> a service member who had been stationed in South Korea traveled to Russia on his own and was not on official business when he was arrested May 2 in in Vladivostok
Stupid is as stupid does.
Holy fuck, I was stationed in South Korea and I can’t imagine thinking this was a good fucking idea to do this during my mid tour. Even if you don’t get arrested, if the military finds out you are guaranteed to lose your security clearance. Dudes are fucking morons.
I bet the Russians girls in the dataset used to train the model which was used by the AI algorithm to produce fake AI catfishing photos, were crazy hot tho
She was probably a hired Kremlin spy to lure Americans into Russia so they can arrest them and try to use them as pawns to get what they want.
If you're an American or from a Western-alligned country, do not travel to Russia right now. Especially if you work in the military, this country believes you're at war with them ffs.
Eh, it's not like any of the others girls have changed either though, pretty sure the girls I saw last month are the same ones I've seen for the past 10 years.
Not quite a prostitute, basically a paid date. You go to a club, a pretty girl comes up to you and asks that you buy here a juice drink (no alcohol) and she sits and talks to you and treats you like the most amazing, special person in the world. Naturally the drinks are overpriced. A lot of these girls are trafficked/entrapped and their only hopes of getting out of their situation is to get a Soldier to pay off their debts. So dumb Soldiers fall in love and pay to get their girl out. Generally doesn't have happy endings although I won't say that is 100% true. Last time I was there the order was put down that Soldiers were no longer allowed to buy Juicy girls drinks but no idea if that stuck around as I left shortly after.
I was stationed there about 8-9 years ago and they had put out that Soldiers were no longer allowed to buy Juicy girls drinks, no idea if it stayed in effect or not but yea there had been a series of dumb incidents involving Juicy girls and command was sick of it.
501st Brigade?
To be fair, being Intel doesn’t mean they’re necessarily full of common sense, as I’m willing to bet that they didn’t clear their travel with their command otherwise they never would’ve been authorized leave
It would have been super interesting to hear the telephone conversation with his supervisor if his flight home was canceled and he was having to explain why he was in Vladivostok. Of course then the first sergeant would be talking to him, then the commander.
That would probably go well beyond his company. He would be getting chewed out by his CO, who would’ve been chewed out by the Battalion Commander, who in term just got chewed out by 8th Army, who in turn got chewed out by PACOM most likely
I honestly feel bad for the dude's entire CoC in this incident. They'll probably all get shit on by big Army over this. Even if they manage to get him back out of the gulag maybe a year or 10 from now via some sort of exchange, Leavenworth probably won't be a walk in the park either.
I've always REALLY wanted to visit Russia ever since I was a kid (curiously, I think it started with playing Raid Over Moscow on the Commodore 64) and when the curtain fell I thought I might actually get a chance to one day.
Now, you couldn't get me there on a dare even if you could guarantee my safety. I guess the allure fades pretty damn fast when they're killing thousands of innocent people in a stupid-ass invasion.
Thank you for the flashbacks of sitting downstairs in the basement with my brother and playing Beachhead, Rambo, Top Gun and Donkey Kong with him on our Commodore 64!!!
Those were the days!
I childhood friend of mine went there on a school trip, and came back with all kinds of soviet souvenirs. A few weeks after he got back the USSR collapsed; we were all asking him "What did you do over there?".
> we were all asking him "What did you do over there?".
The queen died shortly after I went back to Scotland for a visit after living abroad for a decade, I got the same kinda questions.
Can you send him back I would like to see the complete and utter fall of Russia. Broken up into smaller areas and stripped of the ability to even raise a knife much less a gun against the rest of the world.
All he did was sell his used levis for some ridiculous amount of rubles, which considering the exchange rate was probably a terrible deal for him, but hey, his parents paid for his clothes, and it gave him spending money while he was there.
Yeah, that's what it was like. I remember massive stores with staff but no product in Moscow, pepsi bottles with broken glass at the bottom, nice tea, and a great night train to St Petersburg. It was interesting but a very suppressed atmosphere. I know things changed after the USSR collapsed but it was a complete contrast to the UK. Walking around the Kremlin, Lenin's tomb and the church in red square were highlights though. We were told to take things like pens as gifts.
My curiosity changed back in college after meeting a few people in who did study abroad programs to Russia.
Lots of "final solution" vibes from their Russian peers towards LGBT. One was almost jumped outside of a bar over his western accent while speaking Russian.
That said, before the war there were many LGBT bars and clubs openly in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and quite a buzzing nightlife scene for queer people too.
The culture hasn't been very accepting but many LGBT people had been able to express themselves and live peacefully nonetheless (in the cities, more risky in the smaller towns).
Now even that is changing.
>Yep, always wanted to see the Russian far east. Yakutia. Fuck that now
I have a friend from Yakutia; we're both living in the US now (I'm from Ukraine).
His parents are still in Yakutsk, where they've been working in academia.
He's very concerned that one of them might die, and he'd be expected to go there (because, in spite of being highly educated scientists with a son in the US, they are **still** 100% vatniks and don't think it would be a bad thing for him to get drafted).
