What is the extent of an article 15?

As far as your CO will take it.

PFC Hale, I hope you see this. What is the extent? I hope you have been walking on water and parting the Red Sea since this post--because more likely than not, an Article 15 can be a career killer.

Failures to report? This early in your enlistment? I served as an active duty Marine for 4 years and four months. I was NEVER late, NEVER absent, NEVER missed a movement of any kind, I knew very few that did. As I spent some 1,580 days that all had responsibilities and the vast majority of them required reporting multiple times and I did so without one failure, I have to conclude that your transgressions stem from your attitude toward your responsibilities. After I was discharged, I went to college and ended up managing people. During those years, I have never seen a case of habitual tardiness or absenteeism corrected, it seems to be in genes so to speak. You are headed for a headlong crash and it won't be pretty. Lot's of luck, but I honestly don't "feel" you are fit for military service. Should you be offered an easy out, you may want to take it.

You're a damn PFC! The only responsibility you have at this point is to be where your're supposed to be at the appointed place of time. If you can't get it you need to lose that stripe! Simple, as to the extent of it, it's called Non Judicial Punishment for a reason. Your CO has to mete out an appropriate sentance for your deficient behavior. Because the interest is on fairness in prosecution, this is done within the constraints of military legal codes, but it is not something that carries forward on your permanent record outside the military realm because your CO is not a judge. Also there are limits to what is imposed under NJP but that limit extends to loss of rank and pay, restriction and punitive separation from the military. You should not be having any problems with reporting for shit as a PFC, maintaining your appearance, and staying out of trouble in town. If life for you under that construct is that damn hard you need to just quit and stop being a burden on your team! Go back and read your Soldier's Handbook and the UCMJ, learn how to carry forward on the right foot and get back on track! Simple! GET BACK IN THE GAME SOLDIER!!

Buy an alarm clock.

Hmmmm well My advice, YOU AND ONLY YOU Need to pull your head out of your back side. Treat a ART. 15 like Felony resisting arrest. Right now you are the bad person and need to become the good and, dependable person, you need to set your sights from being on time to being there early. When your Squad leader and Platoon Sgt. arrives you should be greeting them as everyone else arrives. When you go for your UCMJ punishment be prepare to explain what your going to do to fix YOUR PROBLEM, then DO IT. KNOW, BE, DO. Know what your doing, Be there early, and Do What you Know is right. Extent of the article? This depends on the Chain of Command and they will make recommendations based from over all conduct. Failing to be on time is only one item, by what I see in your post you have more problems than just being on time. Being late Multiple times shows a I do not care attitude. Making a Joke at this point about being a Jedi tells me you not taking this or your time in the Military Seriously. Reach down and pull your Head Outta your Read end and start becoming A Soldier.

SOldier, it don't sound to me much like you've accepted your end of the mess. Just accepted that inevitably, you're going to be punished.

If you're up on an Article 15, and still in AIT...well, the reason to keep it as an article 15, is unless you're NCO or above...it effectively "falls off your record"...you fucked up as a tadpole soldier, took your knocks, and learned (hopefully)...that's what being a non-deployed enlisted below NCO really is...routine tasks and training, and taking fucked up little boys and girls who still think like civilians, DESPITE the training they have received, and reiterating training and instillation of discipline until it sticks properly...which is part of the reason a major part of the punishment for n article 15 is loss of rank, for an EM.

It never TRULY falls off your record, as promotions and loss of rank stay in your jacket...but a couple early on in your history don't make you a "bad soldier", necessarily...just says you screwed the pooch, but not badly enough to be jailed or thrown out, just to get a punishment rather fitting for someone who has screwed up in the "juvenile" ways most low ranking EM's get themselves article'd over...missed movement because you slept through an unfamiliar alarm, because you met a pair of college roommates who are both DTF, fistfight that the other guy is NOT willing to say was a matter of having tripped while helping "clean the latrine", similar...just dumb, young crap.

