UT UT - Spc. Joseph Michael Bushling, 26, Dugway, 8 May 2011

[laytonian]

I have a couple of odd questions that we can't really answer at this time but I'm wondering if:

1. He actually had orders to go into the Active Nurses Corps Program? Or if he did have orders and they were either amended or canceled or just didn't get them? Not making a judgement call on him. Just curious. I know it's being reported that he had them but that's what his dad knows, his chain of command and/or the PA spokesperson at the instillation he was currently assigned at hasn't spoken about this in particular (if so I missed it).

"(Kevin Bushling) said his son had just re-enlisted for another five years in the Army and was in his final days at Dugway before starting a new assignment at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where he planned to become a licensed nurse."
MSM Source: The Republic.

I can find no formal statements from the Army, in that regard.
You might be on the same track as I am?

2. This might be answerable do we know who he was assigned to in Utah? I couldn't find it when I scanned back through the articles. Do they anticipate movement in the next year or so that might have caused Joseph's orders to have been amended? This does happen if the losing company, BN etc...can't afford to lose the particular postion that Joseph held. They will just delay his incoming assignment until a later date. No biggie happens all the time, he still would have gotten to go to his next assignment just at a later date.

I want to know what his friends have to say about this---and we just haven't heard from them all. I know that he and his Dad were close but my experience is that my adult children will talk to me about certain things but that their friends are far more privvy to their daily activities than I am...KWIM? I'm that way too with my parents. JMHO.

He's out there somewhere. Either still in the desert or he did go AWOL. I'll still be thinking of him and hoping that he still is alive and just decided to leave at the spur of the moment.

All we know, is that he was an ambulance driver for the medical clinic at Dugway. The Army Health Clinic is listed as a tenant, so would be under the command of a larger Army health entity (rather than managed by Dugway itself). Source: Dugway.Army.Mil website

 

[MsFacetious]

The family has contacted Texas Equusearch. They have also been told about Susan's Foundation.

This is a family that is DETERMINED to get something done.

It seems lately we have the families that just kind of sit back and let law enforcement do (or not do) their thing.

Seeing a family angry, fighting and demanding their child be looked for is very refreshing.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000036492145&sk=wall

 

[laytonian]

The family has contacted Texas Equusearch. They have also been told about Susan's Foundation.

This is a family that is DETERMINED to get something done.

It seems lately we have the families that just kind of sit back and let law enforcement do (or not do) their thing.

Seeing a family angry, fighting and demanding their child be looked for is very refreshing.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000036492145&sk=wall

Except....there's a question in the middle of it all: since the father reported that he and Joseph were going to take a road trip to California, why did the father wait almost two weeks to come to Utah?

I think there's lots we don't know, that's not been revealed.

 

[laytonian]

Speaking of lots we don't know:

On the Facebook Page, Uncle Eric makes some interesting comments.

The family is upset that the Dugway police aren't leading the search, and that the Tooele County Sheriff's Office is in charge. (His calling this a "runaround" isn't fair -- because the military can't take jurisdiction over a civilian agency.) The vehicle was found many miles from the military base in Tooele County.

BUT...he next mentions that the military won't talk, due to "HIPPA laws".

As we know, HIPPA applies to patient privacy and not the privacy of employees. If HIPPA applies, there's some kind of medical issue involved with Bushling.

According to HIPPA Rules "The Privacy Rule sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your health information--
With your family, relatives, friends, or others you identify who are involved with your health care or your health care bills, unless you object."

If the Army isn't allowing Joseph's father access to medical records due to HIPPA, it sounds like something may have been going on that Joseph didn't want his father to know about.

Joseph's dad needs to talk to the Chaplain at Dugway. The Chaplain can help smooth the way, even if it means getting the Legal Office involved (and the dad's attorneys) to break the HIPPA lock. That's what the Chaplain is there for: to help the military and their families. If the Bushlings are religious, the counseling may also be helpful.

 

[MsFacetious]

Utah police also stated recently they could not discuss a missing person's case because the person was a MINOR. While the parents were begging for help, obviously consenting to police discussing it, police refused to talk about it.


I don't believe they CAN'T discuss it because of HIPPA.

I believe they think everyone is stupid enough to BELIEVE they cannot.

They also said they didn't know how to contact the Sheriff when he isn't in the office. :innocent:

I could have sworn I saw something about Joe's father talking to the chaplain... because I remember cringing. I don't have time now, but I will try to look later.


The family wants them to call in additional help to search... which they have not. I cannot blame them for wanting that.