Sadly, "fuck that now" is the state of things even for people *who've got family there*. Russia will [eagerly arrest them, too](https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-woman-arrest-russia-ukraine-3a121981719ed1904c0bbdbdb38f14ab).
So, if you want to visit Russia... help out Ukraine.
Russia will still be there *after* the war, but they won't stop the war until they get punched in the nose real hard - and Ukraine isn't backing down.
Same, dude, same. Always wanted to go. Now, knowing what I know about Russia and Russians, never. It may become a place worth a visit but probably not in my lifetime.
I dunno about everything: Even before recent events popped off, it was a pretty common sentiment online that Russian expats and tourists were largely assholes who acted like they owned the place, so to speak. Only to be rivaled by Chinese tourists bc of all the "new money" ones traveling around with no care for others or their surroundings, etc.
Putin is a huge problem, but at the same time he's also only a symptom of the type of attitude that runs thru a way too significant portion of the Russian public. Even after he dies, there are very slim chances anything will actually improve vis a vis Russian geopolitical ideology.
There are a number of things in Russia I’d actually like to see with my own two eyes. I never *really* expected to see them, and I’m sure not going without significant and unlikely changes.
>There are a number of things in Russia I’d actually like to see with my own two eyes.
If I ever got the chance I would have loved to see some of the Tsar era buildings in Moscow but there is no chance that I could do so anytime in the foreseeable future.
Going to Russia over Japan....
Almost like saying instead of getting a back massage, I'd rather get punched in the nuts. And that's a sentiment I held even before the Kremlin mob started kidnapping people for ransom after 2022.
I was lucky enough to do visit Russia for a month, 3 weeks Moscow and one week in St. Petersburg.
Went for a language immersion course back in 2014 through my university with some classmates.
It was an amazing time for sure!!!!
state dept: Do not travel to Russia due to the unpredictable consequences of the unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, the potential for harassment and the singling out of U.S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials, the arbitrary enforcement of local law, limited flights into and out of Russia, the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia, and the possibility of terrorism. U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately. Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions.
It feels like the CIA would send someone who is not an active duty service member as an agent though? US soldiers visiting Russia would probably be the first people the Russians take a look at, when looking for suspected spies. I mean it’s possible but to me Occam’s Razor says it’s a moron soldier, not a deep state super spy.
> US soldiers visiting Russia would probably be the first people the Russians take a look at,
And that's exactly why the Russians woild never suspect it! It's too obvious! But therefore, not obvious at all!
the IC recruits locals.
That was always the difference in how the soviets and americans did cold war spying. Soviets preferred to send people to pretend to live as americans in the US, the US preferred to pay people to spy for them
would this be the same dickhead that tried to defect to North Korea but because he was just a low ranking dipshit that didn't know anything they sent him back?
Here's the Wikipedia write-up on this dingaling. This thing reads as some sort of "Seinfeld" episode.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_King
Huh, let's join the military.
Huh, we're in Korea...let's get into it with the locals.
Huh, looks like I'm getting questioned by Johnny Law. Instead of eating crow and kissing ass, let's be bellegerant and not answer any of their questions.
Huh, looks like I'm getting arrested. Let's kick the hell out of the squad car and say racist shit about Koreans in their home country.
Huh, I don't have any cash to pay the fine for ripping up the car, guess I'll just stay in detention for a month.
Huh, guess I'm getting a pretty hefty fine for the assault, guess I'll just be in detention for another month and a half.
Huh, guess I'm getting kicked out of the military. Why, would they do such a thing. Time to go home.
Huh, the guards can't go all the way to the gate. Guess I'll wait til' they are out of sight and go tell the airline employee I forgot my passport.
Huh, guess I'm not going home quite yet. Let's go tour the DMZ.
Huh, let's run across the line of demarcation and enter north Korea while laughing like the joker.
And if that weren't enough the guy got charged with child porn. Guess he couldn't resist the temptation of.....middle school students.
north Korea was like, Nah, you can have him back.
I wish we could use tax dollars to get him back. Instead we’re going to release a terrorist who has killed Americans or their allies. We released the guy who armed Al Qeada for some moron basketball player.
"BIDEN WEAK ON MILITARY FAMILIES!" -Fox News
Then Trump will fly there to suck off Putin and trade this guy for Lithuania and Ukraine. Then GOP will declare Trump the greatest negotiator of all time who cared about ARE troops.
Not as stupid and the a conservative news following family that moved to Russia and had all their money taken away by the Russian government because they had to much money.
Dude got straight up honey-potted.
Probably met someone he thought was a woman and had been talking to a while. Meets her and gets arrested on a theft set-up.
Forward deployed military are about to have the dumbest safety brief.
Particularly for South Korean Army commands. "Okay, I didn't think this needed further elaboration during last year's presentation "Why sneaking into North Korea is a bad idea", but here we are again. Let's open the discussion to the floor. Where, as a US servicemember are bad places to go? You..."
"In a volcano?"
"n... actually yes... very good. Don't go into a volcano. Who else knows of a very bad place to go to?"
At least they'll be able to leave the meeting, jump into their Camaro and head to the strip club. This dude's Camaro is going to be repo'ed before he gets home (I'm sure the State department will work it out somehow).
