How common is a Field Grade Article 15 for first offenses (minor)?

Contact TDS again and make sure you understand the Article 15 process and the process for an appeal. An Article 15 is non-judicial punishment, a Judge Advocate will not represent you and a Civilian Attorney can not act in their capacity as an attorney other than to speak on your behalf which in my opinion is a waste of money. You can however present matters in your defense and matters in mitigation. You can request persons to speak on your behalf, these persons can be witnesses to the event, or persons who will represent your good conduct and character to your CO. Your first line leader is usually there with you, commanders usually like to ask them questions about the Soldier. Performance, etc.

You shouldn't post what the event was here, make sure you contact TDS again. I'm not going to tell you that you can get out of this but don't walk in without the knowledge that you need and not be prepared to present your case to your CO.

Not knowing the allegation or circumstances there is no advice to give.

This isn't the best advice you can get, but...
You can always refuse Article 15 proceedings and demand a court martial.
NCO's don't judge me, you know someone was going to say it.

All I will say is you don’t have to agree to accept an Art 15 and can choose a CM. You should be sure you can win and pay a cub attorney who knows the mil system and go for it.

You've been read what your are accused of in the FG Article 15. You then availed yourself of proper legal advice, several times by your comments. Sounds like you are handling it professionally. As others have said, you can either take the Article 15 or push to have it be full on CM. Before you do any such move you need to seriously seek counsel and not just a JAG, but a consultation with a civilian that is qualified and knowledgeable and you need to be fully aware of the impact to your career should this go adversely.

As others have said, don't discuss the details on here and if the person you do take advice from is not a practicing lawyer and well versed in UCMJ and military proceedings, ignore them as they will just end up getting you well and truly smoked.

Best of luck to you.

2 things: Get off the internet with this. Go see your JAG. #2: there are a fuckton of senior NCO's walking around with article 15's under their belt. Unless it's sexual or drug-related in nature, it's not a career-ender.

First, you are on the BC's radar as an E-3. No matter how you slice it, that is a negative. Don't downplay what happened. The BC won't.
Second, what ever it was is big enough to pull out the possibility of a Field Grade A15. This is not a small thing, and can badly harm a career with QMP down the line. Consider your options carefully.
Third, as to you direct question about commonality on first offence, that will vary by command. Some units use A15s to solve order and discipline issues, others prefer other methods. I fall in the latter camp, but you don't work for me.

Now to advice.
Go to TDS.
View your options and determine how much risk you can stomach. If the facts are with you, then get your act together and face the accusers in whatever forum the BC uses.
Consider getting a consult with a private attorney. Retaining one is costly. But maybe less than the stakes of a FGA15.
Keep any information pertaining to facts of the case off of this forum.

Good luck

I've been out of the loop for so long, I don't have a clue. But the level of discipline has been lowered, it's hard to determine where the lines are drawn. My ex wife was Navy and she was stationed aboard a Destroyer Tender. While out in the Red Sea, her shop Co. Started giving her problems. She wrote me ( no cell phones or internet ) very upset and on the verge of crying. I wrote the ships Captain, I was respectful, and Disciplined in my communication with him. The captain wrote me back and said he appreciated my concern, and that he would investigate the matter. When they returned to Charleston S.C. her shop Co was waiting for me. He offered me his sincere apology. We shook hands, I rendered the proper salute and everyone was satisfied. He was a young lieutenant JG just trying to prove himself and he just went a little overboard. But a week later my squadron CO received a letter from the captain with a copy of my letter my CO called me up to his office. And hes day to me he didn't know whether the court martial me or whoop my a**. He said he was very impressed with my letter would if I ever have a problem like that again to Use the chain of command, Any dismiss me and told me to get out of his office. I say all that so you may want to think maybe this young lieutenant is just trying to prove himself, And you might have stepped out of line which a more seasoned officer would have just snapped you back and talk to you. Whereas this officer wants to put the hammer down, Don't listen to rumors about his character just like you don't want people listening to rumors about your character. I don't know if you are spiritual person and believe in God but maybe you can talk to you of Chaplin, Chaplains have more pool than a lot of people think because they fall into a specific area that even line officers do not want to offend the chaplain, Plus chaplains have very little to gain as far as moving up in the ranks and actually commanding units. Their motivation is to keep good harmony in order for everyone officer and enlisted alike.

Then refuse the Article 15 and go to court martial if you feel that strongly about this.

Man if you went straight to a field grade, whatever the offense claimed against you isn’t light, and you more than likely have done this before. You mentioned female combat arms. Without the full details I feel a problem right there. I’ve seen female Soldiers disrespected in many ways to include sexual harassment/assault. Backed up by ‘physical evidence’....if that involves a woman, that in itself is extremely bad. Only a few charges around that involve that. You can be the biggest stud there is. Know your job forward and backwards, but that only means you’re ‘stellar’ in one aspect. NOT the 360 degree Soldier. I’m wondering how long have you been in, what do your previous 4856’s say about you to include past units, and when using the 360 degree total Soldier concept, what is wrong, what went wrong, and can you be saved career wise? That’s either in the Army or as a civilian. Anything you type on here CAN and WILL be used against you. If I were in your shoes, I’d delete this thread, delete my profile and go see legal again and figure out the best course forward. Physical evidence does NOT sound good. BTW someone from your unit should live told you NOT to do what you just did in asking this question on a public forum. The Army is NOT that big, and someone on here knows someone in your chain of command latterly or in a leadership position. Get off RP now please