My stepson is getting booted out of the Army after the first of the year under an other than honorable discharge but his commanding officer said that if he doesn't behave in the next 3-4 weeks before his out of there that he will give my stepson a court martial. If he gets a court martial will that mean he will part ways with the service with a dishonorable discharge?
2007-12-12 00:59:40 · 16 answers · asked by mrskerlin 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
you can only receive a dishonorable discharge at a general court martial which is for heinous crimes. your step son would receive a bad conduct discharge if he were court martialed.
2007-12-12 02:24:21 · answer #1 · answered by thanatos 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
An Article 15 is a non-judicial punishment, basically an admission of guilt and accepting the punishment of local command.
A Court Martial is a judicial and can have severe consequences, including and not limited to a Dishonorable Discharge and prison time at a federal or military prison.
The outcome of a court-martial is not always a dishonorable discharge as it depends on the nature of the charge and if he is convicted.
The threat of a Court Martial by command is not light by any means and so be taken seriously. It sounds as though your stepson has gotten himself in a very precarious position and needs to watch himself. His life will not be impacted too greatly by a less-than-honorable discharge but if he is court-martialed and dishonorably discharged, even without prison time, the impact will follow him where ever he goes. Dishonorably discharged individuals lose a lot of the benefits such as federal grants, loans, the ability to work federal jobs, qualify for security clearance which eliminates all jobs that work directly with the government local or federal. Walt Disney is an example of an exception as it is rare for an dishonorably discharged person to succeed.
2007-12-12 09:46:49 · answer #2 · answered by Dougal 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A Dishonorable Discharge can only be awarded as punishment for being found guilty by way of a General Court Martial. A Special Court Martial can award no worse than a Bad Conduct Discharge. A Summary Court Martial (one officer) cannot award any sort of discharge.
2007-12-12 15:34:53 · answer #3 · answered by desertviking_00 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A Court Martial is just a trial or a hearing.
Convening authorities may decide on actions other than court-martial, especially when the government case is weak. The charges may be dismissed or disposed of at a lower level, and include actions such as administrative reprimands, summary courts-martial, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separation.
In most courts-martial the accused pleads guilty to at least some of the charges. Even in most cases where the accused pleads not guilty, the accused is convicted of at least some of the charges
The end result does not necessarily have to be discharge of any kind but it can lead to separation.
2007-12-12 09:10:54 · answer #4 · answered by MrOrph 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You said he was getting "booted out of the army after the first of the year under an other than honorable discharge"
Seems to me it doesnt matter court martial or not.
Only thing a court martial would mean at this point would be that he might face criminal charges along WITH his dishonorable discharge.
2007-12-12 09:10:21 · answer #5 · answered by snakeman11426 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
A dishonorable discharge could be part of the sentencing in a court martial, but it is not automatic if he is convicted. Just like a civilian court, it all depends on the sentencing. They could give him a dishonorable discharge, they could give him time in the brig, or they could just fine him if found guilty.
2007-12-12 09:26:01 · answer #6 · answered by Mutt 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The CO (O-5 and above) is the convening authority and can recommend a Courts Martial. He can only get a dis-honorable discharge from a general Courts Martial, by conviction only a conviction and the members recommending Dis-Honorable could he get it. It is up to the convening authority (his CO) to accept this.
The difference between an OTH and Dis-honorable are huge!
2007-12-12 09:14:10 · answer #7 · answered by Think for yourself 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like your stepson wasn't able to handle Army life.
A couple of posters made the same points: a courts martial is a military trial for serious offenses. If his CO is threatening, he is either bluffing to get your stepson to avoid getting into further trouble like smartmouthing superiors, taking drugs, whatever, or PVT Stepson is just shy of having enough black marks to take him to trial. Whatever, if he does get a dishonorable for any reason, it will haunt him for the rest of his life.
2007-12-12 09:18:25 · answer #8 · answered by csunharleyrider@yahoo.com 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what the sentence is, and if the soldier is even convicted. Don't worry: They're not going to give him court martial at this point. That would keep him in the Army longer than 4 weeks. They're not likely to even give him any non-judicial punishment before he's out.
2007-12-12 09:15:43 · answer #9 · answered by DOOM 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Do not worry about that. The military has only Felony convictions. If he is court martialed for being late to formation, found guilty, he is then a convict felon. The Dishonorable Discharge will be bad, but the felony conviction will look worse.
2007-12-12 09:50:18 · answer #10 · answered by Chris 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