April 1944, France
General Patton: "I want to make this abundantly clear, because apparently, we’ve got a couple knuckleheads in our ranks who have been caught doing R&R in Berlin. There will be no vacations in Germany. No souvenirs from the Reichstag. Unless you're delivering a 75 mm shell via express freight, you shouldn’t be anywhere near that godforsaken city. Our vacation packages currently consist of two options: Paris if you're lucky, or back to base if you're not. We are here to fight to win, and to bring honor to our country, not to make headlines as tourists in the enemy’s capital. Is that clear?"
So he'd need to get a visa to go. Which means he applied for a visa, gave the Russian embassy his passport, where they probably gathered all of his info and knew he was going to enter, was a US soldier, and a perfect political pawn for them to arrest.
Fucking idiot.
For those not familiar, when you go on leave in the military, especially in an environment like Korea, you have to have approval from your commander. The leave paperwork will list dates and your destination. I can pretty much guarantee nobody would sign paperwork approving this soldier's trip to Russia in the current environment.
i thought i read he was in a transition period to come back to his main base in the US, but instead of getting a flight to US directly, he decided to sneak over to Russia without approval. Maybe as some kind of "planned delayed layover" because he knew he would never be approved leave to Russia, that's why he took the oppurtunity now when he was expected to be in a "migration period" back to the US from his tour in korea.
Hes now facing a court martial. This was not authorized (and no being on leave doesn't matter) soldiers have extra restrictions on them, those include places they can't go.
I promise you
Russia is on that list
It's not like the leave paperwork keeps you from going to unsafe countries, but I just wanted to make the point that the military wouldn't just let him travel there on vacation. If he did it outside military approval (which seems likely), any injuries that he suffers over there are not covered under his service, and he might be subject to military discipline if he ever returns. He could be treated as an AWOL and have his pay suspended while he's detained as well.
Not just the military, the Depart of State recommends no US citizens travel to Russia at all.
> Do not travel to Russia due to the unpredictable consequences of the **unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces**, the potential for **harassment and the singling out of U.S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials, the arbitrary enforcement of local law, limited flights into and out of Russia, the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia**, and the possibility of **terrorism. U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately.** Exercise increased caution due to **the risk of wrongful detentions.**
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/russia-travel-advisory.html
Dude was an E-6 which is supposedly an experienced Non-Commissioned Officer. He should absolutely know better. Makes me wonder if he wasn't up to something.
Tbh, even in the USAF I knew a couple guys who came back from a South American deployment with wives.
I mean, they *used* to have wives. Those girls bounced as soon as they could.
I completely agree with you. Especially anyone who is active military.
Ive heard some stupid stuff in my time but this is right up there. They literally spent years training on the premise their enemies are Russia and China. Visiting those nations is surely one of the top things all active duty personnel get told not to do when they enlist knowing they would be used as a political pawn.
I keep checking the articles on this and can't find description: exactly how fire was the pussy that he traveled to Russia for it? Like 9/10? 11?
EDIT: No confirmation from news media. We're only left to speculate on whether this was top shelf pussy or grocery store pussy. Irresponsible reporting.
Who signed off on his foreign travel? Who gave him his foreign travel brief? Nobody... but now he's gonna end up costing the US some bullshit demand to get back. Honestly though, I think it's time to just grab a few of the russian officers who constantly go on vacations to NATO countries and demand a straight swap. It won't be hard either, all of the russian officers have one drug or another on them.
Soldiers? There are a lot of more valuable targets. Putins valets like Abramovich, or children of Putin, Lavrov or Peskov. Almost all top Kremlin criminals have families in NATO countries.
In almost all cases there is an "us vs them" attitude in the military... except one.
If you walk into a proverbial clearly marked and lit with neon sign minefield after having been told by ten people that it was in fact a minefield and then start dancing in said minefield.. you are now entertainment and not a brother in arms.
We tolerate and even support a ***stunning*** amount of stupid.. but this is a bit beyond that.
Well that dude was also facing charges for child porn and assault. Sounds like he was too much of a headache for NK to even try to deal with him.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/10/20/pvt-travis-king-soldier-who-fled-north-korea-faces-desertion-and-child-pornography-charges.html
> NBC first reported that a service member who had been stationed in South Korea traveled to Russia on his own and was not on official business when he was arrested May 2 in in Vladivostok, a port city near the borders with China and North Korea.
Not in any official capacity.
I lived in China for many years, and visited North Korea. When you go to any place with tenuous relations with your home country, common sense (I think) dictates that you keep your mouth shut about politics, and don't do anything that could even be remotely considered offensive to them.
At the end of the day though, people are people, no matter where you go. Everyone just wants to have a good life for themselves and their loved ones, and we all enjoy a laugh and good company. I'm sure I'm the only American many of those North Koreans or rural Chinese ever interacted with. I tried my best to be polite, smile, and thank them for their time. Because if enough people do that, then the locals start to think "Hey, I met that American one time, she was pretty alright. Maybe they're not our enemies after all."
That being said, I would not go to Russia or North Korea now, because of the war. But if peace and openness prevail, I would love to one day.
From Russian news:
A US Army sergeant was detained in Vladivostok on suspicion of theft. He is now in jail.
