more on Fwd: Re: Fwd: Army Times calls for Rumsfeld and Meyers relief

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 16:00:59 -0700
From: "J. Andrew Rogers" <andrew () ceruleansystems com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Fwd: Army Times calls for Rumsfeld and Meyers relief
To: dave () farber net

> the thing that amazes me is that the press does not find it strange that
> the officers are given reprimands and the enlisted reservist are taken to
> court.
>
> Where is the military traditions and law??


This is actually correct, and a military reprimand is more severe and
has more consequences than it sounds.  The system works slightly
differently for officers than enlisted, and officers actually have a
stiffer conduct code.  Even if the officers are not guilty of criminal
conduct, they will be held liable for things that happen under their
command that may not even be able to control (an example below).
Enlisted personnel are only responsible for criminal acts they commit.

In this particular case, the officers may not have committed a
prosecutable criminal act (or charges simply may not have been filed
yet), but punitive measures will be exacted against them because serious
criminal activities happened under their command.  The "reprimand" is
significant.  It prevents them from gaining rank, and as an officer in
the US military, if you are passed over for rank or fall off the
promotion track, you are ejected from the military.  In other words,
this reprimand is a severe career limiting event.

Some people are surprised at the kinds of things an Army officer can be
held liable for.  For example, if you are the CO and your soldiers do
not get a certain amount of food per day, per regulations, you will
receive a reprimand at a minimum if events were entirely beyond your
control and a court martial if it is due to perceived officer
negligence.  Note that it doesn't matter what the reason is that there
is a food shortage (e.g. a logistical screwup, enemy action, whatever),
an officer will be held liable if his troops aren't fed. I've personally
seen officers max out their credit cards and make personal arrangements
for food delivery when a logistics problem interrupted the supply line
because that is what is expected of them.  If they do fail to meet an
operational requirement like the above, the severity of their punishment
for failing will be determined by the extent that they attempted to
mitigate the problem and the Army is not very forgiving.  The US officer
corps requires near perfection of command record to get promoted to a
senior officer position, and the majority of officers never make it that
far.

While it may look like the enlisted are getting the shaft and the
officers are getting a free ride, this does not appear to be the case to
me.  Even in the absence of specific criminal activity, punitive
measures can be taken against officers on the mere appearance of
incompetence at command.  It is a virtual certainty that the officers
who were directly related to the units in question will not be in the
military very long.

j. andrew rogers

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