Sgt. Dumbass Manages To Get The Whole Mall Shut Down

[Vonz90]

I knew some enlisted guys who were headed to A'stan about the same time as I was. They were issued their gear including M4s but had to catch a commercial flight to meet up with the rest of their group to take a charter from there.

Well the powers that be forgot to issue them airline cases and they did not know to ask for them. So they wandered into the airport with their M4s slung over their shoulders with their other gear and got the airport locked down. They were arrested and handed over to the DOD once they figured out what was going on.

To my knowledge none of them were punished for it.

[Aesop]

Which illustrates the difference between dumbassery you were performing under orders from higher authority (that example was a leadership failure, not a culpable brain fart on the part of the arrestees), as opposed to the kind you do all by your lonesome.

Like trotting to the mall in full battle rattle to get your pics snapped.

[MiddleAgedKen]

There is only one part of this that blows my mind:

A fucking SERGEANT?!

We had an E-5 in my squadron drive from New Mexico to Pennsylvania to play in a golf match to get experience towards earning his pro card. Then he ordered one of the E-4s in his shop to cover for him when he knew he wasn't going to make it back in time for midnight shift assembly. Said E-4 asked me what to do, I told him to tell the truth ahead of formation to avoid getting in trouble himself. The E-5 found himself busted to E-3 and refused any opportunity to re-enlist. A line number for E-6, loss of Red X orders and 13 years in the service all found themselves accelerating towards light speed down the crapper.

So, yes, I can see a Sergeant doing something this dumb.

For those of us not in the know, how does that compare to the consequences of, "Hey, I'm on my way back but I'm afraid I won't be back in time for midnight shift assembly?"

[JAG2955]

There is only one part of this that blows my mind:

A fucking SERGEANT?!

We had an E-5 in my squadron drive from New Mexico to Pennsylvania to play in a golf match to get experience towards earning his pro card. Then he ordered one of the E-4s in his shop to cover for him when he knew he wasn't going to make it back in time for midnight shift assembly. Said E-4 asked me what to do, I told him to tell the truth ahead of formation to avoid getting in trouble himself. The E-5 found himself busted to E-3 and refused any opportunity to re-enlist. A line number for E-6, loss of Red X orders and 13 years in the service all found themselves accelerating towards light speed down the crapper.

So, yes, I can see a Sergeant doing something this dumb.

For those of us not in the know, how does that compare to the consequences of, "Hey, I'm on my way back but I'm afraid I won't be back in time for midnight shift assembly?"

It's about ten thousand times worse. Give or take an order of magnitude. Not kidding.

[MiddleAgedKen]

Thanks kindly. That is helpful.

[JAG2955]

Thanks kindly. That is helpful.

Let's say he gets Squadron NJP (Non-Judicial Punishment). I'm assuming the Squadron CO is at least a field grade officer, because...he would be, unless there's some really crazy stuff going on.

Here's the max punishments, which I'd recommend that he gets:
-45 days restriction with extra duties (confinement to base, essentially, checking in with the duty probably about 5 times a day, with extra duties like cleaning the heads, mopping floors, etc. I always liked having them wipe down every chair in the auditorium)
-Forfeiture of 1/2 months pay for 2 months. Right now for a Sergeant (E-5) that would be about $1,290 each month for two months. The exact amount depends on how long he's been in the service.
-He can be busted down a single rank, to E-4.

The real killer is that in today's world, it's a career ender. No more reenlistments, if you are pending, you'll be out the door instead of being retained. If this has been his second NJP, you could push for administrative separation as a pattern of misconduct. Of course, if he's been NJP'd before, they may push for a court martial. I doubt it, as they're more work. The fun part is when you can convince them to accept a summary court martial instead of NJP (Why do they ever agree to that?), and then the max punishments jump, but just a little. But it's also one officer as judge, jury, and executioner.

[JAG2955]

Let me add that's just the legal side.

On the administrative side, he's getting an adverse fitrep. That'll follow him forever. Some employers will ask for your last few years of fitreps or so. He'll get a bad reenlistment code, so even if he gets out and tries to get back in, even in another branch of the service, he won't be able to.

Then there's whatever his SNCO/Company grade officer will decide to inflict on him. It's much harder now to do the "effective" things due to everything being considered hazing. I knew a MSgt who had a great story about guys being dummy-corded to their swim buddy with a length of 550 cord. If they really screwed up, they dummy-corded them with a 20' length of 4" line, which they had to carry around the whole working day.