Being discharged from the Army but want to stay. Help!?

Question

My son is being discharged from the Army. He desperately wants to stay in but made a horrible mistake and smoked a joint while home on leave several months ago. He did 45 days extra duty and had 1/2 of his pay taken for a month and a half. He thought that was it. He then found out they were kicking him out. He wants nothing more than to serve his country and is devistated by what has happened. His ra code is a 4 which means he can never go back in. Is there anything that can be done?

He is a E1. As a reponse to the question left.

Answer 1

I was The Rear Detatchment Commander this last time they deployed and will be again this next time around. Part of the specialized training I recieved to do that job covered UCMJ. The uniform code of military justice and the Army Substance Abuse Prorgam go hand and hand here. When a soldier test positive for controlled substances the commander is requried to prosess a chapter packet on the soldier even if later they decide not to chapter him. It is also used as a probation toll for 90-180 days at the commanders discresion.
Basiclly and small infraction of rules and regulations and they will submit the packet and chapter him out.
The flaw to this thinking is that the class i attended stated that isd is wrong to say you do drugs you get chaptered because you are suposesd to wieght each ibcedent as a seprate event with diffrent surcumstances. But like everything else in the Army people still say the politiclly incorect. Sounds like you son needs to talk to his local JAG office as soon as possiable. They should be able to square him away.
In my unit we have only chaptered the two guys to make an example out of them. the rest did the extra duty, loss of pay, jail, but stayed in the unit after they served there time.
I can bet you son is still fairly young and young people do stupid things from time to time. I am not condoning what he did, it was wrong. But i realize at the same time people make mistakes. I have seen soldiers test positive serve there punishment and become better Soldiers after that.
I wish your son luck with his issue. And if they do allo him to stay tell him to walk the straight and narrow and keep his nose clean. Once again good luck!!

Answer 2

Sorry mom. The military is has a zero tolerance drug policy and your son DID know that when he smoked the joint. He was told about the Army drug policy so many times between DEP and him going home on leave he should be blue from the amount of times he heard about it. He made the choice to break the US Law as well as a Department of Defense Regulation. There is no turning back. He could get a lawyer and he would still get kicked out. The restriction he was on and the pay he lost is all part of the big picture when you get busted for using drugs. If he wanted to serve his country so bad he should have stayed clean at home and not broken the law. Now he faces his under than honorable discharge which removes ALL of his VA benefits and will keep him from ever getting any federally backed student loans for college, any college grants and any really good jobs. He is going to pay for his time being high for the rest of his life. I hope you are rich and can pay for college or support him under your roof for a long time. This is a serious issue in the military, but people don't seem to get that. This is a life lesson he will never forget.

Answer 3

This is going to be har to hear, but your son did not make a mistake. I have known many people who smoked pot, some got caught, some didn't. Not one did it on accident.

There is nothing that can be done except let the system run its course. I wholeheartedly agree with the post that enouraged you to help your son stand up and take responsibility. If he is the honoable soldier your question implies, then he will have no problem holding himself accountable.

There is no such thing as an official Two Strikes policy.

Let me close with ths article:

DOD Announces Tighter Drug Control Policy
08/19/2002

DoD's new drug control policy involves more frequent random testing of active duty military, reservists and civilian employees, and standardized penalties for abuse.
Andre Hollis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics, said, "It's even more critical during war that our servicemembers are mentally alert and physically fit. Drug use is inconsistent with that. ... I'm sure that's the message you'll hear from the NCOs all the way up to the Secretary of Defense."

Hollis said the new policy also calls for minimum across-the-board consequences for anyone in DoD--military or civilian--caught using drugs. He said rules regarding drug use varied across the services. For example, he explained, in the past servicemembers of different branches found using drugs under the same circumstances might have received different punishments. Hollis noted that the message is simple: Drug use is incompatible with military service or civilian employment at DoD.

"Drug use is not going to be tolerated. There are going to be consequences," he emphasized. Abusers, he said, could be subject to dishonorable discharges, dismissals, prison time, fines and criminal records. "We want to make sure our policies are clear and that the consequences for breaking those policies are also clear." (From an American Forces Press Service story by Gerry J. Gilmore.)

Answer 4

I feel I just need to be blunt with your question. When my brigade got back from Iraq 9 soldiers tested positive for drugs in my company. Out of the 9, 8 were dishonorably discharged. The one exception was the Staff Sergent he barley kept from being discharged. Instead they demoted him and forced him it rehab. I should not that he had gone through a divorce and been on two previous combat tour before the last one. This is the only reason his chain of command was lite on him. So since your son did drugs he shouldn't be in service I wouldn't want anyone with impaired judgment next to me in combat.

