for nearly two years before being caught?

Finally, why does this current crop of turncoats receive such relatively light sentences? The Army warrant officer that I mentioned (above) received a 40 year sentence and was released after 22. The Army colonel received a life sentence and died in prison. The Marine corporal received a 30 year sentence which was reduced to 15 and then 9 when it was found that he was not totally to blame.

Today, sentences for espionage are so low that they are almost, well, criminal. Just as an example, the Navy petty officer (Wenheng Zhao) that I mentioned above was given a sentence of 27 months in prison. 27 MONTHS for espionage?

And, perhaps that is the problem; which leads me back to a class that I attended shortly after the Twin Towers fell. That counterintelligence class was taught by a crusty old, highly opinionated Chief Master Sergeant. On the last day he told us to close our books and not write down what he was about to say.

He recounted the story John Anthony Walker and I'll never forget his final words to the class, "Walker should have been shot. There was no need to cut a deal with him. We already knew he had severely damaged this country. Instead he should have been promptly executed. And we should have filmed the entire execution; start to finish. Then we should show that execution to each class of soldiers/sailors/airmen and marines who will be handling classified information. It's one thing to mishandle classified information; it's quite another to sell it to our enemies."

That might not be a bad idea.