Did you get an Article 15? What was yours for?

I received a bullshit Article 15 while in Bosnia for the second deployment as a K9 MP in 98. While on mission to Camp McGovern myself and another handler were called to deploy to Croatia with two EOD techs along with our translator. This was a time when your directions were written on a MRE box and wouldn't ya know it we got lost and the mission took longer than the EOD guys thought. We did not take our K9's as this was only suppose to take about 12 hours. Both dogs were in huge fence kennels about 6x6x8 inside a wood sided GP medium tent with a hard door locked totally secured. We contacted our kennel master in Tuzla (worthless E7) who said ok,we told her the dogs had 5 gallon buckets of water and were fed in the morning she said all good no worries. On our way back the next morning we had to stop at a weapons cachet that was found and myself and the other handler received a radio call to get back to McGovern ASAP ! we sped back and were told to report to the CSM's office where's we were told our dogs kept him up all night, we said how's that and we were told he posted guards at the door of the tent. Me being a smart ass said well that's why they barked all night I never told anyone to do that (I was flexing my awesome Cpl. stripes). Out of the blue this asshat recited part of the K9 AR stating K9's would receive fresh water every 8 hours. Again flexing these worthless stripes said hiwbtge hell didbyuu find the AR I have been looking for one for over a year. After I was told to shut up and get off his camp we left for Tuzla. Upon arrival back out Kennel Master escorted us to the 1st ID company where awaited for me was a nice Article 15 that said 1 month loss in pay suspended, demotion in rank suspended and 2 weeks extra duty. Top said sign it and get ready to pick up trash on base camp in uniform with your dog, I'm tired of you guys thinking you run shit. I asked if I could speak to someone from JAG and he said I had one hour or no suspensions for anything. I left and went to speak to someone in the makeshift legal office. I told them I had a signed copy of my R&R paperwork and didn't want to miss seeing my two kids. He laughed and said it's signed I said yes and he said gonsign it say nothing of it and go R&R so I did. I returned from R&R 16 days later and when I got back was told I was F-ed Top wanted my ass on a plate. I went to the JAG office before going and a nice Warrent Officer escorted me to Tops office. Top was pissed and started yelling at me and the JAG told him I did nothing wrong and he could do nothing to me.. Aparently Top didn't consider my extra duty started the day I signed and since he didn't resend my leave I was free from all punishment. Well needless to say that went over like a fart in church and was officially the first guy to get kicked out of Bosnia. The Sgt. I was with didn't sign and requested a court martial, 5 months later he left Bosnia with no punishment he said it was the best 5 months of his deployment he sat on his ass and got paid lots of money...

Back when I was enlisted and stationed with the 1st Infantry on Ft. Riley I had to do a pt test in February. Well, running was never my favorite activity and I liked even less in the winter. My buddy and I jumped in a taxi and got a ride to just around the corner of the finish. We waited until the appropriate time, jumped out and hugged and puffed across the line. We thought we were good to go. A call into the 1st SGT office proved otherwise. Someone tatted us out. Top thought it was funny but the CO had other thoughts. That was the first time I lost my Spc4.

Got mine in Graf Germany in 1975, there for 179 days for bgd 75. Wreckless operation of an ARAAV M551 Sheridan tank. Came out of the 266 motor pool with the TC sitting on top of the hatch making the corner drifting with about a 60-foot rooster tail. Had that bad boy doing it's deal. Then the XO came in a Jeep and we passed him. Got a $75 fine, lateral transfer from Corporal to Spec 4. I was the listed TC. And then the big laugh was they made me the driver. Didn't figure it out for 2 months that I was articled for reckless driving. So they made me the loader.