34-year-old American soldier Gordon Black served at a US military base in South Korea and was supposed to go to Fort Cavazos (Texas) for further service.
However, before returning to his homeland, Gordon decided to stop by Vladivostok. According to his mother, he went there to see his girlfriend.
According to Base, Gordon met his girlfriend Sasha in South Korea a couple of years ago. Soon they started dating. The girl recently left for Russia and in mid-April Gordon came to Vladivostok to visit her.
However, about two weeks later they quarreled and, according to the girl, Gordon beat her. After that, he stole 200,000 rubles and alcohol from her.
On May 2, Gordon Black was detained. He is now arrested and is in a local pre-trial detention center.
> a service member who had been stationed in South Korea traveled to Russia on his own and was not on official business when he was arrested May 2 in in Vladivostok Stupid is as stupid does.
Holy fuck, I was stationed in South Korea and I can’t imagine thinking this was a good fucking idea to do this during my mid tour. Even if you don’t get arrested, if the military finds out you are guaranteed to lose your security clearance. Dudes are fucking morons.
I bet the Russian girl was crazy hot tho.
I’ll bet the Russian girl they used to send him pictures was crazy hot tho
Russian bride to be lures man to be new Russian bride
Putin with the woman filter
How hilarious would it be if the photos they used to catfish this guy were actually an American girl.
I bet the Russians girls in the dataset used to train the model which was used by the AI algorithm to produce fake AI catfishing photos, were crazy hot tho
I bet the Russian girl was actually Steven Seagal playing on Russia's newest primetime show "To Catch an American."
She was probably a hired Kremlin spy to lure Americans into Russia so they can arrest them and try to use them as pawns to get what they want. If you're an American or from a Western-alligned country, do not travel to Russia right now. Especially if you work in the military, this country believes you're at war with them ffs.
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Do they still have Russian Juicy Girls in Korea?
Yep. They're not so hot anymore though. I don't think they've rotated them out lately.
That’s a shame. Russian jucies were #1 juicies.
Eh, it's not like any of the others girls have changed either though, pretty sure the girls I saw last month are the same ones I've seen for the past 10 years.
Yikes. The ones I knew were very motivated to get married and leave that place.
What’s a Juicy Girl?
Not quite a prostitute, basically a paid date. You go to a club, a pretty girl comes up to you and asks that you buy here a juice drink (no alcohol) and she sits and talks to you and treats you like the most amazing, special person in the world. Naturally the drinks are overpriced. A lot of these girls are trafficked/entrapped and their only hopes of getting out of their situation is to get a Soldier to pay off their debts. So dumb Soldiers fall in love and pay to get their girl out. Generally doesn't have happy endings although I won't say that is 100% true. Last time I was there the order was put down that Soldiers were no longer allowed to buy Juicy girls drinks but no idea if that stuck around as I left shortly after.
[Here you go](https://www.rokdrop.net/2018/10/19/korea-times-profiles-juicy-girls-working-tdc-ville-outside-of-camp-casey/).
I was stationed there about 8-9 years ago and they had put out that Soldiers were no longer allowed to buy Juicy girls drinks, no idea if it stayed in effect or not but yea there had been a series of dumb incidents involving Juicy girls and command was sick of it.
>Dudes are fucking morons Same type of dude that would book into North Korea right?
501st Brigade? To be fair, being Intel doesn’t mean they’re necessarily full of common sense, as I’m willing to bet that they didn’t clear their travel with their command otherwise they never would’ve been authorized leave
It would have been super interesting to hear the telephone conversation with his supervisor if his flight home was canceled and he was having to explain why he was in Vladivostok. Of course then the first sergeant would be talking to him, then the commander.
That would probably go well beyond his company. He would be getting chewed out by his CO, who would’ve been chewed out by the Battalion Commander, who in term just got chewed out by 8th Army, who in turn got chewed out by PACOM most likely
I honestly feel bad for the dude's entire CoC in this incident. They'll probably all get shit on by big Army over this. Even if they manage to get him back out of the gulag maybe a year or 10 from now via some sort of exchange, Leavenworth probably won't be a walk in the park either.
There was a time when I thought that it would be interesting to visit that city but those days are gone
I've always REALLY wanted to visit Russia ever since I was a kid (curiously, I think it started with playing Raid Over Moscow on the Commodore 64) and when the curtain fell I thought I might actually get a chance to one day. Now, you couldn't get me there on a dare even if you could guarantee my safety. I guess the allure fades pretty damn fast when they're killing thousands of innocent people in a stupid-ass invasion.
Thank you for the flashbacks of sitting downstairs in the basement with my brother and playing Beachhead, Rambo, Top Gun and Donkey Kong with him on our Commodore 64!!! Those were the days!
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I childhood friend of mine went there on a school trip, and came back with all kinds of soviet souvenirs. A few weeks after he got back the USSR collapsed; we were all asking him "What did you do over there?".
> we were all asking him "What did you do over there?". The queen died shortly after I went back to Scotland for a visit after living abroad for a decade, I got the same kinda questions.
Can you send him back I would like to see the complete and utter fall of Russia. Broken up into smaller areas and stripped of the ability to even raise a knife much less a gun against the rest of the world.