At this point, civilian searches are going to start being organized. They are desperate. Just like with Susan Powell and Elizabeth Smart. There is 3,000+ people in Utah who have searched in mountains or the west desert before. It's not like most of them would be going for the first time.

Since the car was not found on base, they cannot prevent people from searching. But it sure would be NICE to have an organized search with trained people leading it. But the trained people are not searching.

They are going to have "wannabes" :banghead: out there searching.


They have said they don't believe he went AWOL.

They have said they don't believe it's foul play.

Well, that leaves accident and suicide... or alien abduction.


So basically they are saying they think he IS out there in the desert, they just aren't going to look for him.

Why?

Do they KNOW he isn't out there? Do they know he can't be found? Do they just not care?

What would make them not look? Because I am the farthest thing from a conspiracy theorist that you can get... but this sure is starting to STINK to me.

They have somewhere to start and they still aren't searching.

His friends, his family, the soldiers and the community are wanting to search. Many people who do not know him.

So why not law enforcement and the military he worked for? :waitasec:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/eric-bushling/latest-news-from-kevinutah-523-1230-pm/224326840911864

 

[laytonian]

Utah police also stated recently they could not discuss a missing person's case because the person was a MINOR. While the parents were begging for help, obviously consenting to police discussing it, police refused to talk about it.

I don't believe they CAN'T discuss it because of HIPPA.

I believe they think everyone is stupid enough to BELIEVE they cannot.

BBM I think that's a bit unfair.

I included the link to HIPPA Rules in my post (below), which I think you're responding to.
What I quoted is directly from HIPPA. You can click on the link and read the whole page. I was just trying to be helpful.

Click here to read the entire page.

Here's the pertinent section:

Who Can Look at and Receive Your Health Information

The Privacy Rule sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your health information

To make sure that your health information is protected in a way that does not interfere with your health care, your information can be used and shared:
•For your treatment and care coordination
•To pay doctors and hospitals for your health care and to help run their businesses
•With your family, relatives, friends, or others you identify who are involved with your health care or your health care bills, unless you object
•To make sure doctors give good care and nursing homes are clean and safe
•To protect the public's health, such as by reporting when the flu is in your area
•To make required reports to the police, such as reporting gunshot wounds

Your health information cannot be used or shared without your written permission unless this law allows it. For example, without your authorization, your provider generally cannot:
•Give your information to your employer
•Use or share your information for marketing or advertising purposes
•Share private notes about your health care​

As you can see, HIPPA prevents the healthcare provider from giving information to the employer AND the patient can object to such information being released to family.

If Bushling wanted to keep a medical condition private from his family, all he had to do was sign the papers to prohibit release of the information. It's already illegal to release private medical information to the general public, searchers, extended family, or those without a direct need to know. Even IF the military has the details of a medical/mental issue, they can't release the information.

 

[sophieness]

BBM I think that's a bit unfair.

I included the link to HIPPA Rules in my post (below), which I think you're responding to.
What I quoted is directly from HIPPA. You can click on the link and read the whole page. I was just trying to be helpful.

Here. I found it again. Click here to read the entire page.

If Bushling wanted to keep a medical condition private from his family, all he had to do was sign the papers to prohibit release of the information. It's already illegal to release private medical information to the general public, searchers, extended family, or those without a direct need to know.

LE does not always have to follow these laws in a situation like this. From the same page:



Who Must Follow These Laws

We call the entities that must follow the HIPAA regulations covered entities.

Covered entities include:

Health Plans, including health insurance companies, HMOs, company health plans, and certain government programs that pay for health care, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Most Health Care Providers—those that conduct certain business electronically, such as electronically billing your health insurance—including most doctors, clinics, hospitals, psychologists, chiropractors, nursing homes, pharmacies, and dentists.

Health Care Clearinghouses—entities that process nonstandard health information they receive from another entity into a standard (i.e., standard electronic format or data content), or vice versa.

Hide Details


Who Is Not Required to Follow These Laws

Many organizations that have health information about you do not have to follow these laws.

Examples of organizations that do not have to follow the Privacy and Security Rules include:

life insurers,
employers,
workers compensation carriers,
many schools and school districts,
many state agencies like child protective service agencies,
many law enforcement agencies,
many municipal offices.

 

[Kat]

LE is the one that isn't speaking to the family from my understanding. Civilian LE is in charge of the investigation.

The military did send out ground searches and they used helicopters and drones (it's in one of the articles backthread.

