Marine Major Joshua Mast caught up in Afghan adoption case allowed to remain Marine

A military administrative board of inquiry hearing overseen by three officers from Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) at Camp Lejeune from Oct 2-8 substantiated allegations against a Marine JAG officer of "misuse of a government computer" and "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." However, the board, which heard emotional and heated testimony including arguments that the Marine lawyer abused his position and disregarded orders of his superiors, determined Major Joshua Mast, should remain on active duty in the Marines. He remains attached to MARSOC, an elite Marine unit that falls under US Special Operations Command. 

Mast and his wife Stephanie have been involved in a years-long legal battle after an Afghan couple brought a lawsuit challenging the legality of their adoption of an Afghan orphan, who the State Department had given to the child’s relatives to raise following a US airstrike in 2019 that killed the child’s parents and left the child badly injured. The Afghan couple, who raised the child for 18 months, has argued before a Virginia court they were tricked into handing over Baby Doe after Mast helped them come to the US during the chaotic Afghan withdrawal in 2021. The State Department has demanded the Virginia court return the child to its Afghan relatives now living in the US.

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"The substantiated misconduct relating to misuse of a government computer did include systems involving classified and unclassified information," according to Major Johnny Henderson, a spokesman for MARSOC. The board did not consider the legality of the adoption lawsuit, which has now been appealed by the Masts and is currently stalled in the Virginia Supreme Court. A civilian appeals court in Virginia earlier this year ruled against the Masts, arguing the adoption should have never been granted. The child remains with the Masts pending appeal.

Mast denied he disobeyed orders and displayed a poster of the child smiling at their home in Hampstead, North Carolina alongside a photo of the child at Bagram Airfield where Baby Doe was taken for medical care following the US airstrike. He argued he was in fact upholding the Marine Corps creed, even though then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a Virginia federal judge told them to stop trying to adopt the Afghan child.

Some of the hearing was held in a closed session away from reporters because Mast claimed some of the information was classified. He then chose to make an unsworn statement behind closed doors, which meant he was not subject to cross-examination.

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By law, the military board’s finding that separation was not warranted is binding on the Marine Corps. The decision must now be reviewed by the Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.

When asked whether Maj Mast would be able to continue practicing law as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer, Maj Henderson responded:

"Maj Mast has not been practicing law or in a legal billet at MARSOC since the initial report of misconduct nor will he be returning to practicing law at MARSOC.  His license to practice law is up to the state in which he is licensed."

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On the question of whether Maj Mast will have his security clearance pulled given the findings, MARSOC public affairs responded: "His access to classified information systems has been restricted by MARSOC.  Final security adjudication of his security clearance is a separate process and will not be completed until the final report of the board is submitted through the chain of command."

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The Marine Corps is not party to or involved with any ongoing civil litigation. Major Mast’s civil litigation is being handled by DOJ.