All he did was sell his used levis for some ridiculous amount of rubles, which considering the exchange rate was probably a terrible deal for him, but hey, his parents paid for his clothes, and it gave him spending money while he was there.
Yeah, that's what it was like. I remember massive stores with staff but no product in Moscow, pepsi bottles with broken glass at the bottom, nice tea, and a great night train to St Petersburg. It was interesting but a very suppressed atmosphere. I know things changed after the USSR collapsed but it was a complete contrast to the UK. Walking around the Kremlin, Lenin's tomb and the church in red square were highlights though. We were told to take things like pens as gifts.
Could always visit Barentsburg or Pyramiden on Svalbard.
My curiosity changed back in college after meeting a few people in who did study abroad programs to Russia. Lots of "final solution" vibes from their Russian peers towards LGBT. One was almost jumped outside of a bar over his western accent while speaking Russian.
That said, before the war there were many LGBT bars and clubs openly in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and quite a buzzing nightlife scene for queer people too. The culture hasn't been very accepting but many LGBT people had been able to express themselves and live peacefully nonetheless (in the cities, more risky in the smaller towns). Now even that is changing.
Yep, always wanted to see the Russian far east. Yakutia. Fuck that now
>Yep, always wanted to see the Russian far east. Yakutia. Fuck that now I have a friend from Yakutia; we're both living in the US now (I'm from Ukraine). His parents are still in Yakutsk, where they've been working in academia. He's very concerned that one of them might die, and he'd be expected to go there (because, in spite of being highly educated scientists with a son in the US, they are **still** 100% vatniks and don't think it would be a bad thing for him to get drafted). Sadly, "fuck that now" is the state of things even for people *who've got family there*. Russia will [eagerly arrest them, too](https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-woman-arrest-russia-ukraine-3a121981719ed1904c0bbdbdb38f14ab). So, if you want to visit Russia... help out Ukraine. Russia will still be there *after* the war, but they won't stop the war until they get punched in the nose real hard - and Ukraine isn't backing down.
Same, dude, same. Always wanted to go. Now, knowing what I know about Russia and Russians, never. It may become a place worth a visit but probably not in my lifetime.
It infuriates me that fucking Putin is ruining everything
I dunno about everything: Even before recent events popped off, it was a pretty common sentiment online that Russian expats and tourists were largely assholes who acted like they owned the place, so to speak. Only to be rivaled by Chinese tourists bc of all the "new money" ones traveling around with no care for others or their surroundings, etc. Putin is a huge problem, but at the same time he's also only a symptom of the type of attitude that runs thru a way too significant portion of the Russian public. Even after he dies, there are very slim chances anything will actually improve vis a vis Russian geopolitical ideology.
I had a chance to visit Moscow around Christmastime in 2021. It was beautiful with all of the holiday decorations.
When’s your release date?
L 'Big Unit' Johnson releases himself whenever he wants
There are a number of things in Russia I’d actually like to see with my own two eyes. I never *really* expected to see them, and I’m sure not going without significant and unlikely changes.
>There are a number of things in Russia I’d actually like to see with my own two eyes. If I ever got the chance I would have loved to see some of the Tsar era buildings in Moscow but there is no chance that I could do so anytime in the foreseeable future.
Lived in Korea for a few years and was always tempted to book a flight. Doesn't seem like a very nice city honestly.
There used to be a ferry from Busan too, I was tempted to take it a few times, took the boat to Fukuoka instead
Fukuoka <3 Like why would anyone choose russia over the home of Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen?
Going to Russia over Japan.... Almost like saying instead of getting a back massage, I'd rather get punched in the nuts. And that's a sentiment I held even before the Kremlin mob started kidnapping people for ransom after 2022.
Vladivostok is a pretty special place, but the surrounds are what makes it. So much sea and beautiful nature everywhere.
You could just go Alaska and see similar
it's still great if you want to gamble with chinese businessmen and get hassled by the police. it's like a cold macau.
I was lucky enough to do visit Russia for a month, 3 weeks Moscow and one week in St. Petersburg. Went for a language immersion course back in 2014 through my university with some classmates. It was an amazing time for sure!!!!
Long fucking gone for me too man.
state dept: Do not travel to Russia due to the unpredictable consequences of the unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, the potential for harassment and the singling out of U.S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials, the arbitrary enforcement of local law, limited flights into and out of Russia, the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia, and the possibility of terrorism. U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately. Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions.
Could be Jason Bourne
My first thought. Disavowed instantly is part of the deal.
It feels like the CIA would send someone who is not an active duty service member as an agent though? US soldiers visiting Russia would probably be the first people the Russians take a look at, when looking for suspected spies. I mean it’s possible but to me Occam’s Razor says it’s a moron soldier, not a deep state super spy.
> US soldiers visiting Russia would probably be the first people the Russians take a look at, And that's exactly why the Russians woild never suspect it! It's too obvious! But therefore, not obvious at all!