What questions were presented to the military POC that the military POC had to respond in a way as to not violate "Hippa laws"? Or was he stating because of the "Privacy Act"?

The privacy act can be circumvented by the freedom of information act but the military is not the investigating agency and would not have the information that the family is looking for, all they would have would be the documentation of their searches for him. I don't even know if they could request a nondeceased military members medical records through the freedom of information act. I think that would take court.

The onus of this lies with the civilian agency. The military does not have jurisdiction in this case. JMHO.

This is what I think they are talking about it is the Army's Privacy Act that includes how the medical records are handled:


http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/R340_21.PDF
page 7 of PDF page three of doc, right hand side of page half way down entitled Chapter 3. This is not open for interpretation by anyone except the JAG offices on each instillation who in turn get their interpetations from DOA.

This might look like a coverup but I don't think it is. I have never served myself but I have been an Army wife for almost 2 decades and am now an Army Mom. I do feel deeply for this family and I meant it when I said Joe has a place in my heart. I do think something is off here but I think it's with the civilian LE investigating. They need to call someone in JMHO.

 

[Sandman799]

So ok I've read through this entire thing here and you guys are getting a lot of stuff wrong especially whoever said he was driving an ambulance is very wrong and there are professional groups searching for the American Soldier he was in a car, he called a friend to meet him at the Dugway gate and should have only taking him a half hour but he lost his shoes which were flip flops so he took his jacket or shirt and wrapped and tied them to his feet because he couldn't walk out there without foot protection...! There are some very very strange things going on here that the general public does not know, and I'm guessing his family doesn't know either..

Who cares about HIPPA? It has nothing to do with his medical records fir gods sake people HE'S MISSING UNDER VERY MYSTERIOUS CONDITIONS AND THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON AND NOT HIS MEDICAL RECORDS AND HIS PCS AND SCHOOL IN TEXAS AND WHEREVER ELSE!!! we need to focus on the fact an American soldier is missing under strange circumstances, he had been in a car and it was somewhere it should not have been and most quads and four wheel drives can barely get to where this little car was at so how did it get there when there's no way in hell he could have driven it there???

Again we need to concentrate finding him alive or dead and that's the only way were ever going to possibly know what happened and someone above mentioned a few possibilities and one of the two possibilities would be alien abduction and something else but it could be that it's not probable but is it possible? Even some if the Tooele Sherrifs Posse search and rescue members are scratching their heads because nothing is adding up and it just doesn't seem right

There were a few bumbles with this case but we won't point fingers but there was some evidence that might have been lost or contaminated and screwed up but even that doesn't have a whole lot of bearing on where he's at, it might have told them what happened up to the point he left the vehicle but it's nit like they can use the car like a crystal ball to see where be went....

Anyway he's missing and needs to be found, thus us about finding the kid not where he and his dad were going or where his next duty station was and the road trip!!! None of this stuff has a thing to do with his disappearance!!!!! It's all pretty much irrelevant...... Me and my wife and daughter live in Tooele, I used to work out at dugway as a contractor for the government, dugway is part if Tooele county or close to it because it falls within the boundaries but it's government land... My wife and I are friends with a member of the Sherrifs search and rescue unit and believe me when I tell you that some are thinking there is something very wrong here and nothing adds up or makes any kind of sense whatsoever!!!!! It's a very harsh land out there, well most if Tooele county and surrounding areas are pretty much a desert and it would be hard for anyone to survive without shelter and food and water and even then maybe not..... I've seen people fully stocked and outfitted with food and water and shelter and everything else you would need to survive out here and still end up in trouble by under estimating this area...... So if he's still alive it's a miracle or he's been taken somewhere else? There is a chance he's alive and we just haven't found him yet but with him supposed to have used a shirt or top to cover his bare feet the searchers and trackers should have been able to follow his tracks and yet they haven't found any yet, they also searched all the caves, canyone, ravines and everything else in the area he was supposed to have been in and they know where that is because they found the car he was using... It's like something just swooped down and snatched him up without any signs at all..

I'm thinking of filling the gas tank in my hummer and heading out to look for him because my hummer H2 can go a lot more places ot her four wheel drives can't go, I can't go to places where only a horse can go but I can get pretty close..... Does anyone want to go with and help look for the kid? I'm familiar with the area and know of a few caves and other places that might not have been thought of... I'm ex military so I can do some tracking and maybe see what some others have missed.... However this ends good or bad he needs to be found

Sandman

 

[laytonian]

LE does not always have to follow these laws in a situation like this. From the same page:


Who Is Not Required to Follow These Laws

Many organizations that have health information about you do not have to follow these laws.

