Posted on Apr 25, 2018
Can my son fight being chaptered out after drug use and DUI?
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My son is relatively new to the army. He has made a couple of bad choices. He used an illegal drug. It seemed as though the punishment was going to be minor. But a few weeks later he was caught drinking and driving. He was told that he would be transferred to another base and put in Substance Abuse program. Now they are telling him he will probably be chaptered out. Is there anything he can do? I realize you don't know my son and as a dad I am biased but he is really a good kid. Up until these two offenses he had been doing really well. Do they have to give him a chance at rehab before they chapter him out?
Parenting
Drugs
Alcohol
Discharge
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 177
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The decision by your son was unprofessional & unfortunately he wasn’t able to evaluate his behavior before making shut mistakes.
The good news is he will be separated Under Other than Honorable Conditions; Bad Conduct; and Dishonorable.
Based on his discharge he my be able to reverse it after a time period based on his separation.
The Army is real big on discharging folks for bad behavior & Drugs & DUI is what we Consider career killer therefore he will return home.
When one enter the military there are many outstanding Officers as well NCOIC who will always help any soldiers as long he or she approach them with their problems before it get out off control.
He did all the wrong thing the destroy his career, mom isn’t your fault you did your best.
The good news is he will be separated Under Other than Honorable Conditions; Bad Conduct; and Dishonorable.
Based on his discharge he my be able to reverse it after a time period based on his separation.
The Army is real big on discharging folks for bad behavior & Drugs & DUI is what we Consider career killer therefore he will return home.
When one enter the military there are many outstanding Officers as well NCOIC who will always help any soldiers as long he or she approach them with their problems before it get out off control.
He did all the wrong thing the destroy his career, mom isn’t your fault you did your best.
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There isn't anything your son can do to stay in. He violated three major articles of UCMJ: illegal drug use (which the military has a zero tolerance policy), DUI, and disobeying commands by a Commissioned Office. Safety briefs are mandatorily given before every weekend so the soldiers are know what is expected by them. Given the chapter your son will be getting, he will get either a bad conduct or dishonorable discharge.
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I would like to know what happened in this case?
As to the topic itself , the zero-tolerance policies the military have are a bunch of crap. Good soldiers get thrown out for smoking pot? LOL, A joke. The more serious/dangerous drugs , yea I can see . For pot somebody would have to be "stoned" on duty(and therefore a hazard to themselves and others) for me to see kicking them out.
As to DUI , again, if somebody is endangering themselves and others , yes serious crime, and should be kicked out . But too many are for .08-.10 , especially around military bases where cops often pull over servicemen at night and weekends just to see if they can nail them for 2-3 beers, which puts them over the line. Saw that too many times around Ft. Polk .
Both these "drug use" issues need to be judged a case to case basis. The draconian zero-tolerance laws , the military has, are a waste of my tax dollars. A don''t want to see a few 100K of training and months to years of experience , thrown away, because somebody smoked a joint days or weeks before, or blew a BAC of .08 or .10. that is frigging asinine. Sure somebody high or drunk on duty, or "drunk" and hazarding other others on the roads, need to go. Guys catching some "bad luck" , first time ? 2 weeks Extra duty, 2nd time 30, days ED and a rank , 3rd time out. Zero tolerance wastes my taxes and lowers readiness
As to the topic itself , the zero-tolerance policies the military have are a bunch of crap. Good soldiers get thrown out for smoking pot? LOL, A joke. The more serious/dangerous drugs , yea I can see . For pot somebody would have to be "stoned" on duty(and therefore a hazard to themselves and others) for me to see kicking them out.
As to DUI , again, if somebody is endangering themselves and others , yes serious crime, and should be kicked out . But too many are for .08-.10 , especially around military bases where cops often pull over servicemen at night and weekends just to see if they can nail them for 2-3 beers, which puts them over the line. Saw that too many times around Ft. Polk .
Both these "drug use" issues need to be judged a case to case basis. The draconian zero-tolerance laws , the military has, are a waste of my tax dollars. A don''t want to see a few 100K of training and months to years of experience , thrown away, because somebody smoked a joint days or weeks before, or blew a BAC of .08 or .10. that is frigging asinine. Sure somebody high or drunk on duty, or "drunk" and hazarding other others on the roads, need to go. Guys catching some "bad luck" , first time ? 2 weeks Extra duty, 2nd time 30, days ED and a rank , 3rd time out. Zero tolerance wastes my taxes and lowers readiness
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He received an Other than Honorable Discharge with honorable benefits. Best we could have hoped for. He is home working a steady job now and would like to reenlist if possible. None of what he did was done while on duty. The drugs, he himself came forward to his first sergeant about it. He did not test positive on any urine test. DUI was while on base, he was drinking in his own room off duty and a friend that was there asked for a ride home. That's when he was pulled over. None of that excuses what he did and I hope he has learned the lesson that there are consequences to everything we do, good or bad. We will see. Thanks for taking time to respond.
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SPC Christopher Perrien
(Join to see) - And thank you for for replying and putting some more info and some closure . Good to hear he is alright . Sorry this reply took a little while.Regards , Chris
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There are several things he could have done.
1. The military services are known to be zero tolerance on drugs and alcohol abuse. He got caught and was given the chance to rehab. I’m sure he was given a lot of counseling about substance abuse and the consequences of another incident.
2. He then compounded his problem by getting the DUI, you didn’t say if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
He had the chance of rehab, but went out and did it again. While endangering lives in a vehicle.
Your son Is an adult and made adult choices-bad choices. If he were retained in the Army he would make more bad choices and endanger more lives.
1. The military services are known to be zero tolerance on drugs and alcohol abuse. He got caught and was given the chance to rehab. I’m sure he was given a lot of counseling about substance abuse and the consequences of another incident.
2. He then compounded his problem by getting the DUI, you didn’t say if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
He had the chance of rehab, but went out and did it again. While endangering lives in a vehicle.
Your son Is an adult and made adult choices-bad choices. If he were retained in the Army he would make more bad choices and endanger more lives.
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As a former Personel Officer, if the command has started Chapter proceedings, there is no recourse!
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As this string is 6 months old. How did this work out for your son? if you don't mind me asking.
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General Discharge with honorable benefits. Best we could have hoped for. He's had no further incidents and would really like to reenlist but he received a reenlistment code of 3 which I have heard makes it almost impossible for him to get back in so on to the next phase of his life and hopefully he has learned his lesson and won't screw up again. He got home a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for asking.
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SPC Tommy Dean
Thank you sir, for your quick and open response. The "honorable benefits" is a good thing. I used a VA loan for my first home, so at least he'll have that. More often than not, the best lessons we learn in life are learned the hard way. Good luck to you and your son in the future, and thanks for sharing.
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