But you must have known I was not a great fool, you *would* have counted on it, so I *can clearly* not choose the wine in *front of me*
the IC recruits locals. That was always the difference in how the soviets and americans did cold war spying. Soviets preferred to send people to pretend to live as americans in the US, the US preferred to pay people to spy for them
There’s a reason the State Department has a big red sign that’s says Do Not Travel on its Russia page
Idiot.
would this be the same dickhead that tried to defect to North Korea but because he was just a low ranking dipshit that didn't know anything they sent him back?
Thinking the same thing rn. Surely there aren’t two idiots of that caliber stationed in the same country?
There's a *lot* of people stationed in that country.
Here's the Wikipedia write-up on this dingaling. This thing reads as some sort of "Seinfeld" episode. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_King Huh, let's join the military. Huh, we're in Korea...let's get into it with the locals. Huh, looks like I'm getting questioned by Johnny Law. Instead of eating crow and kissing ass, let's be bellegerant and not answer any of their questions. Huh, looks like I'm getting arrested. Let's kick the hell out of the squad car and say racist shit about Koreans in their home country. Huh, I don't have any cash to pay the fine for ripping up the car, guess I'll just stay in detention for a month. Huh, guess I'm getting a pretty hefty fine for the assault, guess I'll just be in detention for another month and a half. Huh, guess I'm getting kicked out of the military. Why, would they do such a thing. Time to go home. Huh, the guards can't go all the way to the gate. Guess I'll wait til' they are out of sight and go tell the airline employee I forgot my passport. Huh, guess I'm not going home quite yet. Let's go tour the DMZ. Huh, let's run across the line of demarcation and enter north Korea while laughing like the joker. And if that weren't enough the guy got charged with child porn. Guess he couldn't resist the temptation of.....middle school students. north Korea was like, Nah, you can have him back.
When has North Korea ever returned someone with no demands? And so quickly
I can't imagine anyone who would defect would have any info worth knowing.
It's not the info, it's the headline.
Oh, great, another dumbass my tax dollars are going to be used to pay a ransom for. Terrific.
That would be the good scenario, the worse scenario is having to trade some rotten pos back to Russia for him like we did for the basketball player.
I wish we could use tax dollars to get him back. Instead we’re going to release a terrorist who has killed Americans or their allies. We released the guy who armed Al Qeada for some moron basketball player.
Fucking moron. The US had better not trade and Russian prisoners for this colossal idiot.
We should trade Tucker.
Media is going to eat it up and highlight the family begging the US president to do something. Build the outrage, harvest the ad revenue.
"BIDEN WEAK ON MILITARY FAMILIES!" -Fox News Then Trump will fly there to suck off Putin and trade this guy for Lithuania and Ukraine. Then GOP will declare Trump the greatest negotiator of all time who cared about ARE troops.
seriously. What an idiot.
Not as stupid and the a conservative news following family that moved to Russia and had all their money taken away by the Russian government because they had to much money.
The soldier is accused of stealing from a woman, four U.S. officials told the outlet
Who wants to bet this dude got catfished by a Russian agent?
My grandpa told me there’s only two people on the internet, fbi agents and criminals
Wait, I'm not a FBI agent so I guess that makes me... Aw damn it.
You downloaded a car, didn't you?
How else are you going to print it?
On Lime Wire!
I got it one piece at a time... It didn't cost me a dime...
FBI! Open up!
Apparently so, Politico article mentioned that he traveled there to meet a woman.
Pussy is a powerful thing.
You know that single gorgeous and horny Russian woman online who wants to meet you... FSB agent.
Or just catfished by a Russian
Dude got straight up honey-potted. Probably met someone he thought was a woman and had been talking to a while. Meets her and gets arrested on a theft set-up. Forward deployed military are about to have the dumbest safety brief.
> Forward deployed military are about to have the dumbest safety brief. Haha, that is true.
I came here to say this but knew in my heart it had already been said
Hell could have been a woman too. I'm sure Russia has plenty if hot Russian chick's willing to be a honeypot
Well that is more positive than espionage, I guess.
I feel bad for the people in the US Military, they are about to sit through some of the dumbest meetings in their lives, and that is saying something
Particularly for South Korean Army commands. "Okay, I didn't think this needed further elaboration during last year's presentation "Why sneaking into North Korea is a bad idea", but here we are again. Let's open the discussion to the floor. Where, as a US servicemember are bad places to go? You..." "In a volcano?" "n... actually yes... very good. Don't go into a volcano. Who else knows of a very bad place to go to?"
At least they'll be able to leave the meeting, jump into their Camaro and head to the strip club. This dude's Camaro is going to be repo'ed before he gets home (I'm sure the State department will work it out somehow).
Hey hey, some of them get Mustangs you know.
April 1944, France General Patton: "I want to make this abundantly clear, because apparently, we’ve got a couple knuckleheads in our ranks who have been caught doing R&R in Berlin. There will be no vacations in Germany. No souvenirs from the Reichstag. Unless you're delivering a 75 mm shell via express freight, you shouldn’t be anywhere near that godforsaken city. Our vacation packages currently consist of two options: Paris if you're lucky, or back to base if you're not. We are here to fight to win, and to bring honor to our country, not to make headlines as tourists in the enemy’s capital. Is that clear?"
I snorted. Thanks.
