Expert: Rod Powers - 11/14/2007

Question
Sir,
I will try to keep this short. I served in the US Navy back in 2001. After 9 months, I was brought before the Captain regarding an issue. This is what happened...to make a long story short, I found a pill in the back of my friend's car. I took the pill to him to question him about it (I went through boot camp with him and wanted to make sure he wasn't doing anything dumb). He said he knew nothing of it so I threw it away immediately in his trash can. I was doing my homework the next day and petty officers and master chief came to question me, tore my room apart and found nothing. I was drug tested, they found nothing. I went to captain's mast where the captain didn't believe my friend or I to begin with - my friend's roommate found the pill in the trash can, and somehow my name came up. He ordered us to general court martial. The lieutenant took us to his back office and told us that we could continue telling the truth and probably go to leavenworth prison, or we could tell the captain what he wanted to hear and he would probably just kick us out. We chose the latter fearing of going to prison for something like that. We were not offered the drug or alcohol abuse program (I later learned that it existed). I even had a staff sergeant from the marine corps and a senior chief on my side to testify of my character. The captain did not seem to care.
I desperately want back into the military at this point. I loved my military service and want nothing more than to be back in. Is there anything that can be done from any military service branch? I heard that the army might be able to take me due to certain changes in regulations. I'd rather go back into the navy, but I'd take the army. I don't care if I would be tested everyday, or my room searched everyday, I want back in! I'm going to talk to the recruiters upon my return to my home in 2 weeks. I also have all necessary paperwork except my discharge papers ready to send into DC, for review with the same thing that I have told you, but have come to learn that the process could take up to 12 months and is highly suseptable to them saying "no" to me for an upgrade of my discharge. Is there anything that I can do or any door to get in, or anyone that I can call? I don't care if I have to kiss the commander in cheif's ass - literally. I want back in! Please - help me any way you can...

Answer
Hi Chris,

I wish I had better news for you. When you accept Article 15 action (also known as nonjudicial punishment, or -- in the Navy/Marine Corps as "Mast," -- see my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/article15.htm), what you're pretty much saying is that you agree to allow your commanding officer to be the judge and jury. Except in very limited circumstances (such as being assigned to a ship, deployed at sea), you had the option of refusing the mast, and demanding trial by court-martial instead. On the positive side, this would result in a completely unbiased judge and jury. On the negative side, the possible consequences for a court-martial conviction are generally much greater than if the commanding officer finds one "guilty" under Article 15 procedures.

Most of the Military Services have a "zero tolerance" policy when it comes to drug abuse. That includes the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the Air Force. The Army and Marine Corps will sometimes offer rehabilitative care (Drug rehabilitation program) for members (especially junior ranking members on their first enlistment) of isolated incidents of drug abuse. Therefore, the failure of the Navy to offer rehabilitation is not going to be considered a factor. If one is discharged for a drug offense, drug rehabilitation is available through the VA (Veterans Administration), so the services are not obligated to provide this service while still in the Military, most especially if one is being processed for discharge for a drug offense, and the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard, generally do not provide "drug abuse" therapy for member's on active duty (because there is a "zero tolerance" policy).

An RE Code of "4" is pretty much the commander's way of saying, "I don't recommend this person for re-enlistment in any branch of the armed forces." Because the Army needs recruits very badly, right now, they are sometimes known to "waive" and RE-4 discharge. It is doubtful that the Navy would waive such.

Your only other options are to (1) request an upgrade to your discharge characterization (for example, an upgrade from "general" to "honorable," -- see my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/dischargeupg.htm), which would "automatically" result in a change to your RE Code (if upgrade is approved), or request a change to your RE Code, without an upgrade, by requesting a change to your Military records (see my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcebase/a/chgrecords.htm). However, unless you can show proof that your discharge was somehow "unfair," or can prove that it was based on false information, the chances of a discharge upgrade or a change in your RE Code is unlikely.

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

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com