Robert E. Jones was a former member of the Army of American Liberation (AAL) and later went on to become one of the first commissioned officers of the Californian Republic Marine Corps and was one of the key figures involved in the Inland Empire Siege against Federal Protection Service (FPS) Agents.
Early Career[]
Jones joined the United States Marine Corps in 1984 serving as a regular infantryman with the rank of Private. From early in his career he showed extraordinary drive to better himself and this brought him to the attention of his superior officers who saw something special in him. He was therefore afforded every opportunity to prove himself and this he did with zeal.
In November 1985 he was promoted to Private First Class and transferred to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It was here that he would have his first encounters with the growing political movements within the lower ranks of the US military. Jones took a strong dislike to these groups believing that internal politics and the military should remain seperate. As a result he was increasingly finding himself shunned by his comrades. Jones continued to try to better himsefl and improve his promotion prospects but even this was becoming increasingly difficult. Jones began to suspect that his personal opinions were now affecting his career especially when he was passed over on his next promotion opportunity in 1986.
The Corporal Salvestein Incident[]
On November 13th 1987 Jones and his unit were participating in a live fire exercise. During the course of the exercise Corporal Joshua Salvestein was killed by small arms fire from an M-16 rifle. Like Jones, Salvestein was an ouspoken critic of those who opposed political groups in the US military. Despite an investigation being launched the culprit was never found. Jones now began to fear for his life becoming even more isolated and at times paranoid. Because of this he was suspended from the US Marine Corps for medical reasons. Some believe it was just an excuse to have him removed from the base.