Examples of organizations that do not have to follow the Privacy and Security Rules include:

life insurers,
employers,
workers compensation carriers,
many schools and school districts,
many state agencies like child protective service agencies,
many law enforcement agencies,
many municipal offices.

BBM

TRUE, but that's a different category of information obtained in a different way, rather than the complete medical records from the hospital/clinic/provider.

Think of that as the basic information you fill out when you apply for a job, take sick leave, apply for benefits, a form that your doctor fills out that you can return to work after an injury, etc.

 

[dreamweaver]

So ok I've read through this entire thing here and you guys are getting a lot of stuff wrong especially whoever said he was driving an ambulance is very wrong and there are professional groups searching for the American Soldier he was in a car, he called a friend to meet him at the Dugway gate and should have only taking him a half hour but he lost his shoes which were flip flops so he took his jacket or shirt and wrapped and tied them to his feet because he couldn't walk out there without foot protection...! There are some very very strange things going on here that the general public does not know, and I'm guessing his family doesn't know either..

Who cares about HIPPA? It has nothing to do with his medical records fir gods sake people HE'S MISSING UNDER VERY MYSTERIOUS CONDITIONS AND THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON AND NOT HIS MEDICAL RECORDS AND HIS PCS AND SCHOOL IN TEXAS AND WHEREVER ELSE!!! we need to focus on the fact an American soldier is missing under strange circumstances, he had been in a car and it was somewhere it should not have been and most quads and four wheel drives can barely get to where this little car was at so how did it get there when there's no way in hell he could have driven it there???

Again we need to concentrate finding him alive or dead and that's the only way were ever going to possibly know what happened and someone above mentioned a few possibilities and one of the two possibilities would be alien abduction and something else but it could be that it's not probable but is it possible? Even some if the Tooele Sherrifs Posse search and rescue members are scratching their heads because nothing is adding up and it just doesn't seem right

There were a few bumbles with this case but we won't point fingers but there was some evidence that might have been lost or contaminated and screwed up but even that doesn't have a whole lot of bearing on where he's at, it might have told them what happened up to the point he left the vehicle but it's nit like they can use the car like a crystal ball to see where be went....

Anyway he's missing and needs to be found, thus us about finding the kid not where he and his dad were going or where his next duty station was and the road trip!!! None of this stuff has a thing to do with his disappearance!!!!! It's all pretty much irrelevant...... Me and my wife and daughter live in Tooele, I used to work out at dugway as a contractor for the government, dugway is part if Tooele county or close to it because it falls within the boundaries but it's government land... My wife and I are friends with a member of the Sherrifs search and rescue unit and believe me when I tell you that some are thinking there is something very wrong here and nothing adds up or makes any kind of sense whatsoever!!!!! It's a very harsh land out there, well most if Tooele county and surrounding areas are pretty much a desert and it would be hard for anyone to survive without shelter and food and water and even then maybe not..... I've seen people fully stocked and outfitted with food and water and shelter and everything else you would need to survive out here and still end up in trouble by under estimating this area...... So if he's still alive it's a miracle or he's been taken somewhere else? There is a chance he's alive and we just haven't found him yet but with him supposed to have used a shirt or top to cover his bare feet the searchers and trackers should have been able to follow his tracks and yet they haven't found any yet, they also searched all the caves, canyone, ravines and everything else in the area he was supposed to have been in and they know where that is because they found the car he was using... It's like something just swooped down and snatched him up without any signs at all..

I'm thinking of filling the gas tank in my hummer and heading out to look for him because my hummer H2 can go a lot more places ot her four wheel drives can't go, I can't go to places where only a horse can go but I can get pretty close..... Does anyone want to go with and help look for the kid? I'm familiar with the area and know of a few caves and other places that might not have been thought of... I'm ex military so I can do some tracking and maybe see what some others have missed.... However this ends good or bad he needs to be found

Sandman

Sandman: Welcome to WS.

I hear the anger you have about Joseph Bushling's missing person case.

I get frustrated when there is not enough information released and/or incorrect info is out there in the internet.

It's good when a local person comes to WS. It helps get a better feel for the area, for the terrain, for the info that only the locals are hearing.

Is there a sense that he had any enemies?
Have there been other missing people at Dugway?
What could he have witnessed that would make someone want to get rid of him, hide the car?
:wagon:

 

[SuziQ]

Welcome to WS Sandman. I hear and feel your frustration. I hope everyday for some good news.