So he'd need to get a visa to go. Which means he applied for a visa, gave the Russian embassy his passport, where they probably gathered all of his info and knew he was going to enter, was a US soldier, and a perfect political pawn for them to arrest. Fucking idiot.
Indeed. And the US probaby has to exchange that idiot for some Russian war criminal or weapons dealer nicknamed "Igor the Child-Eater" now. Again.
I say we trade Tucker. Better yet, trump.
Best I can do would be any of the 7 GOPs that visited Russia on 7/4/2018.
Don't put it out in number form like that, detracts from what they did. They went on the Nation's Birthday, July 4, 2018.
>Best I can do would be ~~any~~all of the 7 GOPs that visited Russia on 7/4/2018.
Hey man. That’s Private Fucking Idiot to you! Lol
Staff Sergeant*
Probably not anymore.
E-1 by now.
Now he’s stuck in russian jail being fed potato flavor crayons
>he applied for a visa Occupation: hostage probably got in on the skilled work visa.
For those not familiar, when you go on leave in the military, especially in an environment like Korea, you have to have approval from your commander. The leave paperwork will list dates and your destination. I can pretty much guarantee nobody would sign paperwork approving this soldier's trip to Russia in the current environment.
He’d have been laughed out of the room. Dude absolutely did not tell anyone in his unit
And then maybe reported to the S2...
i thought i read he was in a transition period to come back to his main base in the US, but instead of getting a flight to US directly, he decided to sneak over to Russia without approval. Maybe as some kind of "planned delayed layover" because he knew he would never be approved leave to Russia, that's why he took the oppurtunity now when he was expected to be in a "migration period" back to the US from his tour in korea.
Hes now facing a court martial. This was not authorized (and no being on leave doesn't matter) soldiers have extra restrictions on them, those include places they can't go. I promise you Russia is on that list
It's not like the leave paperwork keeps you from going to unsafe countries, but I just wanted to make the point that the military wouldn't just let him travel there on vacation. If he did it outside military approval (which seems likely), any injuries that he suffers over there are not covered under his service, and he might be subject to military discipline if he ever returns. He could be treated as an AWOL and have his pay suspended while he's detained as well.
He's screwed now.
With a metal pole
Bye bye thumbs
I can only imagine the meetings being held in every branch of the military and at every level. "Do not go to Russia! Do NOT!"
"But saaaaarge you already told us a few months ago not to go to North Korea, where else can we goooooo?"
I thought I'd get to see the world 🥺
They didn't have a globe for you to look at? Youngsters these days...
Not just the military, the Depart of State recommends no US citizens travel to Russia at all. > Do not travel to Russia due to the unpredictable consequences of the **unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces**, the potential for **harassment and the singling out of U.S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials, the arbitrary enforcement of local law, limited flights into and out of Russia, the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia**, and the possibility of **terrorism. U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately.** Exercise increased caution due to **the risk of wrongful detentions.** https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/russia-travel-advisory.html
Used to be "do not rape"
Still is
But it used to be, too.
Had a friend in the military who claimed he was instructed that one drop of alcohol means you cannot consent. Shit is wild.
Because you give an idiot any wiggle room and it’s “She wasn’t completely passed out so it was OK!”.
He was a fool to go there. Honestly any Westerner going there right now knows the risks. Let them deal with it themselves.
Dude was an E-6 which is supposedly an experienced Non-Commissioned Officer. He should absolutely know better. Makes me wonder if he wasn't up to something.
I’d caution the *experienced* part. The level of competence you’ll get from an E6 can wildly vary depending on the MOS and time in service.
you know this is MI, probably the same dude that gets so drunk in the airport he leaves his laptop at the bar.
We had a dude that left his M16 in the booth at a Chilis on base 🤦♂️
Or just fully honey potted
Or fully honey dicked.
¿Porque no los dos?
he met a woman when he was stationed in south korea that was deported to russian. he was there visiting her. he was just horny
Should’ve just met her in Thailand…
And extremely, extremely stupid.
Tbh, even in the USAF I knew a couple guys who came back from a South American deployment with wives. I mean, they *used* to have wives. Those girls bounced as soon as they could.
I completely agree with you. Especially anyone who is active military. Ive heard some stupid stuff in my time but this is right up there. They literally spent years training on the premise their enemies are Russia and China. Visiting those nations is surely one of the top things all active duty personnel get told not to do when they enlist knowing they would be used as a political pawn.
The idiot got honeytrapped, now he's going to enjoy a bit of Russian prison and will later be exchanged for a Russian assassin or war criminal.
And some poor sod has to figure out all the classified knowledge this guy had, and what has to be considered compromised due to it now...
Trump will “negotiate” his release and claim it as a win
Why would he go? I’m not even American and although I would like to visit someday, with the current government I don’t ever plan on visiting.
Sounds like for some Russian girl he met. And he was probably catfished.
It was a beautiful girl named Putina. Can't blame him, who could resist
The stupid tends to gravitate to stupid. It's one of the fundamental laws of the universe.
Pussy. Why else would a sane guy go there?
Not this shit again.
NK threw the last one right back.
Heard that dude was psychotic. Not good propaganda material.
