What does it mean to receive an Article 15 in the US military?
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when you join the military, you have a higher set of laws you have to follow. that group of laws is called the “Uniform Code of Military Justice”. within that law, one form of punishment for rule violations is non-judicial. there is no hearing. there is no defense. there is just a commander approving punishment based on a servicemember’s actions. the part of the UCMJ that allows that is Article 15. and Article 15 punishment is basically for low level violations, like showing up to work late too many times, not being where you’re supposed to be, abandoning your responsibilities in a way that doesn’t cause significant harm, or a violation of rules regarding drug use
Its a non-judicial disciplinary procedure that can be used in the military for “minor” infractions. That covers a huge range of conduct that goes from stuff isn’t typically a crime in civilian life, like being caught sleeping on the job; to stuff that would be classified as a civilian misdemeanor, like getting in a fight.
There isn’t really much discovery in an Article 15 hearing – the person’s commander listens to any witnesses that can be easily identified, looks at the evidence that’s readily available, and makes a determination as to whether they’re guilty or not. They can appeal, but the appeal is just their commander’s commander deciding whether to sign off on the decision or not.
The punishment that can be imposed as a result of an Article 15 hearing is usually very minor and more serious offenses often only result in a decrease in paygrade. An Article 15 conviction goes on someone’s military record, but can’t result in a dishonorable discharge, and doesn’t result in a criminal record. The closest civilian equivalent to an Article 15 is getting written up at work, or maybe something like an administrative citation (IE, a traffic ticket or noise ordinance violation).
Someone being charged under Article 15 has the right to demand a court martial, but if they’re convicted in a court martial then that does count as a criminal conviction, does show up on a criminal background check, can result in prison, and may result in a dishonorable discharge. This is true even if the punishment under Article 15 may have been something trifling, like extra duty.
Article 15 is non-judicial punishment. It’s used for when enlisted servicemen mess up something minor to moderate. Its handled at the local command level, administered by the CO, and punishments can range from essentially nothing up to a 30/30 (forfeit 30 days pay and 30 days liberty restriction) and a 1 rank demotion.
The serviceman has the option to reject the CO’s punishment and demand a trial by court martial, but this is very rare and is unlikely to work out in the serviceman’s favor.
I used to process Article 15s for my Air Force base, back in the 90s.
Just think of it as a plea deal. You got caught. There’s evidence and now you’re going to get punished, by your unit commander. At my base, DUIs and not showing up to work on time were the most popular ones.
Typical punishments were extra duty, fines, loss of rank (usually taking away a stripe). For more serious offenses, there could be confinement, which is putting you in the base jail.
You have the option to ask for a court martial, but I’ve never seen that done (and I’ve never heard it working out well for the airman)
In civilian life you do something illegal, and you get a criminal conviction. The military has many more things that are illegal, like not showing up for guard duty, being drunk on duty, and a myriad of other things. But there’s no need for a court martial for various small offenses. It would be overkill. So it’s kind of like getting a speeding ticket instead of being charged for criminal speeding.
So when a soldier does something wrong, he can get an Article 15, or non-judicial punishment. The soldier is called to the company commander, is read the charges, and has a chance to explain his side. If the commander decides guilty, the soldier can accept the decision (this is not an admission of guilt, only acceptance) or not. Because of this summary nature, the possible punishments are far less than those of a court martial. Low-level offenses are usually one or more of a little docked pay, extra duty (like cleaning), and confinement to barracks for maybe a month.
Worse offenses, or rejection of the initial Article 15, may be kicked up to the battalion level where the commander can impose some harsher punishments, such as limited loss of rank, more docked pay, and longer extra duty and confinement.
Continued rejection of the Article 15 will result in court martial, which is a federal felony conviction, usually prison time, and discharge with loss of all veterans benefits. Although they usually give only a nominal prison time like a year for these cases.
So advice for new soldiers, it’s almost always best to take the Article 15. They tend to not bring them until they’ve already talked to everybody and know they have you dead to rights. I knew one soldier who contested a relatively minor issue with a slap on the wrist all the way up to getting courtmartialed. That was dumb, ruined his life.
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