At Field Grade level...you're looking at back down to E-1, 6 weeks of "extra duty", restricted to battalion area for 6 weeks...doesn't affect you much, you're in AIT, and on duty 24/7, technically, anyhow, and restricted to company area, if not accompanied by instructors if your specialty's AIT works at ALL like Infantry AIT did in the late 80's...just means you're going to do a lot of more menial chores...like the stereotypical KP, or Smag's detail, picking up cigarette butts and trash from battalion area for hours. The loss of half a month's pay (at E-1 rate) for two months running sucks IMMEDIATELY (and is what usually leaves its mark on the punished soldier), but if you're still in training...you aren't even really heavily impacted by that, if you're single.

At company level...loss of one grade, 2 weeks extra duty, two weeks restriction to company area, two weeks' pay....and every damned shit detail Top can find for you...and believe me, First Sergeant's even "better" at finding them than Smaj...your fuckup marks HIS effectiveness, directly...you screwed HIM, personally. Smaj...you're just another kid soldier...his job is to manage the battalion's NCOs and the top of "middle management". That's why, at field grade, your LT, Cpt, First Sgt, and platoon sgt are all likely to be present...they are all the links between you, who screwed the pooch, and him...these are the people he HAS to consult, because THEIR job IS to know you...so they can advise the Col and Smaj as to whether THEY think you're recoverable, or not...which, in the end, makes up the difference between 6 weeks of suckage and some rank to regain, or a conduct discharge without courts-martial...Top and Cpt say they can make a decent soldier out of you, DESPITE your very obvious flaws...you stay. They shake their heads, Col is going to ask Smaj how sure he is you're a lost cause...if Smaj says you are, you are done. If Smaj says he thinks you can be saved, even though your immediate superiors don't...Col thinks it over a bit, and decides based on his opinion of that Smaj as a senior NCO.

Basically, kiddo, what I'm saying is you screwed up damned well...and your life's currently in the hands of people who will have to be advised by people you haven't been PERMITTED to grow familiar with, in most ways, and who don't get to interact with you the way a normally assigned senior of their position get to interact with THEIR junior enlisteds...

However, as long as nobody's said "court martial", best case is loss of rank, 2 weeks' "chores" and "grounding", and loss of two weeks' pay, worst case is discharged with OTH or LTH at E-1, AFTER you've done your extra duty and restriction, and lost the pay....with a "no reenlistment" mark on your record, should you decide you fucked up, and try again. Frankly on a failure to report...which sounds an awful lot like "AWOL, but did it while under orders to report to a new location" to me...and if I'm reading that right...well, sorry, I don't have much sympathy...that's DODGING your duty...which you took on voluntarily, when you enlisted. Honestly, I don't know how any Col or Smaj I ever met could allow that to stand...so if they are still anything like the senior NCOs and command officers I recall....I'd be expecting field grade, with OTH or LTH after your loss of rank, and "grounding"...but that's seen from the perspective of a Storm era vet, not Freedom or later.

PFC, I can only give you an old veterans advice. Do not dwell on your past mistakes but instead, focus on what you need to do to complete your goals in life, moving forward. We all make mistakes. Hopefully you learn from this and accept their consequences as a tool to enable you in your future endeavors. If you choose to become a soldier, do it earnestly. Buy in to all of the training and requirements that will make you ready for service. This is not a game. The training will save your life and the lives of those around you.

I guess going through OSUT for infantry I'm confused how you can be late to a formation in AIT, but it really seems like a problem you shouldn't be having. That being said your punishment wont ruin your career, its formation... sometimes people are late in their line units, it happens. What will ruin your career is if it continues. The military really is the easiest job in the world. Show up on time in the right uniform and you'll be alright.

Two questions. How do you make PFC with less than 3 months in Army? You've been through Basic and now AIT. Plus you are a screw up. AIT was not quiet as bad as Basic but as I recall, the lights were turned on, a whistle blown and the day started. An alarm clock was not needed. Has the Army changed that much?