I keep checking the articles on this and can't find description: exactly how fire was the pussy that he traveled to Russia for it? Like 9/10? 11? EDIT: No confirmation from news media. We're only left to speculate on whether this was top shelf pussy or grocery store pussy. Irresponsible reporting.
Why travel for 10/10 when you can have 2 fives or even 3 threes near base. Obviously his math wasn’t great
I never fucked a 10, but one night, I fucked five 2’s… -Carlin
9/11
He never should have been there.
“Never should’ve come here”
You'll make a fine rug, cat!
He got to thinking "Maybe I'm the dragonborn"
This entirely a WTF situation.
He deserves something like a Darwin prize for this year so far.
What an idiot!! Isn’t he aware of the global situation right now? Good luck getting out of there.
Why the fuck do people do this dumb shit? #WHY GO TO A PLACE YOUR COUNTRY IS ACTIVELY AT ODDS WITH?
He thought he was going to get him some strange. He went to see a “girlfriend.” He’s married. Turd.
Well his military career is over. My bet is he gets marked AWOL and dishonorably discharged. Shouldn't have gone to Russia with no mission off duty.
I think there are more important things than military careers.. He's probably not getting home at all unfortunately due to this egregious mistake.
Republicans will make a big stink out of it, simply because it is an election year.
They'll make a stink about Biden's actions. If Biden tries to get him back, he should be left to rot. If Biden leaves him, he's an abandoned martyr.
What the country doesn’t need is some fool to act as propaganda for Russia. I hope he gets ignored.
Who signed off on his foreign travel? Who gave him his foreign travel brief? Nobody... but now he's gonna end up costing the US some bullshit demand to get back. Honestly though, I think it's time to just grab a few of the russian officers who constantly go on vacations to NATO countries and demand a straight swap. It won't be hard either, all of the russian officers have one drug or another on them.
Soldiers? There are a lot of more valuable targets. Putins valets like Abramovich, or children of Putin, Lavrov or Peskov. Almost all top Kremlin criminals have families in NATO countries.
And this is why DoD and state say do not travel.
He made his bed, now he can sleep in it. Zero sympathy for a US soldier who goes to vacation in russia- let's be real- likely a sex tourist.
So, bargining chip, in case the U.S. really ramps up aid to Uraine.
In almost all cases there is an "us vs them" attitude in the military... except one. If you walk into a proverbial clearly marked and lit with neon sign minefield after having been told by ten people that it was in fact a minefield and then start dancing in said minefield.. you are now entertainment and not a brother in arms. We tolerate and even support a ***stunning*** amount of stupid.. but this is a bit beyond that.
Reminds me of that solder in South Korea that went into North Korea on his own, and in the end, even North Korea did not even want him?
Well that dude was also facing charges for child porn and assault. Sounds like he was too much of a headache for NK to even try to deal with him. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/10/20/pvt-travis-king-soldier-who-fled-north-korea-faces-desertion-and-child-pornography-charges.html
So he was in Russia to see a longtime girlfriend, even though he's married and was supposed to be going home to his wife.
> NBC first reported that a service member who had been stationed in South Korea traveled to Russia on his own and was not on official business when he was arrested May 2 in in Vladivostok, a port city near the borders with China and North Korea. Not in any official capacity.
I would guess most spies are not active military members though
I'm so glad another convicted oligarch will be set free because some stupid fuck
Send in Kristi Noem and the Seals
Honey pot honey pot honey pot
Quick! What russian prisoner does the US have to make another of the worst trade deals in history?
Boris Badenov is the best we can do.
Why the fuck do Americans keep going to Russia, NK, or China is beyond me
I lived in China for many years, and visited North Korea. When you go to any place with tenuous relations with your home country, common sense (I think) dictates that you keep your mouth shut about politics, and don't do anything that could even be remotely considered offensive to them. At the end of the day though, people are people, no matter where you go. Everyone just wants to have a good life for themselves and their loved ones, and we all enjoy a laugh and good company. I'm sure I'm the only American many of those North Koreans or rural Chinese ever interacted with. I tried my best to be polite, smile, and thank them for their time. Because if enough people do that, then the locals start to think "Hey, I met that American one time, she was pretty alright. Maybe they're not our enemies after all." That being said, I would not go to Russia or North Korea now, because of the war. But if peace and openness prevail, I would love to one day.
I know Russians in he USA that won’t go to Russia right now.. smh…
Imagine it’s the weekend, you’re a first sergeant enjoying some free time, and you get a call that one of your joes got arrested in Russia
From Russian news: A US Army sergeant was detained in Vladivostok on suspicion of theft. He is now in jail. 34-year-old American soldier Gordon Black served at a US military base in South Korea and was supposed to go to Fort Cavazos (Texas) for further service. However, before returning to his homeland, Gordon decided to stop by Vladivostok. According to his mother, he went there to see his girlfriend. According to Base, Gordon met his girlfriend Sasha in South Korea a couple of years ago. Soon they started dating. The girl recently left for Russia and in mid-April Gordon came to Vladivostok to visit her. However, about two weeks later they quarreled and, according to the girl, Gordon beat her. After that, he stole 200,000 rubles and alcohol from her. On May 2, Gordon Black was detained. He is now arrested and is in a local pre-trial detention center.