RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — An airman is going to jail after admitting to using Ecstasy and stealing more than $1,000 worth of military equipment, including flak vests and chemical warfare gear.
Airman Bruce A. Feldman III, a dental apprentice assigned to the 435th Dental Squadron at Ramstein, pleaded guilty Tuesday at a court-martial to raiding a supply warehouse and taking the gear. Feldman said he and his longtime friend hatched a plan to take two flight jackets and masquerade as fighter pilots to help them pick up women, said Air Force Capt. Robert Zauner, the prosecutor in the case. Feldman said they thought about going as far as slapping the call signs “Goose” and “Maverick,” the characters in the movie “Top Gun,” on the jackets, Zauner said. Feldman didn’t give a reason as to why he stole the other gear.
Air Force officials would not release the name of Feldman’s friend, who also is in the Air Force, because he has not been charged with a crime.
In addition to stealing the equipment, Feldman admitted to snatching VIP Callaway golf clubs from the base golf course, stealing $200 from an Air Force sergeant’s backpack, swiping $20 from the squadron’s snack booster fund and using another servicemember’s Bank of America credit card to pay a $366 rental car bill.
The Air Force began investigating Feldman after his friend in September told special agents with the Office of Special Investigations that Feldman had taken his card and used it to withdraw 260 euros.
Feldman, who joined the Air Force in May 2003, has been reduced to the lowest pay grade of E-1 and must forfeit $500 a month for 11 months. He will receive a bad-conduct discharge.
