The Star News Network confirmed Monday that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley was the same Mark A. Milley charged with driving under the influence in Cumberland County, North Carolina, after a Nov. 19, 1982 traffic stop.
The Star obtained the arrest and court records from the incident, which were validated by a Cumberland County, North Carolina, records section clerk to The Star last week.
Here is the record from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department:
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Those records show that Milley was not convicted on the drunk driving charge, but was found guilty of driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Milley paid a $100 fine for going the wrong way, plus a $31 court fee.
The drunk driving charge was dismissed by the district attorney’s office on Dec. 21, 1982, according to the court records.
There is no further information available about either incident, because under the rules then, the paper records would have been destroyed after three years, the clerk said.
Initially, there was a discrepancy between the birthdate listed on Milley’s arrest and court record, June 20, 1958, and some internet sources, which list Milley’s birthdate as June 18, 1958.
The Star confirmed through the Winchester, Massachusetts Town Clerk’s Office, the town in which Milley was born, that his birthdate is in fact June 20, 1958, which matches the arrest and court records. “Mark Milley [sic] date of birth is June 20, 1958,” the Winchester, Massachusetts, town clerk’s office said by email.
Further, county records list the first three numbers of the Mark A. Milley charged’s Social Security Number as 032-XX-XXXX.
The first three numbers of the Social Security Number are called the area number, and people born in Massachusetts are assigned the area numbers between 010 and 034.
The incident came just more than two years after Milley was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the armor branch out of Princeton University’s ROTC program. Milley’s first duty station was at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with A Company, 4th Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. Then, after earning his Green Beret, Milley was assigned to 5th Special Forces Group, which is also based at Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg is located in the municipality of Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
Milley is the military’s most senior officer, but his position is strictly an advisor to the president and the defense secretary, with no operational role, nor place in the official chain of command that flows from the president to the defense secretary to the service chiefs, and then to the uniformed commanders. This structure has been in place since the Goldwater-Nichols DOD Reorganization Act of 1986 was signed by President Ronald W. Reagan.
The traffic stop was Milley’s second brush with Cumberland County that year. The Winchester, Massachusetts, native was cited June 3, 1982, for vehicle inspection violation, which was waived by the court clerk June 9, 1982.
Alcohol-related incidents are one of the 13 Conditions of Concern the military uses to deny military personnel a security clearance, according to the Defense Counterintelligence Security Service’s “Roles and Responsibilities for Personal Security: A Guide for Supervisors.” This is especially true for personnel in “public trust” positions, such as policy making, major program responsibility, public safety or other duties demanding a significant degree of public trust.
“Alcohol-related incidents away from work, such as driving while under the influence, fighting, child or spouse abuse, disturbing the peace, or other incidents of concern regardless of whether the individual is diagnosed as an alcohol abuser or alcohol dependent,” wrote the authors in the section describing why alcohol incidents are a concern.
The Star reached out to the public affairs office for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon with two phones calls, Sept. 15 and Sept. 16, and in those conversations asked for comment from Milley. In the September 15 phone call, the public affairs staffer was given the court docket number. In addition, The Star sent a Sept. 16 email, as requested in the phone call that day with questions for the general, along with the county records as attachments.
These were the questions:
- How would General Milley describe the events that led to his being charged with DUI, based on an incident Nov. 19, 1982?
- How would General Milley describe the events that led to his being found guilty of driving the wrong way on a one-way street?
- What unit was General Milley assigned to Nov. 19, 1982?
- What is General Milley’s birthday?
In a follow-up call Monday, The Star reached a Major Powers, who later refused to provide his first name, in the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s public affairs office. When asked if the office could provide answers to The Star’s previous inquiries, Powers declined.
“We’re not going to provide a comment for the story,” Powers said after speaking to a supervisor.
Powers specifically refused to confirm Milley’s birthday and directed The Star to Joint Staff spokesperson Col. David Butler.
Butler could not be reached for comment.
The Star also called and texted a request for comment to two phone numbers associated with Milley. There has been no pickup, nor reply.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
