THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 24, 1996 TAG: 9602240306
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY EARL SWIFT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
The Navy signed up a young woman at a Florida recruiting office Wednesday. But not without a fight.
In an extreme episode of interservice rivalry, a crowbar-wielding Army recruiter waged war on a Navy office as the two services competed for the recruit - damaging a copier, a computer keyboard, a desk clock and two U.S. Marines.
Police answering reports of a ``physical disturbance'' at the office said they heard the Army recruiter threaten to shoot his Navy counterparts.
``It really surprised us,'' said Peggy Flanigan, speaking for the Army's recruiting command at Fort Knox. ``No one expects this to happen.
``Normally, the services get along very well together.''
The brief melee unfolded around lunchtime at a strip mall in Leesburg, Fla., where recruiters for the Navy, Marines, Army and Air Force occupy side-by-side offices.
It began when a young woman, unnamed by both police and the Navy, discussed enlisting at the Navy's office. The sailors there told her she could be guaranteed training for a job in naval intelligence, provided she cleared security and other hurdles.
A short time later she mentioned the Navy's promise during a conversation with Army recruiters, who reportedly told her the guarantee was bogus. She dutifully reported this assertion back to the Navy.
Bent on defending the honor of the fleet, Petty Officer Jim Doman headed to the Army office, brochures in hand, and told recruiters there that the Navy could indeed guarantee such training.
He left the brochures with Army Sgt. Rudolphus Dwayne Jackson.
Not long afterward, while Doman was out to lunch, Jackson's 172-pound frame materialized outside the Navy office door. With the 30-year-old sergeant, who allegedly held a crowbar, were fellow Army recruiters James Robert Byrd, 31, and Luis A. Jimenez-Miranda, 26.
``Upon entering the office,'' police said, Jackson ``began swinging the tire iron, striking various property of the Navy and causing approximately $300 in damage to said property.''
That property, police said, included the keyboard and desk clock. Jackson also allegedly toppled a copier and scattered Navy paperwork throughout the office.
At about that point two Marine recruiters heard the ruckus next door, left their own office and found Byrd and Jimenez-Miranda standing outside the Navy outpost. Their meeting quickly spawned a fight.
Jackson joined in, police said, whacking one Marine on the top and back of his head with the crowbar and kicking the other in the face.
The sergeant was leaving the premises when up pulled the Leesburg cops, who reported that Jackson yelled at his victims: ``This ain't over. I'm gonna come back here and bust a cap . . .''
``Bust a cap'' is slang for firing a handgun or other weapon. ``Due to the aggressive nature of the defendant at the time, and his demonstrated potential for violence, the threat caused fear and concern for their well-being on the part of the victims,'' police Sgt. Richard Giles reported.
Jackson was charged with aggravated battery - a felony - as well as assault and criminal mischief, and was locked in the local county jail. His alleged cohorts were charged with simple battery and released on their own recognizance.
One Marine required hospital treatment, but was not admitted.
Flanigan, the Army's spokeswoman, said violence in the recruiting process is ``very uncommon,'' and that the service was mystified about the incident in Leesburg.
``I do know that we are investigating it,'' she said, ``to try to find out just what happened down there.''
Navy Lt. Bob Garcia, speaking for his Arlington-based recruiting command, confirmed that the incident ended happily: The young woman decided to sign with the Navy.
``She's a Navy recruit,'' he said. ``It's always challenging to get the cream of America's youth.'' MEMO: The Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report.
by CNB