Whew Here goes! I was a PFC had been on tanks in West Germany, - Mannheim about a year, Jan 1987 ,
Well I had to go to West Berlin(before the wall fell) for 45 days with our 2nd platoon of ass-kissing backstabbers. Was a fill-in for a driver slot because they did not have 4 full tanks crews (16 men people, they had 15). Once a year , a 4 tank platoon replaces the Berlin brigade's tanks (22) "Battalion" ,while they go do gunnery at Graf in West Germany. Nobody wanted to go with these A-holes even though it was Berlin(party town) . But my unit needed somebody to go with them and my CO/Captain asked me personally (I Told my Captain they would "screw" me and I asked for an AAM,,an Occupation medal , and a 4 day pass when I got back and that he would squash any BS they wrote me up for) , He said "DEAL!" . Anyway, Went to Berlin with these clowns, while in Berlin(Lichterfeld Barracks ;) ), was not woke up sleeping in our barrack's room on the morning of a NATO wide alert(my tank commander(SSG was CQ that morning too-i.e. setup) anyway 10 minutes late to get on truck to go to motor pool. Get there, prick Lieutenant told me he was going to give a summary Article 15 , which would be a later Field Grade for being late for NATO level alert in Berlin. It is about 5am dawn , cold as hell 6 inches of ice. So SSG send me to stand Guard at Motorpool Gate. There I am , Hungover , pissed off , 300 page CEOI) standing in snow, and two sedan carloads of hi-Brass pulls up , Bird Colonel , 1 star, cpt.s maj.s, etc. The Bird Colonel got out I said the challenge , the Colonel came back with wrong pass word . Not my day. LOL.
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So I repeat it , He still came back with wrong one. I told Colonel , I know you are real Colonel with General so and so, and I showed him relevant CEOI page and he had his. Well by looking at both I noticed the date ? and periods? did not match, and actually found the right page on his , and show him. Well I told him I would lock gate and go get my Lt. LOL . Anyway told this fool Lt I had a general locked out of gate and he needs to come up there. he gets there , i am standing with him, this colonel , and these brass showing him why I cant let this General through the gate . He is holding our CeOI confused as hell, And this colonel tells this LT. "Let this private(ME-PFC at time) explain it to you!" I got him straight , and let general,colonel ,ect in to inspect our platoon or whatever they did , I , of course I was still at gate. They drove back out few minutes later.

So later that day of course this LT and their SFC and this SSG , all write me up for that BS article 15 . I am restricted to barracks extra duty , 14days , all that an LT can write up himself. I am mopping near front CQ desk about 3-4 people standing there that night (since I was on extra duty and could not go downtown) that Lt comes up to me and say this Art 15 will be up graded to a Field Grade art-15 when we get back to our battalion(normal punishment for missing a NATO alert in Berlin). That was when I explained to this "trucker" , "If you bring this chit up when we get back, you will find out who has friends and who doesn't !" he went off in a huff
continued...

A next day or so, this SSG (my tank commander at the time) comes up to me and say I got a call from Berlin Brigade headquarters , I was given a Certificate of Appreciation by the Berlin Brigade Commanding General (3 Star General IIRC) for discovering that CEOI problem, turns out somehow I was the first person to notice it and "report" it in any NATO unit that morning , and the problem would have prevented any unit in Europe from talking to another, including other branches and country forces, calling in airstrikes , everything. Later I was toild I was mentioned by name in the NATO "orders of the day" which is "rare" for almost anyone . I still got the very Fancy Certificate and a Berlin Brigade Coin. Nice memories

Well about two three days after that , my TC ordered new LRF cables for his tank(M60A3) , they had been torn for years and the tank was deadlined all that time and could not shoot , but this SSG would never order them because it was 3 cables that cost $27000 , and our higher supply would not authorize them, but in Berlin you could order any tank part and it would be there the next morning! Well he got these cables and he was "scared" to put them in and we had no authorized turret mechanic who was the only people supposed to do that kind of maintenance. Any way I got out my knife started cutting and pulling wiring harness , and then put these three new cables in. Took a couple hours maybe four . But i put them in , and he turned on his ballistic computer and LRF and everything worked. And this tank had not shot gunnery in years. Talk about one happy tank commander.
After that he started treating me different since i did that and the CEOI thing , and that I knew my shit, so he ignored supervising me for that extra duty after that, So I only ended up restricted 3-4 days IIRC.

And when we got back to our unit in the West , nothing was ever said about me missing that alert.
And the day after we got back,first formation the next morning Everyone who went to Berlin got the Occupation medal and also an AAM , however then (as I had my deal with my CO and 1st SGT and they were good for their word). I walk away from the awards formation I went inside the barracks and changed to civvies and I was walked out the gate on my four-day pass, while that platoon of kiss-asses was standing in company formation to go to the motor pool . Purposely walked right in front of them in my Rayban's and black leather jacket to rub it in. Had to demonstrate they simply were not on the same plane as I or my section was. LOL

Was a good day, as was the day i got that Article 15 (Jan 87 IIRC)

Hi Speed Lo Drag, First Sergeant !