 

[laytonian]

Quotes from Deseret News, 25 May 2011:

He does not believe his son disappeared on purpose and is in hiding somewhere, though he's heard some in positions of authority over the missing soldier may believe that.

"He just decided to drop out and live off the grid? I'm sorry. I don't believe that. My son is not like that. He went missing on Mother's Day. My wife's birthday was May 16. If he was alive and able to contact us, he would have contacted us," Kevin Bushling said.

"He's out there. In what condition — I'm under no illusion my son's alive. And I don't say that lightly. I don't."

(lots more at the above link)

 

[sophieness]

"I listened to the voice mail that my son left him before the soldier called him back. Joe, he is very distressed in this voice mail, and he said 'Hey I need you to come out here and pick me up. I ran out of gas. I'm really cold. I'm freezing, and I need you to call me back.'"

from same article. before it was asked if he wasn't trying to disappear why he didn't ask his friend to pick him up instead of walking- sounds like he did. but he couldn't get through to him. I don't know why he wouldn't call 911, but he might not have thought his life was in danger at that point and by the time he did the cell was dead.

 

[cocomod]

Quotes from Deseret News, 25 May 2011:

He does not believe his son disappeared on purpose and is in hiding somewhere, though he's heard some in positions of authority over the missing soldier may believe that.

"He just decided to drop out and live off the grid? I'm sorry. I don't believe that. My son is not like that. He went missing on Mother's Day. My wife's birthday was May 16. If he was alive and able to contact us, he would have contacted us," Kevin Bushling said.

"He's out there. In what condition — I'm under no illusion my son's alive. And I don't say that lightly. I don't."

(lots more at the above link)

Wow! Finally, a lot more in this article!

But mostly he's just spent and angry. He feels like a straight-up search for a missing person has been compromised by something. He just doesn't know what.

The car was in a ravine 65 miles south of Dugway's boundaries.

"I listened to the voice mail that my son left him before the soldier called him back. Joe, he is very distressed in this voice mail, and he said 'Hey I need you to come out here and pick me up. I ran out of gas. I'm really cold. I'm freezing, and I need you to call me back.'"


Kevin Bushling said he has been assured the many small desert caves his son could have sought refuge in have been searched. But after half a day in the desert, he said he and his brother found a cave that had blasting caps and a case of dynamite sitting under a piece of burlap. "Now, if those search and rescue people had been out there and searched every cave, how did they miss that?"

Indeed! This case needs to be handled in a more professional manner. At this point, they have already missed key opportunities! With all of the rain in our area, this poor soldier has very little chance of surviving this long - IF he was truly just lost in the desert.

 

[laytonian]

Wow! Finally, a lot more in this article!



Indeed! This case needs to be handled in a more professional manner. At this point, they have already missed key opportunities! With all of the rain in our area, this poor soldier has very little chance of surviving this long - IF he was truly just lost in the desert.

What surprises me, though, is that the Dad didn't stay around to lead such a search. He didn't even come to Utah for two weeks, and then just stayed a few days.

If he's suspicious about how the case is being handled, he needs to get an attorney. Why isn't he publicly asking the Army to state WHY they believe his son has absconded?

 

[laytonian]

"A spokesperson for Tooele County says there is no new information that led to the new search, but they don't want to give up on finding Bushling just yet."

Entire story at this link: Fox 13, Salt Lake City.

 

[laytonian]

From the Appeal-Democrat click here to read.

"(Bushling's father) returned home to Arkansas on Friday. He's not sure if he'll go back.

"It's hot, it's desolate, it's just so vast of an area that's got brush that's about knee-high, you would physically have to have people holding hands to search it effectively," Kevin Bushling said. "You feel like a speck in the middle of the ocean."
​

BBM

That's the problem; it would take thousands and thousands of people to search the desert south of Dugway -- and no one knows WHERE to search. The hat and the car were six miles apart, and who knows where Bushling went from there ... or if he was the car's driver?

So many different versions of his mental state, next assignment, the date(s) of the road trip, etc.

 

[MsFacetious]

Here is the road trip information, he wasn't leaving 3 days after his disappearance, he was leaving 10 days after. This is the first time it's given a DATE for the road trip.

Kevin Bushling was scheduled to pick him up May 18 for a road trip to California and then back to Arkansas before his son started in Texas.

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/utah-107186-dugway-somewhere.html

What surprises me, though, is that the Dad didn't stay around to lead such a search. He didn't even come to Utah for two weeks, and then just stayed a few days.

