Reprimand Appeals
In this era of military downsizing, a reprimand for an officer or senior enlisted service member can be a career killer. For officers, a reprimand in any branch can lead to promotion problems and grade review boards at retirement. For an enlisted member, a reprimand can create retention issues.
Each of the branches has very different reprimand appeals procedures. So it’s important to work with an attorney with knowledge of the process.
- Army Regulation 600-37 – Unfavorable Information
- Navy and Marine Corps JAGINST 5800.7F – See paragraph 0105
This discussion is about non punitive letters of reprimand. In all branches of service, the authority to issue a reprimand resides with the immediate commander, school commandant, or any general officer or officer with general court-martial convening authority. It should be noted that the Navy and Marine Corps are not as liberal as the other branches in imposing non punitive letters of caution. The Navy and Marine Corps also have different filing standards – they are usually locally filed as a matter of practice.
After a commander decides to impose a reprimand, each branch of a service has a referral process in which the member is afforded the right to respond to the reprimand. It is important to consult with counsel at this stage. Often, inexperienced military counsel advise members to accept responsibility for any alleged misconduct – regardless of whether they are in fact responsible for the allegations. “Falling on your sword” is not always the best course of action. It is prudent to at least discuss the consequences. If you are not guilty of alleged misconduct and you accept responsibility, the appeal will become more difficult.
The first stage in a reprimand appeal is to request the immediate commander to consider either not imposing a reprimand or filing the reprimand locally. Lawyers can assist in analyzing the facts, law, regulations, and drafting persuasive memorandum to facilitate local filings or better.
