Article 15 - how would you respond if PVT Snuffy made a good argument for a partially suspended punishment?

MAJ Jeffrey Frankart The comment about varying inputs from the chain of command is troubling - why do they not speak as a single voice? Is there a degree of communications failure on their part that resulted in the Article 15 getting to the command level in the first place? The original question is valid, however, and I think that for PVT Snuffy to request partial suspension shows a significant degree of maturity, and opens the door for some negotiation about the degree of suspension (if any) that might be granted, and under what conditions.

SP5 (Join to see) - Perhaps I should clarify - this is all hypothetical. As a company commander, if your 1SG has a strong opinion one way or the other, obviously that would carry a lot of weight. If the entire COC agrees, then that makes the decision a bit easier. If the PL and the PSG both make convincing but respectfully contradictory arguments, how do you treat that? I'm also assuming (but did not explicitly say) these discussions are not happening in the presence of Snuffy.

Any decision on Article 15 needs to consider the input of the NCO supervisors, in particular the Squad/Section leader and Platoon Sgt. OTOH, it's still the commanders decision and if this were the first time that individual had been in front of me and his record was clean, I would seriously consider suspension AND keeping it in the local personnel files instead of allowing it on his Fiche. I don't know why the soldier in question requesting a suspension should be an issue, the commands ability to do so is clearly stated in any military articles on the subject. I have to agree with SSG Howell, it can be an effective deterrent to further "bad" behavior as long as it is long enough show behavior change but not long enough to be a separate punishment.

When I was a PSG in TRADOC we often found ourself a at a point where it the PSG vs the 1SG in who could make the best case. Yes the soldiers we were there for messed but but we had a Frocked 1SG who was all about heming up every soldier he could and making examples of them. We would be one the ones asking for more appropriate punishments for the soldiers instead of maxing them all out. I will give it to our CO he recognized this and was usually very fair in the punishments handed out.