Expert: Rod Powers - 1/23/2008

Question
help, my boyfriend who is a marine decided he wanted out and is on his way to failing his drug screen, in the next couple hours, and i know hes going to regret it, but theres nothing i can do, is a dishonorable discharge certain? maybe that was a stupid question, but what is going to happen, and what are his military options?

Answer
Hi Jess,

If he is on active duty, and he fails a random urinalysis test, then the evidence of such can be used in any way his commander determines is appropriate. There is no *CERTAIN* thing that is going to happen.

In civilian life, when one commits a crime, how that crime is prosecuted is up to the District Attorney (DA). In the Military, how a crime is prosecuted is completely up to the individual's commanding officer, after receiving advice from the JAG (Judge Advocate General).

I'm afraid, if he "pops positive" on a legal urinalysis, your boyfriend has no options. All of the "options" are completely, totally, 100 percent up to his commanding officer, not your boyfriend.

The worst case scenario is that his commander could decide to refer the matter to trial by court-martial (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/l/aacmartial1.htm). In such cases, depending on the type of court, and the actual drug used, he could possibly receive a sentence of a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for five years (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm112a.htm).

The commander could decide to impose an administrative discharge (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/l/aadischarge1.htm). In such cases, the most likely service characterization would be "Other than Honorable."

The commander could decide to punish him under Article 15 (http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/article15.htm), and then retain him in the service. Or the commander could decide to impose Article 15 punishment, then follow it up with an administrative discharge.

Again, there are several possible scenarios, and it's all pretty much up to his individual unit commanding officer.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military Information Website at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com