If he's suspicious about how the case is being handled, he needs to get an attorney. Why isn't he publicly asking the Army to state WHY they believe his son has absconded?

Kevin flew in 10 days after Joe went missing.

Kevin was here for a week.

Kevin flew in on MAY 18. The day he was supposed to meet Joe for the road trip. Makes sense to me, I am guessing he already had a ticket for it.

When you are dealing with the types of things that Kevin had to deal with while he was here... I think he may have reached his limit. If he had lost it that wouldn't have helped the situation.


Just my top three I remember at the moment that infuriated ME.

Sheriff's office "doesn't know how to contact" the Sheriff :waitasec:

Commander never contacting the family when one his soldiers is missing. :banghead:

FBI showing up to destroy explosives, but cannot search for Joe :sick:


"Some in a position of authority" in the Army believing he went AWOL isn't reason to ask the Army to state why they believe Joe went AWOL.

The Army's official statement said they did not believe he went AWOL. They made it pretty clear they thought it was an "accident" where he got lost and died in the desert, or a suicide.


http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/utah-107186-dugway-somewhere.html

Army spokeswoman Paula Thomas said officials have no reason to suspect foul play or that Joe Bushling went absent without leave, or AWOL. They offered no other explanation or comment.


Obviously that official stance on the subject has now changed, as the family has received a letter stating Joe is AWOL and the concern is for his safety.

I do realize that any soldier not where they are supposed to be is considered AWOL.

(Posted Sunday morning)

http://www.facebook.com/JosephBushlingMissingU.S.SoldiersinceMay.8.2011?sk=wall



A spokesperson for Tooele County told a TV station there that no new information had triggered a resumption of the search, but they didn't want to give up on finding the soldier just yet.

"I think it's because of the people I know and people that my family know that are inundating the sheriff's office with telephone calls," Kevin Bushling said.

Wheatland resident Eric Bushling posted on Facebook on Saturday that Dugway-based soldiers said the search provided no new clues. But, he wrote, about 50 trucks with ATVs, driven mostly by Utah residents, went into the desert that morning to look for his nephew.

During Kevin Bushling's seven days in Utah, he was never contacted by the commander of the Dugway base.

Tooele County Search and Rescue told him they scoured every inch of hillside and looked in every nook and cranny of the desert, he said.

Yet when Kevin Bushling went searching on his own, he found dynamite and blasting caps in a cave.

Adding insult to injury, the FBI responded to the location to destroy the explosives even though the agency had said days earlier it could not help search for the missing soldier.

"There is just every kind of story you can think of, every kind of excuse you can think of coming from everyone except my son's friends," Bushling said.

Kevin Bushling said he is grateful to the soldiers and volunteers who helped in the effort. The civil servants and soldiers who knew Joe Bushling want to do everything they can to help, but overhead leaders are dissuading them from doing so, he said.

"I thought the Army was kind of like an attitude of 'no soldier left behind,'" he said.

"Now I find out that a soldier is thought less of than a piece of equipment."

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/utah-107186-dugway-somewhere.html

 

[laytonian]

Bushling's father has given some statements to the press, that have either been confused or are just plain confusing.

Source: [URL="http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/157699/2/Father-flying-to-Utah-to-find-missing-soldier-son']todaysthv.com[/URL]

"Bushling doesn't believe for one second his son went AWOL. He had a flight the next day to Colorado for out processing and after that, he was on his way to become a nurse in the military."

further down in the same article:

"They were supposed to drive back to Arkansas together and Joseph was scheduled to be at Camp Sam Houston in San Antonio on June 30."​

Here's where I'm confused:

May 8: goes missing
May 9: supposed to fly to Colorado for out-processing, then to Texas.
May 18: father had made reservations a month before, to fly to SLC, to pick Joe up for road trip (source: in article I posted today, down thread)

Once you outprocess from a military base, you are no longer attached to that base. You "clear quarters", close out your medical records, and "clear the base". It's a very formal process. You don't just go back and sit in the barracks and wait. It's no longer your room. By leaving Dugway to outprocess in Fort Carson, he'd no longer be assigned to either place.

Where did Bushling plan to be, after his outprocessing in Colorado and when his father was going to fly in on May 18th?

I see that as a legitimate question, which could provide some direction in the case.

Some of the privacy issues that the Army has stated, may answer that question. Too many questions regarding his movements, HIPPA, etc, etc.

I'll put it bluntly: Does the Army really train men who've been on antidepressants "since high school" to be Army nurses, in charge of patients and administering drugs?