Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 3/3/2008

Question
My son join the Army in 2007. He is 18 and really enjoy being there. I'm proud of him because he finally made a good decision. However, he came home for Christmas and when they tested him he had weed in his urine. His drill segregant said that it was very low not as high as the score should be. He said that he hadn't smoke any  but he was around people that did. He finish his basic but  he was not able to graduate. It has been 2 weeks since his graduation and he is still waiting. His drill sergant and other supposed to be speaking in his defense about about he has been and how good he was in basis. He really want to stay do you think he has a chance,

Answer
Dear Kathy --

As I have told many a Soldier before your son -- "If you are in a room where wrong-doing is occurring, the least you can do is leave."

Basically, even if he didn't want to turn his friends in, he should have been Soldier enough to to say -- "I don't do drugs, and I won't stay here while you guys do."  If he wasn't man enough to say that, he should have just walked out.

That said, your son is in a predicament.  Usually a low ranking Soldier (under E-4) would get a second chance on a low level drug offense like this.  However, since he has not graduated from basic training, it is easy to separate him as unsuitable because of this offense.

However, if his NCO does speak for him, he will probably get to stay in, but lose any rank he earned at basic training, and lose some pay, both from a non-judicial punishment called an Article 15.  He would go to his next training school, or his first assignment with no rank, so everyone would know he messed up at least once, but he would still have a chance to prove himself.

If he is to stay in, your son must convince his chain of command that he has learned from his mistake, and that it will not happen again.  He will have to be humble, and accept his punishment and move on.

I hope he has learned from his mistake, and that he gets the chance to prove that he is a good Soldier.  Best of luck to him and to you.