Answer 5

Unfortuantely, no. The military has a strict zero tolerance policy on drug use.

I think he might be able to request a court marshal, but this will actually make it worse for him.

He may request to upgrade his discharge status later, but due to the nature of the violation, it is highly unlikely that it will be improved.

He should contanct the VA and find out what benefits he is eligable for under his discharge status. If he still has medical benefits, make sure he starts documneting ALL ailments he might have into his medical file (by seeing a military doctor). I mean EVERYTHING. If he gets migrains, make sure he documents it. I f hes depressed, document it. If he has razor burn, document it. All these things could add up to a disability benefit, which gives him some money and health care. The military wont likely grant him these things. He has to go through the VA after his discharge with his military medical record in hand.

Answer 6

There is no excuse for doing drugs in the Military and everyone knows that. My husband has had 11 soldiers get kicked out of the Army for this reason. It suxs but they learn their lesson. NO DRUGS! Especially if you are E-5 and above, Soldiers that are in Higher ranking are suppose to be leadership material. You son knew it was wrong and did it anyway. I hate to say it but he deserves what he gets...hopefully lesson learned. There is NO room for Excuses. I am a hard core Army Wife and we all have to stick to the regs....

Answer 7

The military is very clear on this policy as it relates to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) in the punitive articles (Subchapter X) it states:

912a. ART. 112a. WRONGFUL USE, POSSESSION, ETC., OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
(a) Any person subject to this chapter who wrongfully uses, possesses, manufactures, distributes, imports into the customs territory of the United States, exports form the United States, or introduces into an installation, vessel, vehicle, or aircraft used by or under the control of the armed forces a substance described in subsection

(b) shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(c) The substances referred to in subsection (a) are the following:

(1) opium, heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, lysergic acid diethylamide, methamephetamine, penecyclidine, barbituric acid, and marijuana, and any compound or derivative of any such substance.

(1) that is listed on a schedule of controlled substances prescribed by the President for the purposes of this article.

(2) Any substance not specified in clause

(3) Any other substance not specified in clause (1) or contained on a list prescribed by the President under clause(2) that is listed in Schedules I through V of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812).


I am currently a Staff Sergeant (SSG E-6) with 12 years Active duty and 4 years as an Observer Controller with the 75th BCTD in Houston. I can tell you from experience that any soldier who is caught in possession of, under the influence of, or fails a urinalysis is subject to an other than honorable or general discharge. In a Non-Judicial proceeding (Article 15) the maximum punishment is 45/45 reduction to E-1, forfeiture of 1/2 months pay for 3 months and possible removal from military service (this is for E-4 and below). For E-5 and above the punishment is 45/45 forfeiture of 1/4 pay for 3 months and depending on the rank reduction of 1-2 grades and a general letter of reprimand that goes in their permanent file. 45/45 is 45 days Extra Duty and 45 Days Restriction to the Battalion or company area.

In your sons case a reentry code of 4, there is nothing than can be done. That code cannot even be waived, He is precluded from joining any type of reserve or national guard unit. The only thing I could suggest is have him write a heartfelt letter to his congressman and see if his discharge can be upgraded, but with a 4 Code I don't see that happening.

Answer 8

Everyone else is right. He does have the right to speak with JAG about the discharge and see if it can be prevented, but I doubt it. The National Guard in my state takes it one step further by discharging you if you even refuse to participate in a urinalysis. He needs to speak to a VA rep if he can't stop the discharge and find out the likelihood of upgrading his discharge, but he has to be out for at least 6 months before he can even apply.

Answer 9

Your son is taking the consequences for his choice to smoke weed while he was on active duty. The UCMJ clearly states that the use of illegal drugs, including weed, is a punishable offense. Everyone gets the same education so ignorance of the law is no excuse. If he wants to continue to serve his country after he gets out, he can work with kids to teach them NOT TO TAKE DRUGS!!!!!!!
Please dont interfer with these consequences....this is part of growing up. Please dont make excuses for him or encourage him to believe that he is a VICTIM here. He made his choice. Yes..there may be others who do the same thing but your son got caught. Encourage him to take responsibility for his choice and LEARN from his mistakes. This may be real GIFT.

Answer 10

Unfortunately, not to my knowledge. It's unfortunate that this happened to your son, however, even Active Duty and Reserve components are under the same scrutiny as those in training. Perhaps later he can talk to a recruiter, they would know more about this than I would. However, he is lucky they are not pressing UCMJ action on him. It is possible, someone in my unit chose to get out for the same thing instead of getting UCMJ on him.

Hope this sheds some light.