Soldier defies President.

[Tez3]

Cuong,

You are definitely right that he will be hit with 134 - the General Article. But that will be the least of his worries. In most courts martial, the general article will be added, right along with conduct unbecoming (in his case, since he's an officer, that's 133). You need a pretty solid list of offenses to nail someone and no JAG would ever bring a court martial based solely on 134, but 133 and 134 are used as "tack-on" articles to catch anything else and the beef up the case....and in many courts martial, if the offender is acquitted of the other articles, he/she will almost ALWAYS be found guilty of 133 and 134. Because honestly.....if you are being brought before a court martial, you've done something wrong. Because of our internal checks and balances, our natural escalation of admin action and multiple layers of leadership, wrongful accusations are very rare. If you have done anything, 133 and 134 are a sure bet. They just aren't very strong punishments.

His biggest problem and the article of which he is in direct violation is 88 - Contempt toward officials. This is the exact reason why it is illegal... "[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct." That is a sure bet too.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The rest that I've listed below depend on just how far he's gone with this whole deal. If he is refusing to honor the president's authority and rank, he could possibly interpret any order given by any commissioned officer as unjust. So if he has disobeyed ANY order or refused to do anything as a result of this, he is in much bigger trouble. As officers, our commissions are issued directly by the POTUS, meaning an officer's authority flows from the constitution through the president. We support and defend the constitution, our Commander in Chief issues his orders based on the constitution. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Article 88. Contempt toward officials.[/FONT]
Dismissal, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Article 89. Disrespect toward superior commissioned officer.[/FONT]
Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Article 90. Assaulting or willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer. [/FONT]
(2) Willfully disobeying a lawful order of superior commissioned officer. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years. (3) In time of war. Death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Article 92. Failure to obey order or regulation.[/FONT]
1) Violation or failure to obey lawful general order or regulation. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years. (2) Violation of failure to obey other lawful order. Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Article 94. Mutiny or sedition.[/FONT]
For all offenses under Article 94, death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Article 133. Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.[/FONT]
Dismissal, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for a period not in excess of that authorized for the most analogous (similar) offense for which a punishment is prescribed in this Manual, or, if none is prescribed, for 1 year.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Article 134. General Article.[/FONT] Section 12 - Disloyal statements
Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years.

Our Armed Forces have similiar rules and regs but if none of them are exactly right, you'll always be done on 'conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline", that's the one that'll get you every time, covers everything!

 

[MBuzzy]

Our Armed Forces have similiar rules and regs but if none of them are exactly right, you'll always be done on 'conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline", that's the one that'll get you every time, covers everything!

Not surprising that you do things similarly. The general article, 134 is a catch all and 133 is the Conduct Unbecoming and Officer and a Gentleman article....which of course can cover just about anything!

 

[Tez3]

In many ways it's an unfair rule, service people who are 'done' in a civilian court are often then charged under that rule!