My other article 15 story is a good story as well, except I got an ARCOM that same day, LOL
I may type it sometime

I received an company grade Article 15 for missing formation for a Bridgade run. I lived off post and over slept. I was given 30 days extra duty. Topp (1Sgt) worked my ass off. I had to mow all around of our Battalion motor pool, I swept the Dental parking lot across from the Barracks, I had to strip and wax the floors in the company barracks and offices. Topp wore my ass out.

Fresh out of jump school, i couldnt have been at Ft. Bragg 2 months, still 18 years old. I was put on division guard duty, 24 hours on 24 off, out of the 24 on you only worked 8, the rest of the time you had to hang around the guard shack( barracks). I got lucky and pulled 2nd shift got off at like 11pm and a bunch of the other guys asked if i wanted to go to the flaming mug for 5 cent draft night. Mind you we were not supposed to leave the guard shack for more than an hour at a time, has to sign in and out. I went with them and got rocked, dont remeber much about coming bavk to the barracks but im sure it was more than an hour . About 4 in the morning i get woken up and told i had division flag detail, raise the flag infront if HQ. So i go and being the shortest one there, im the one who hooks up the flag, which i did, upside down. We raise it, no one notices right away, then a 2 star general comes hauling ass outta hq. Underage drinking, drunk on duty, falsification of records ( the sign out sheet) damn near got kicked outta the army. Spent 90 days mowing the same patch of lawn over and over again, cleaning the damn plastic weapons mounted on the wall.

I took a Taxi home from a field operation in Graf after being told I was done with my orders

I got a field grade for striking an NCO. I had a really bad attitude because there was a lot of bad blood between my section sergeant and I. It came to a head after about 6 months when he chewed me out for yet another petty reason, I told him to F off, and he started to beat the hell out of me. It was a case of self defense, but I was basically a sh**bag so my side of it wasn't listed to. I got the max from the BN CDR, and 7 months later chaptered out. Spent 9 years getting my act together and then given a waiver to come back in right after 9/11. I am now eligible for retirement, a SFC, and have some insight into how to lead troops. I have drawn on the experience to deal with nonperforming soldiers, and have been able to turn a few around. I think some of what I learned from that experience helped me become a better leader, and has contributed to being rated the best NCO in my company by my rater (1SG) last year.

I was the HHC XO in my BN IN Germany. My Company Commander went home on emergency leave. As a newly promoted 1LT I was dumbstruck that one As allowed to assume command ofnthw company.
Our medics rotated through the BN and the Kaserne Dispensary. One of those medics was to go and wash the Ambulance and restock it. All well and good. Well he got hungry and started thinking. " I've got wheels; I don't have to go to the Mess hall." He took the ambulance off post to a small Gasthaus.
His problem was the the SFC started looking for him as he was gone too long. He checked the wash bay and could see that he wasn't there. He checked a couple of other places with the same result.
The SFC called the 1SG. He hadn't seen him either. When I got back to the Company from a Staff Meeting I got briefed.
After an hour and a half the Ambulance mysteriously appears. But PFC Dipshit is now where to be found. The SFC calls the 1ST they found him he was sleeping off his lunch in a waiting room adjacent to the clinics.
You guessed it, Art 15 time. He chose a court martial.

The Navy's equivalent is Captain's Mast. I went twice. The first one was because I prank called pizza to my ex girlfriend's stepdad, who was an E4 in the Coast Guard and made a fuss. My dumbass forgot to use star 67 to block my number and the number on the order went straight to voicemail. The 2nd one was more serious. I was trying to go home on emergency leave due to my grandfather at the time looking like he was going to die. The Navy part of my command supported me but this Army Sergeant First Class kept being a prick saying he would not approve it. I went above him and got approval. I went to my barracks room and tore it apart looking for my drivers license so I could get a rental car. He comes to my room in the middle of this and fails me for a room inspection. I told him to fuck off and go jump off a bridge. Then he picks me up from the airport and pops a room inspection on me upon arrival knowing full well I had not been back yet to fix my room. When he did this I again told him to go fuck himself and said I'd escort him to a bridge for him to jump if he didn't go to hell and leave me alone. The 2nd mast got me put out, but the CO was understanding so she put me in a concurring program for alcoholism and depression, which I successfully completed to get my Honorable. Hence why I was only an E2 when I left.