I got a DUI this weekend. What can I expect and what can I do to get through this?

I was going to say that you should self-refer to ASAP as soon as you can -- however, I actually think that it may be too late for you to do this, as I expect your Chain of Command will immediately be referring you there as a result of what happened. I'm not 100% certain so I defer to the others on this thread who know more about this topic than I do. Best of luck to you and I hope and pray that you are able to take a deep breath and get the help you might need for this.

Understand a drunk driver killed 4 members of my family on Mother's Day in 1972. My brother was going to graduate that year but thanks to someone like you who was irresponsible that didn't happen. Destroyed Mothers Day fir the family and nearly destroyed my parents. Nothing like having to identify the body of your dead body.

I got dinged for a DUI in North Carolina 2017, I was sleeping it off in the vehicle, Class C Misdemeanor, 24hrs community service that was waived, $3,120 total cost. Still shows as a DUI but the Army didn't pursue it, I got restricted to barracks 14days then released to my home. It didn't carry over to my home state driving record.

On base or off base? I ask this because on base you may luck out and only have suspension of base driving privileges and a career ending incident. Off base expect fines in the many thousands of dollars along with your drivers license being revoked except for to and from work and then only after you've completed your states driver training courses, which you pay for.

Time to seek an attorney that specializes in drunk driving cases.

FYI = Alcohol used to be used as an anesthetic, but doctors then discovered that it was quite dangerous. Alcohol would successfully put the patient “under,” but it would suppress the patient’s gag reflex, which caused patients to vomit, but it would go down their trachea and cause them to aspirate. This is why alcohol is no longer used as an anesthetic.

Buddy I have a lot to say on this but I will only say this. Lead from the front. You haven't done it.

False Positives, lack of probable cause to perform the traffic stop, material commissions or misstatements of fact in the police report, defective breathalyzer machine or improperly used breathalyzer, "Objective Signs of Intoxication" like red eyes that were used to justify the administering of the Horizontal Eye Nastagmous test and the other components of a field sobriety test; when in fact, your eyes were red because you hadn't slept the night before; maybe the police told you that you werent allowed to refuse the test or didn't tell you that you could have the sample re-tested at an third party facility.... Who knows.....

Improperly Plead Charges in the Criminal Complaint "To Wit" clause and you couldn't understand the charges as read

A charge listed in the arrest report and declaration of probable cause or "P.C Sheet" (Or Probable Cause Affidavit); that said "controlled substance" as opposed to alcohol without Narrative (in the police report or declaration supplement) that articulates facts and circumstances that made it probable that the wrong crime had occurred and that didn't give cause or support for your arrest and detention.

If you were parked outside of the place you were drinking and somebody called the police to report you as a drunk driver and the police took more than a few minutes to arrive and the keys weren't in your hand, you might be able to prove that you showed no intent (as there was ample time to start the car before the police arrived) and thus there wasn't probable cause for your arrest.

You should get an attorney to pull the police officer's records to determine whether or not he was up to date on his training regarding the certifications needed to be able to perform tests on you as well as what "clues" he was trained to look for when he made contact with you, how many clues he was trained to find at minimum prior to arresting someone and whether or not it was possible for the officer to be able to find those clues given the circumstances.

Maybe you swerved out of of your lane because the road was uneven where you swerved and the officer would have known that being parked at that location many times before.

See if there are any records that indicate that the officer that arrested you has violated peoples civil rights before (civil lawsuits or complaints at his department or complaints online).

Look up county court records and figure out how the bulk of the dui cases you see conclude (particularly the ones associated with the prosecutor that filed the original or amended criminal complaint and the judge assigned to your case).

See how many got dropped to wreck-less driving.

Lookup how many years the prosecutor has been a prosecutor (if he's older, it's possible he wouldn't want to have to litigate) and figure out his caseload.... It's likely he has more cases than makes sense and all the private attorneys on his cases will likely be abusing the amount of continuances in order to make the prosecutor have to familiarize and defamiliarize himself with the evidence associated with your case, get a "full discovery" including body cam footage and the test result (if their are any).

It's likely that no-ones watched the body cam footage and that at this point they've just looked at the police report and are scaring you into a plea.

I'm not a lawyer, this isn't legal advice, but it might be a helpful start.

Find a good attorney.

UCMJ action. Field grade Article 15. You know the rest.

Accept responsibility for your actions. Don't try to weasel your way out. Admit you f@cked up and accept the consequences. Art 15, GOMAR, etc. You made the choice, you live with it. If anything, teach your joes and janes to learn from your mistakes. A smart person learns from their mistakes. A wise person learns from the mistakes of others. Help your joes and janes become wise.