Expert: Aaron Shifferly - 5/17/2010

Question
Hello,

If I know of an inactive Army Officer (major) who abuses illegal drugs such as marijuana, and consumes alcohol daily in large quantities, to whom does a civilian report such a person?  I fear this person will be activated and deployed at some point, and may put our brave soldiers at risk because of their addictions.  I shudder at the thought of this occurring because I remained silent.  Also, can a report be made anonymously?

Answer
Firstly, I'll assume that by inactive officer you mean one who is in the Army Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR) and not a non-drilling member of the National Guard or Reserve. I will discount all discussion of alcohol since it is not illegal and even a report of his 'excessive' consupmtion would generate zero results as long as the officer performs his duties to the standards.  As for the marijuana use, while unfortunate, if he is IRR he is not on active duty and, therefore, wouldn't be subject to the UCMJ unless the Army chose to recall him. Since we don't do much recalling anymore, his chances of that happening are slim.  Also, the chances of us recalling him to punish him for marijuana use is virtually zero. There really is no accountability system in the Army for IRR for you to report a crime, such as it is, to and so your best bet is to just understand that he most likely wont be recalled to active duty but, if he is, his habits will be monitored and he will be punished if he breaks the rules.