The Court-Martial of Airman First Class Douglas M Barnes

I am proud to say that I am a veteran of the U.S.Air Force. I did six weeks of basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas, and then eight month at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, for electronics school. The Air Force has the shortest basic training (6 weeks) of all the armed forces, the reason being that the Air Force continues "basic-style training" in tech school. This is OK for many career fields, such as administrative specialists, who go to school for only a few weeks. Electronic schools ranged from six months to a year. My school was eight month, and although the training was not as strict, it got old quickly.

To relieve the stress, you could get a week-end pass, which meant after duty on Friday you could leave the base and did not have to return until Sunday evening. Many of us did, and it was on such a week-end pass that the "incident" that resulted in my being court-martialed occurred.

Most of us on week-end pass took a room at the Orville Hotel, which primarily catered to Air Force students on week-end pass. Obviously, there was a fair amount of alcohol involved during the weekends, but as long as the festivities remained at an acceptable level, the night manager turned a blind eye to the heathenism. On the night that the "incident" that resulted in my being court-martialed occurred, the festivities passed the limit of acceptability, and the night manager was required to call the police.

Not the local police, but the SPs!

For those who do not know, SPs (Security Police) are Air Force Cops, the equivalent of MPs in the other branches of the military.

And it was on the night that the "incident" that resulted in my being court-martialed occurred that the SPs arrived at the Orville Hotel, and I was arrested. I was not part of the "altercation" that required the night manager to call the SPs. Those individuals were on the other side of the Orville Hotel. After the SPs apprehended the altercators, two of the six SPs (seven, if you count the Master Sergeant who oversaw the operation) made a sweep of the Orville Hotel to insure no other altercators had evaded their detection and to insure all other military personal were festivating within the limits of acceptability.




Garrison Cap

It was at this time that the "incident" that resulted in my being court-martialed occurred. I was playfully chasing a half dressed local female down the hallway. She was ahead of me, and turned the corner and disappeared from sight. I rounded the corner and found myself face to face with the two SPs. who promptly arrested me. Not for chasing the half dressed local female, which (to my knowledge) was neither against the law or violated any military regulations  (except possibly Article 134 of the UCMJ, the catch-all article). I was arrested because at the time I was chasing the half dressed local female, and came face to face with the SPs, I was only wearing my dress shoes and my garrison cap.

I was permitted to recover the rest of my clothing before I was taken back to base. I was surrendered to the duty NCO at my squadron, who promptly confined me to quarters. End of week-end pass.

The commander of our squadron was a Captain who, although an excellent administrative officer during time of peace, would not have inspired a lot of confidence during wartime. He was very punctual, and arrived at the squadron CQ at precisely oh eight hundred (that's 8 am for civilians). At oh eight ten, I was summoned to the CQ - the ten minutes included the time he needed to read the report, and drink a cup of coffee. I reported at oh eight fifteen. I was quickly ushered in to the Captains office, and the discussion began.

The "discussion" lasted 42 minutes, and was fairly one sided - my input was limited to the occasional "Yes, Sir" and "No, Sir" as required by his questions. I won't repeat the whole conversation, but the Captain did make it clear to me that my behavior embarrasses not only him, but the squadron, the base, the Air Force, the military as a whole, the President (Ronald Reagan), God, and my country.

The Captain was, however, not entirely correct. The squadron, being composed mostly of beer-drinking airmen in student status, was actually proud of my behavior, but I felt it prudent not to inform the Captain of his error. And I doubt Ronald Reagan ever knew who I was.

The "discussion" concluded with the Captain handing me the paperwork for an Article 15. The charge: Improper wear of the uniform in violation of Air Force regulation 35-10.

All GIs are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ. An article 15 is a non-judicial punishment (NJP) in the United States Armed Forces is a form of military justice authorized by Article 15 of the UCMJ. Non-judicial punishment or permits commanders to administratively discipline troops without a court-martial. Punishment can range from reprimand to reduction in rank, correctional custody, loss of pay, extra duty, and/or restrictions. The receipt of non-judicial punishment does not constitute a criminal conviction (it's equivalent to a civil action), but is often placed in the service record of the individual.

Article 134, which I mentioned earlier, known as the General Article (or the Devil's article) reads as follows:

Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special, or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court.

Or translated into simple English: Even though we do not have a specific rule against it, if you did it, and we don't like what you did, you are in trouble.

But I digress.

One is not obligated to accept an Article 15, but it is usually a good idea because the next step is a court-martial. Usually, the person who is being offered the article 15 is guilty, and by taking the article 15 he will receive a lighter sentence than if he wasted everyone's time with a court martial. For those of you with experience with the court system, it is more or less the equivalent of a plea bargain.

I, however, did not accept the article 15.

"With due respect," I said. "Am I correct in believing that I am not  required to accept this?"

The Captain looked at me, somewhat confused. The possibility that I would not hadn't occurred to him, and he was a bit unprepared on how to proceed.

"You are aware, Airman, that if you refuse, this will proceed to court-martial?"

"Yes, Sir" I replied.

The discussion continued another 8 minutes, with the Captain urging me to reconsider. He even switched from "commander to subordinate" mode to more of a "kindly uncle giving good advice" mode, but I held firm. Finally, he was forced to concede defeat, and I was dismissed.

I was invited to the JAG officer two days later, where I met with a JAG officer, who explained the procedure of the court-martial. I won't go into the details. The officer told me that I was entitled to legal council, which I refused. I told him I would represent myself.

The look on his face was, well, unique. He went straight to "kindly uncle giving good advice" mode (something about "defending yourself" and "fool for a client"), but I held my ground, and like the commander he gave up, and I was dismissed.

The court-martial occurred one week later - military justice is swift. As I entered the room, I realized a slight flaw in my defence plan. I was told by the JAG officer that I would be tried by a jury of my peers. My definition of "peers" were 9 beer-drinking airmen in student status. The jury I was facing did not contained a single student! In fact, it was entirely NCOs, ranging from a buck sergeant on his second term to a Senior Master Sergeant approaching his 30th year on active duty.

I was formally charged with improper wear of the uniform in violation of Air Force regulation 35-10. The prosecutor presented his case to the court, detailing my actions. The evidence was primarily written statements, two from the SPs who arrested me, one from the Orville Hotel night manager, and one from the half dressed local female I was chasing at the time of my arrest (apparently, the SPs caught up with her, something I failed  to do). He concluded by stating just how my actions embarrassed the base, the Air Force, and the military as a whole - much as my commander had, except he left out my squadron and Ronald Reagan.

My own defence was short, and went like this:

"Gentlemen. I have never disputed the facts in the case presented against me. I do freely admit that the events presented by the prosecutor did in fact occur. However, I dispute that any wrong doing occurred. The charges against me are that I was in violation of Air Force Regulation 35-10, improper wear of the uniform. Section 42 of the regulation, covering athletics, does allow for exceptions to the uniform regulations. Where as I was indeed only wearing dress shoes and a garrison cap at the time of my arrest, in accordance to paragraph 5 I was dressed appropriately for the sporting event to which I was participating."

I was acquitted in 9 minutes, which probably included the time needed by the jury to drink a cup of coffee.

The JAG officer told me later that, to the best of his knowledge, that was a new record.